HUNTING the KING

By Kenton Shepard

a couple of small Kings

The King. It has many other names and it can be found on most continents, yet few people know where to look. Those who find the king in good condition consider themselves lucky. The cap can measure up to 12 inches across and the mighty stem can assume overwhelming proportions. King Boletus, Giant Boletus, Porcini, Cep… it’s the giant mushroom considered choice worldwide… Boletus edulis… the Elvis of fungi.

It grows throughout the Colorado Rockies starting at about 8,000 feet and growing up to near treeline (10,500 to 11,000 feet). Hunting for it is like hunting Easter eggs in the high mountains. Although they’re considered choice and are highly prized, when conditions are right from July through September, these mushrooms are extremely common within a forty-five minute drive of the foothills.

It’s the method of hunting for them that’s so pleasant, No crawling on your knees through swamps filled with crocodiles and venomous snakes. They’re not found only under many feet of ice and they’re found above the surface of the sea. They’re delicious and they’re big… real big… who could fail to love hunting these mushrooms?

Boletus Edulis prefer the edges of clearings and like to grow along old mining roads. This means that as you hunt, you’ll stroll through aspen groves and pine and fir forest. You’ll talk and laugh together freely because mushrooms don’t run away when they hear you coming. You’ll walk clearings and follow along historic roads past glory holes (holes up to 20 ft. deep and 20 ft. wide) dug down to bedrock with a pick and shovel by miners searching for gold in the late 1800’s.

If you’re observant and know what to look for, you’ll see signs of the deer, elk, mountain lion, black bear, rabbits, coyotes, grey jays or ravens common to the upper elevations of Boulder, Gilpin and Larimer counties. Although most of these animals are shy of humans, you may be lucky enough to see the animals themselves.

If you’re sharp, you’ll be watching 6 to 12 feet south of the trunks of pines at least six inches in diameter… because that’s where the kings stand guard.

Boletus Edulis, like many other mushrooms, are the fruiting bodies from a web of thin, underground, threadlike strands which form the mycelium. The boletus Edulis mycelium grows only off the roots of certain kinds of evergreen trees.

This means that Boletus edulis cannot be cultivated, only hunted and gathered. It is truly a “wild” mushroom. As long as it is gathered by cutting through the stem rather than pulling it out of the ground, harvesting these mushrooms is ecologically sound.

Although twelve-inch caps and a stem as thick as your wrist are not unusual, larger mushrooms are often infested with insects. Look for signs of infestation in the bottom of the stem.

Although it’s easy to identify the King Boletus, owing to its size and the sponge-like appearance of the gills (actually pores) on the underside of the cap, you should take measures to ensure that you are eating what you think you are eating before you eat it. A similar species grows near Aspens but these are not Boletus edulis and will bleed blue when cut. Although I’ve eaten them with no problem, some people do not react well to this species.

Ladies and Gentlemen, the king is in the mountains!

To schedule an inspection , contact Peak to Prairie!