You know what the best thing about fall in British Columbia is? Getting outside! Seriously. Autumn is the best time of year to get out into the woods and explore. Not only is the air fresh with rain, but the trees are showing of their fashionable colours and the forest floor is a whole new world of life and activity. One of our favourite things to look out for around this time is fungi and mushrooms. Mushrooms are the fruit of a fungus and fall is their time to flourish since many plants and animals are shedding their summery leaves and homes, leaving plenty of decay for the fungi to feast on.
Buntzen Lake is a pretty interesting place. It's the site of the Lower Mainland's first hydroelectric generating station, which was originally called Trout Lake Power Station and was later re-named Lake Buntzen after the first general manager of the BC Electric Company, Johannes Buntzen. Today, the power plant contributes very little (less than 0.4%) to the overall power produced by BC Hydro. However, at the time that it was engineered, it was a marvel and it still produces power after over 100 years. In 1972, BC Hydro completed the development of the area as a public recreation area and continues to maintain it for public use.
In this episode of Trails with Dale, we head off to the Buntzen Lake trails in search of some interesting mushroom specimen. We were not disappointed!