Johnnie and I spent two days and one night at Belleplain State Forest. Just an overnight trip that was restorative and relaxing. When we got home, it felt like we had been away for days!!
Belleplain was quiet on Sunday and Monday. Johnnie and I were the only campers on Monday in our section of the park. Rangers stopped by to talk as they made their rounds. The days were sunny and warm, though the forecast had called for rain both days, and the night was cool enough to need a quilt. Perfect camping weather! The trees are just beginning to turn. In previous posts, I have shared photos of the red in Belleplain: October in Belleplain State Forest and My Favorite Campground in New Jersey: Belleplain State Forest. I don’t think I have been in Belleplain this late in September. The leaves are just beginng to turn and they are a dull read.
Dull Red
Partial Red
Even the mushrooms are a dull red!
Are the reds going to be dull this year or will they brighten as the fall season progresses? I will have to visit in October or November and see.
The only bright red I saw was a branch of maple leaves in the sun.
Johnnie and I took a long walk and on the walk (without my camera) and saw two red mushroomms growing in a crevice in the bottom of a tree trunk. I had seen this type of mushroom in the past and hoped to see it around our campsite. Site 104 has two wooded boundaries and I have found a variety of mushrooms or funhus (is there a difference?) growing there in the past. Looking for mushrooms means walking with your eyes down and focusing on the dirt and brush because mushrooms push up through the underbrush and ground debris. I found the mushrooms that look like coral first. They are gray or off-white.
The name of this mushroom should be coral mushroom.
Another mushroom looked like plates that just lift up out of the dirt. Others looked like the ones that pop up in my yard after a rain. My surprise find was a mushroom that looked like a flower.
Star or flower mushroom?
Finally, I found one of the red mushrooms for which I had been looking. It looked like something had tried to eat it.
The red mushroom
When I was looking for the mushrooms, I did not have my camera. I was just walking through. I went back to the RV for the camera and when I returned to the locations, I found I was almost tiptoeing through the area, hoping not to step on any undiscovered mushrooms. I wanted a well-worn trail so I could be sure I wasn’t harming anything. Looking for mushrooms and valuing them puts a different perspective on how I looked at the ground and my interaction with it. My reward for looking down at the ground and being cautious was finding even more red mushrooms!
I.m now curious about the various kinds of mushroom that grow in the Pinelands. I’ve been to Belleplain hundreds of times and I still am able to discover something new!
Views from the Rear Window 