Fall started with dry conditions but came on quickly with the Honeys and the Hens! We got out in early September for a fifty mile, five day, back packing trip on the foothills trail. We saw soo much Turkey Tail, lots of Chicken, a huge Maitake and a most amazing surprise, a cluster of Blue Chanterelles! This find was rare, as the Blue Chanterelles are found on the west coast and to find them here is unheard of! I can easily say it was the find of the year. It was warm enough to dip in the river along the trail and the camp sites were the perfect rest at the end of putting in some good miles. September in the forest is just lovely, the weather is always cool yet still warm, the trees bring the colors of the season and the mushrooms can be plentiful. I was able to score at least twenty or more Maitake before everything got turned upside down in our region. Hurricane Helene ripped through the mountains with a fierceness I’ve never experienced. Having had a hard rain two days leading up to the arrival, the rivers and creeks were already swollen and the ground saturated. The lights went out the night the hurricane came, communication and power were lost for several days. We huddled around a small battery powered radio during that time, listening to the stories coming in of what was happening all around. When the power came back, we were able to see videos and images of the extensive flooding, towns were crushed, houses and vehicles floated down the rivers, whole sections of roads and bridges washed away, and many people were missing or dead. We lost running water for over a month following and when it returned, it took weeks to return to being clean and potable. I managed to get into the forest for short hikes, having to climb over downed trees where trails used to be. So many oak trees fell during the storm, simply uprooted or cracked and it seemed like many domino effects occurred, one big tree knocking down another big tree and down the line. I tried to reach my Hen spots but many were simply unreachable, covered in a tree pile up. As the recovery began, the air was full of the sound of sirens, helicopters, and heavy equipment trucks. We went to collect drinking and flushing water a few times a week, often bring loaded up by the national guard mixed with local volunteers. It was truly amazing to witness the mountain communities come together to help one another, resources came in from all over and small local organizations worked day and night to get people what they needed. You could feel the sadness and grief but also the love and selflessness. So many places I have loved were now scenes from an end of times movie, the river arts district was flattened, towns like Swannanoa, Old Fort, Chimney Rock, Burnsville and others suffered greatly. We left town for a week following, hitting eastern North Carolina to get out of town and feel normal for a bit, it was a nice reprieve and even managed to find a nice Lions Mane while exploring. With many parts of the forest still inaccessible and yet again another dry spell rounding off the fall, the season came to pretty abrupt end.