all walks are currently “sold” out!
Please review your email for instructions from brown paper tickets if you signed up for walks so you get the appropriate walk location. walks do -not- start at the Yachats presbyterian church
Guided walks will be occurring Friday 10/14/22 – Sunday 10/16/22 in and around Yachats!
All walks free, but pre-registration is required. Register online using direct links below each walk description for registration. Maximum of 12 people per walk. Meeting locations for walk groups will be provided after you register.
See extended information below for walk details, requirements, related information and ticket purchase links.
Walks are on selected trails in the Cape Perpetua Scenic Area or trails within Yachats City Limits.
Recommendations and Details
Those who wish to apply their skills after a walk are recommended to purchase All that the Rain Promises and More, by David Arora.
NOTE on PARKING: There is limited parking at Cape Perpetua Visitors Center (about 3 miles S of downtown Yachats). The Parking Fee is $5 (or) display your Oregon Coast Passport or other valid passport. Passports may be purchased at Cape Perpetua Visitors Center.
all walks are currently “sold” out! Please check at the Saturday speakers hall only for limited spots that may open up!
See speaker bios and extended walk descriptions including skill level and requirements further below.
All Ticketed Events for the 2022 YMF HERE
Quick Schedule & Purchase Links:
Friday October 14th (Special Walk)
— We have had SO much interest in this event that Jordan is going to do a second walk on Saturday from 6:00-7:30. The second walk will require a $10/pp fee, and signups will be first come first served at the speaker hall on Saturday. Bring exact cash for signup at the Speaker’s Hall at the Yachats Community Presbyterian Church, open 10-5pm, limited to 12 people—
Night Walk: A Look at Fluorescent Species
Friday October 14th, 6:00pm – 8:00pm
With Jordan Jacobs and James Conway
Join us for a walk into the night, experience the fluorescent forest! We will take a hike from dusk into darkness, in search of photo-excitable flora, fauna, and funga. With the help of UV (black light) flashlights, we will shine light onto the life in the forest, and see what shines back! Learn about the phenomenon of fluorescence first hand, come see what organisms produce fluorescence in your neighborhood!
Please bring/wear: Closed toe shoes, headlamp and sufficient clothing for night time weather on the Oregon Coast.
Suggested: Walking sticks for hills and a UV flashlight (it’s more fun this way!). Some UV flashlights will be available for purchase, an entry level one is available HERE, as well as intermediate and higher cost.
Jordan Jacobs is an amateur mycologist and analytical chemist. Jordan first started learning about mushrooms in 2014 when he attended Humboldt State University in Arcata, California. He became a member of the college mushroom club and the Humboldt Bay Mycological Society, learning about mushrooms by joining forays, fairs, and workshops. Jordan currently lives in Portland, Oregon, where he runs a mushroom analysis laboratory, Tryp Labs. The goal of the company is to better understand the chemistry of mushrooms found or cultivated locally and abroad. On the weekends, Jordan is out looking for cool mushrooms to bring back to the lab to study, or to the kitchen to eat!
Facebook: Jordan Jacobs | Instagram: jordantjacobs | Website: tryplabs.com Email itmejordan@gmail.com | iNaturalist: jordanjacobs
James Conway is an amateur mycologist that has been fungally obsessed for 10 years. Spending most his time studying and foraging both the Adirondack region in the north east and here in the PNW. Currently his main focus is taking high quality photos of the genus Psilocybe and the family Cordycipitaceae.
Beginning Mushrooms Walks and Discussion
Common names and identification of local edible and toxic mushrooms. For the newcomer. Beginning identification, taxonomy (scientific naming), and ecology of common coastal mushrooms.
Walk location(s) TBA. Skill level is beginning intermediate and terrain is mild to moderate.
Saturday October 15th, 2:00pm – 4:00pm
With Jordan Jacobs (bio above on Friday)
Sunday October 16th, 12:00-1:00
With Dan Luoma and Joyce Eberhart
Sunday October 16th, 1:30pm – 3:30pm
with Jordan Weiss: This walk is specifically for beginners. We will learn the names of trees, ecological niches of all the mushrooms we observe and a few, tasty recipes.
Jordan has been interested in mushrooms for over forty years. He has led dozens of Identification and cultivation workshops In the PNW since 2006. He believes that having an authentic connection to the natural world through foraging, land- stewardship, and conservation of natural resources is vital for healthy humans and the communities in which they live. Check out www.instagram/jordansweiss for more photos of mushrooms of the PNW.
Dan and Joyce did research together for many years, focusing on forest mushrooms and truffles, with the Department of Forest Ecosystems and Society at Oregon State University. Dan is a retired professor who has taught mycology at OSU and a course (with Joyce) on forest mycology through the Siskiyou Field Institute and Southern Oregon University. They have led walks together for the Yachats Mushroom festival for many years.
Beginner to Intermediate Skill Walks and Discussion
Saturday October 15th, 12:00pm – 2:00pm
Sunday October 16th, 11:00am – 1:00pm
With Molly Widmer and Chris Melotti
Identification, taxonomy (scientific naming), and ecology of coastal mushrooms. for the mushroom hunter.
Walk location is in the Cape Perpetua Scenic Area. Skill level is beginning intermediate and terrain is mild to moderate.
Molly Widmer & Chris Melotti have been leading mushroom walks at the Yachats Village Mushroom Festival every year since the beginning. We’re with the Cascade Mycological Society in Eugene and
Our love of fungi & the Oregon Coast come together in Yachats.
Molly is a botanist & Chris is a wildlife biologist and their interest in fungi was fueled by a class with the late Freeman Rowe at Lane Community college. They helped start CMS and have been involved in the Mt.Pisgah Arboretum Mushroom Festival since 1995 and the Yachats show since it started helping people understand the critical role that fungi play in our forest ecosystems.
Intermediate to Advanced Skill Walks and Discussion
Saturday October 15th, 10:00am – 12:00pm
Sunday October 16th, 10:00am – 12:00pm
With Lee Yamada
Identification, taxonomy (scientific naming), and ecology of coastal mushrooms. for the serious mushroom hunter.
Walk location is in the Cape Perpetua Scenic Area. Skill level is intermediate to advanced and terrain is mild to moderate.
Lee Yamada has been foraging for and cooking wild edible mushrooms since he was 7 years old, a mere 75 years. He has traveled to Europe, South America, and Asia with his wife Phyllis in search of mushrooms. And, has catered mushroom featured dinners at numerous wineries in his native California. It was a mushroom identification class taught by David Arora (author of Mushrooms Demystified and All that the Rain Promises) in the early 80s that started Lee on his quest to learn more about fungi. He would eventually become an assistant foray leader for David and also lent a hand with the cooking at the Annual David Arora Thanksgiving Weekend Wild Mushroom Workshops. Lee was an early member of the Santa Cruz Fungus Federation formed in 1984 by David and his students. And, when David was ready to hand over the reigns as Director of the Santa Cruz Fungus Fair; Lee stepped up and organized the fair from 1993 until 2003. On a national level, Lee is a lifetime member of the North American Mycological Association (NAMA) and served as their foray chairperson from 2001 to 2003, while Phyllis served as President of NAMA.