Early March is not ideal for mushrooming, but if you like Judas ears, then this is the prime season. And if you are lucky, you might find some early morels. I was planning on joining the Miskolc Mushrooming Association on the first tour of the season, but because of the bus schedule I could not get there in time. Luckily Kitti, one of my former classmates invited me to join her for a walk around Forrás Valley. The trail can be reached by bus 1 from Miskolc to the Majalis 1 Park and following the red + blazes. The weather was perfect as we sauntered along the muddy trail chaperoned by a babbling brook that at times became mire and at others a roaring river. Kitti fairly quickly spotted a scarlet elf cap mushroom on a stick on the riverbank. A while later I found the first Judas ears. We explored the Kecske-lyuk Cave which I had been to before, but was unaware that it extended so far into the hill. Kitti had come prepared with a lantern and we sloshed through running water along a narrowing tunnel. There are very few dripstones, but there were a number of sleepy and yawning bats hanging out. The small glades are already blanketed with snow drops, scillia,...

At one point we were serenaded by a lowing stag for several minutes, perhaps sending a warning about our vicinity. Around the falls we finally started finding Judas ears in great numbers. I even found some old enoki mushrooms climbing a sapling I was holding onto. Although my teacher does not believe me, I have found that if you look for jelly fungus, the Judas ears are often nearby or quite often on the same dead branch. Judas ears prefer elder trees, but we also found some on ash and acacias. Neither one of us had ever seen or gathered so many Judas ears. Kitti picked about 20dk, and I about double that. Although we searched for morels around the ash and wild cherry trees, there was evidence that other people or wild boar had already scratched around the area. It could also be that it is still a week or two away from the start of the season. Because of my aching back that I had put out somehow the day before, we did not continue another 3km to Molnar Cliff, but took the shorter route down to Hamori Lake in Lillafüred. We met a couple from Debrecen along the path who asked us about different mushrooms and we were proud to be able to knowledgably answer. It was a very enjoyable day, and now I have enough Judas ears for several Chinese tofu soups.

More photos of the trip taken by Kitti Kónya here.