B’s Watershed Watch Update September 04, 2024

September 4, 2024 by Barb H

Barb Haley, Watershed Watch Chair

My Observations

Date: September 04, 2024 @0900am

Area: Silver Lake

Temperature: 29C

Weather: Gorgeous day

Visibility: Perfect

Conditions: Sun was nice and warm, starting to get really warm again…

Observations: I have lived in this area for many years, and finally got explore Silver Lake!

Unplanned tour as such are many of our adventures! And it was beautiful! We began off-trail and then found the route around the lake as far as the Summer Camp where we ended up back of the Silver Lake FSR (once we explored the vintage logging equipment)

Very busy forest with a variety of greenery and somewhat overgrown with so many things to check out and learn about!

Common Puffball Key Western Actions & Medicinal Uses: Hemostatic, Antibacterial, Antifungal, Coagulant, Antimicrobial. Nose bleeds, hemorrhaging, swollen and sore throats, fungal infections, bacterial infections (including Staphylococcus aureus), coughs, gingivitis.

Milkcap??

Deadly Galerina? / Little Brown Mushroom

Short Stalked Russula? If this is one: It is edible, although its quality is improved once parasitised by the ascomycete fungus Hypomyces lactifluorum, transforming it into an edible known as a lobster mushroom.

Lovely Lily Pads on Silver Lake: These can be gathered the thick rootstocks in winter and spring, boiled or roasted them for several hours, then peeled them to expose their sweet, gluey contents. Rootstocks were also sliced, dried and ground into meal or flour. The starchy seeds can be difficult to remove, so the tribes rotted the fruits until the pods became soft. The heated seeds swell like poor-quality popcorn, making a crunchy snack.

Wild Mint: Wild mint is mainly prepared as a tea, and is traditionally used by First Nations people as a delicious hot beverage and a herbal remedy. The tea was used to treat a variety of ailments such as digestive issues and coughs, and an ointment made of mint could alleviate aches and pains. It can be used to flavour other food, and sprinkling powdered leaves on berries and drying meat will repel insects. If you are out of bug spray, you can rub mint on yourself to keep the mosquitoes away.

Local Silver Lake Beavers leaving evidence of thier hard work!

Silver Lake

Wood Blewit? I didn’t get a look at the gills, so I am unsure. From what I have read, Wood Blewits don’t appear until after the first frost – which we haven’t had yet…. If this spsecimin IS a Wood Blewit, they are apparently very tastey, having a floral bouquet!

Or…. Is it a Purple Brittlegill? This mushroom is said to be the mildest of the hot-tasting Russula species. It is edible if cooked, although not recommended.

Leftover Steam Donkey from logging in the area way bcak when…. The machine had a smoking engine powered by wood or coal, and gearing which turned drums or winches containing wire rope. As more railroads opened to logging, the steam donkey became indispensable to timber operations without access to rivers. It was designed to move logs from stump to flume or railcar. The steam donkey was replaced by gas powered yarding machines after World War II. The railroads they serviced were soon phased out by heavy-duty logging trucks.

Steam Donkey

Michigan Big Wheels

Old Skidder

Cletrac Dozer

Allis-Chalmers Model M Crawler (1930’s)

Portable Tie Mill

No clue… Vintage Log Grab Tractor?

Mercury 850

Crane?