A trip into diverse world of fungi

SALISBURY — Well over 1,000 species of wild mushrooms can be found in the woods and wilds of Connecticut, and odds are, Dave Paton has seen them all. Or at least, a good chunk of them.

Paton, who has been foraging and writing about mushrooms for more than 30 years, led a group on the Salisbury Association’s popular Mushroom Walk last Saturday. Starting at the end of Sugar Hill Road, a dozen or so foragers doused themselves in bug spray and headed into the woods, following a trail through 43 acres recently donated to the Salisbury Land Trust. Some turns took the group off of the Land Trust’s property and onto the federal land that makes up part of the Appalachian Trail.

Throughout the hike, Paton regularly stopped to emphasize the importance of mushrooms to the ecosystem of New England — and well beyond it, too.

“The fungal world is the steward of everything keeping the forest healthy,” he said.

Along the trail, members of the group pointed out bits of fungi growing along trees and downed logs. Paton was quick to identify the mushrooms, including woody artist conks and turkey tails, edible amber jelly and an eerie bloom called dead man’s fingers.

“The diversity is off the scale. Plants, animals, fungi and everything,” he said, adding that the complexity and interrelationships of the forest are, in his theory, infinite.

“If it’s infinite, then no matter how much we know, we know essentially nothing. Every question that you get answered leads to 10 more questions,” he said.

Among the members of the hike was John Landon, co-chair of the Salisbury Land Trust. He carried a map and pointed out where the Land Trust’s property began and ended. Toward the end of the trek, he thanked the group for coming and emphasized the importance of events like this one that bring people and nature closer together.

For Paton, who moved to Sharon from Vermont when he was 10, foraging is one of many hobbies. He also plays folk music in a band, leads kayaking trips and works full time as a security officer at The Hotchkiss School, after a 23 year stint as the caretaker at the Sharon Audubon Center. But it’s a hobby he dates back to childhood. As for giving tours, he said he “sort of just fell into it.”

“People like my approach,” he said.

Part of that approach included storytelling, an homage to his roots as a folk musician. Pausing in a clearing along the Appalachian Trail, Paton told a story about a dream he’d had in which he came upon the perfect specimen of a coveted mushroom for a friend, who had enlisted his help in finding some for her food truck. When he awoke, he said, he went into the woods at the crack of dawn and found her the exact mushroom from his dream.

He then led the group in a quick song he wrote — an ode to mushrooms and their vital role in the forest.

“You have to sing the chorus with me,” he said.

The chorus went like this: “Mycelia, you make my dreams come true.”

Dave Paton has been foraging and writing about mushrooms for more than 30 years. He worked at the Sharon Audubon for 23 years and is now a security officer at The Hotchkiss School. Photo by Ollie Gratzinger

Dave Paton has been foraging and writing about mushrooms for more than 30 years. He worked at the Sharon Audubon for 23 years and is now a security officer at The Hotchkiss School. Photo by Ollie Gratzinger

Dave Paton has been foraging and writing about mushrooms for more than 30 years. He worked at the Sharon Audubon for 23 years and is now a security officer at The Hotchkiss School. Photo by Ollie Gratzinger