Fall Fungi Festival Fun!

The Alaska Huts Association mission statement is “To build and maintain backcountry lodgings that promote camaraderie, stewardship, outdoor education and Alaska’s cultural heritage.” Workshops, which we have not had for a few years, are one of the ways that we promote these values. In August 2022, we had our first workshop since before COVID, one that fulfilled all of the facets of our mission.

The Fungi Festival, led by UAA Professor Philippe Amstislavski, saw 16 people and two dogs coming together to learn about Mycology (the study of mushrooms). Over two days, the participants spent time together learning about fungi, their biology, how to correctly identify them, and even a few recipes to boot. That evening, they gathered together the harvest, and fried everything up, trying the mushrooms in a few different recipes. They also got to experience one of the best parts of the Manitoba Cabin… staying overnight!

In all, everyone agreed that it was a great experience and they learned a lot.

Hedgehogs (USFS Photo)

King Bolete (USFS Photo)

Alaska Huts Board member Michael Henrich attended the workshop, and shared some of his experience:

“The first annual Manitoba Fungi Fest was a rousing success. We collected King Boletes, Admirable Boletes and Hedgehogs. Had a great fungi fry Saturday night. It was very informative look into the world around us. ”

Admirable Bolete (USFS Photo)

We are looking forward to hosting more workshops next summer, and hopefully bringing the Fungi Festival back! If you would like to have workshops, please let us know about it. Contact us at [email protected] and tell us what you think.