Lost Mushroomer Season
(Photo from 2022 Clackamas County Search and Rescue mission.)
A brand-new Facebook post serves as a reminder of the hazards of getting lost while mushrooming.
For the sixth time this fall, the Skamania County Sheriff’s Office Search and Rescue team was called to search for an overdue mushroom hunter. They searched for over 24 hours in deteriorating weather conditions, and were then joined by teams from two other counties. The overdue person finally turned up after surviving two nights in the woods.
The overdue person was ill equipped, and lucky to survive without serious problems. It’s worth reviewing the post to see how lucky this person was, and also to see Search and Rescue’s other takeaways.
Also for your consideration, here are some stories from the last 10 years about overdue or lost Oregon or Washington mushroom hunters. Many of these stories lack happy endings:
- 2023-11-04 Skamania County Search & Rescue finds missing mushroom hunter (The post that’s the subject of this story.)
- 2023-10-10 Mushroom pickers lost in Oregon woods call 911, cops say. Deputy comes to their rescue
- 2023-09-29 Search continues for Randle man reported missing in the Burley Mountain area
- 2023-05-09 Police search for missing Ashland mushroom hunter
- 2023-05-03 Mushroom hunters found safe after getting lost in Marion County
- 2023-02-20 Washington woman found dead weeks after going mushroom hunting
- 2022-11-04 Lost mushroom hunter rescued amid stormy conditions
- 2021-10-21 Missing mushroom picker, 80, found near Trillium Lake
- 2021-10-10 Missing 77-year-old found dead after disappearing on mushroom picking trip
- 2021-10-02 Mushroom hunter who had gone missing at Alsea Falls now safe
- 2019-10-31 Oregon mushroom hunter found dead in Skamania County
- 2019-10-23 78-year-old mushroom hunter goes missing in Washington. He’s the second in two weeks
- 2019-10-15 Missing 75-year-old mushroom hunter found ‘weak but uninjured’ in Washington
- 2019-09-20 Sheriff’s office locates missing 80-year-old mushroom picker near Trillium Lake
- 2017-09-29 Body of missing mushroom hunter found in Tillamook State Forest
- 2016-11-01 Missing mushroom hunter found dead in Klamath County
- 2015-12-15 Missing mushroom hunter found in Whitcomb Creek ‘rough terrain’
- 2014-07-14 Tacoma man found dead during mushroom hunting trip
- 2013-10-10 Missing Mushroom Hunter Found Dead
- 2013-06-12 Seattle mushroom hunter missing in Chelan County
