On our final full day at El Vado Ark, we took to the high mountains of southern Colorado. Arvo taught us how to recognize edible & non-edible mushrooms, and we went a-foraging. We picked a bountiful array of chanterelles, puff balls, corals, & boletes (aka porcini). We also took some wild Osha root, which is used for lung & throat ailments. Wild mushroom foraging is something I have always wanted to do; as you can see by the photos, I was not disappointed! I'm also looking forward to driving through Colorado on the return trip - I already love the aspen, mountains, views, and of course mushrooms there!
On the way back to the farm, we drove through La Puente, a tiny town with several creepy abandoned houses. We got lots of great pics, and can now recommend a good place to shoot a Mexican horror film to anyone who's interested. Oh, and we also saw two large male elk here, which were Mel's first wild elk, so that was exciting, too.
There is one very important resident of El Vado Ark I haven't yet given proper introduction: Raven, aka Carlos. She was hand-raised by Arvo himself and has her own door to enter the house. She is very beautiful, smart, destructive, & opportunistic. She makes dozens of different sounds and even talks with Arvo. But his description of her is best, since he knows her most intimately. You can read it (and more about the farm) on his website
here. One of our first nights there, we dined with Raven. She was hesitant at first, but as you can see by the last photo, she warmed up enough to me to sit by my shoulder curiously as I cleaned mushrooms!
On the way back to the farm, we drove through La Puente, a tiny town with several creepy abandoned houses. We got lots of great pics, and can now recommend a good place to shoot a Mexican horror film to anyone who's interested. Oh, and we also saw two large male elk here, which were Mel's first wild elk, so that was exciting, too.
There is one very important resident of El Vado Ark I haven't yet given proper introduction: Raven, aka Carlos. She was hand-raised by Arvo himself and has her own door to enter the house. She is very beautiful, smart, destructive, & opportunistic. She makes dozens of different sounds and even talks with Arvo. But his description of her is best, since he knows her most intimately. You can read it (and more about the farm) on his website here. One of our first nights there, we dined with Raven. She was hesitant at first, but as you can see by the last photo, she warmed up enough to me to sit by my shoulder curiously as I cleaned mushrooms!
1 comment:
Hi Rach-
Just catching up with all your adventures. Your pics are beautiful. I can't wait to drive through the southern part of the country this fall. Sounds like you are having awesome experiences. Keep on Rock'n!!
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