Waitlist: Manning Park Foray 2025

We are excited to officially announce that the VMS will be returning to Manning Park once again for our annual weekend excursion from September 12-14, 2025.

We will have lots of fun walks, talks, and bonding with your fellow fungi enthusiasts! Think of it as Mushroom Summer camp. 
 
The Last Resort Lodge in Manning Park boasts dorm-style shared accommodations for up to 50 people, and comes with amenities like shared washrooms, a communal fire pit, a dining and lounge area, access to pool and sauna facilities, and an outdoor picnic area. 
 
The VMS will provide breakfast, lunch, and dinner as well as snacks and refreshments.  
 
We will be arriving at the lodge Friday evening and returning home Sunday afternoon.
 
Please note that collecting of fungi within Manning is only for scientific purposes and not for consumption or dyes (unless folks choose to gather on their own outside the park).

 

Tickets are on sale NOW and likely to sell out, so act fast!
 
Admission: $250 pp
We only take e-transfer, please be ready to send one with your name if you are contacted.
 
The fees cover 6 meals, accommodation for 2 nights, walks with expert mycologists, and memories to last a lifetime!
 
For insurance reasons, all attendees must be valid VMS members. You can sign up or renew at the top left corner.
 
Accessibility:
Most dorms are located on the second floor, with 2 large rooms at ground level. There is a 6" concrete lip to get through the front door of the lodge. There are no private rooms in the lodge and a majority of the beds are bunk beds. The walks will be of varying length and difficulty and done in subgroups. Dogs are not allowed in the lodging area. 
 
To join our waitlist, please fill out the form below.
https://forms.gle/6SpBQE9EM1LBpd8a6 
 
For any questions, concerns, or inquiries please email foray@vanmyco.com. Thank you!

Next Meeting: Common Fall Mushrooms of the Pacific Northwest and their Lookalikes

Tuesday September 9th, 2025 @ Floral Hall, VanDusen Gardens (5251 Oak St.)
Doors at 7pm, Talk at 7:30pm
 

In this presentation, we will learn some of the most common and memorable mushrooms found in fall in the Pacific Northwest. We will focus especially on common edibles and how to tell them apart from poisonous or just otherwise tricky potential lookalikes, noting particular physical features and habitats that will help you to identify them on your own.

About our speaker:

Leah Bendlin is a Portland-based mushroom and community science enthusiast. She caught the mycology bug after her first outing hunting chanterelles with a friend in 2012. She was amazed at the diversity of other mushrooms that day, and set out to learn the science of identification. That curiosity proved insatiable, and now she has become an expert taxonomist and aspires to learn the name of every mushroom she encounters, and delights in teaching others. Leah has special interests in taxonomy, uncommonly known edibles, mycoheterotrophic plants, slime molds, ascomycetes (cup fungi) and social justice. She regularly leads mushroom ID classes and walks through various Pacific Northwest organizations and has volunteered as a teacher, identifier and board member of the Oregon Mycological Society. You can find her Instagram page, focused primarily on teaching mushroom species of the Pacific Northwest at https://www.instagram.com/leah_mycelia/



As always, we would love to see your specimens at our monthly mushroom table for identification and admiration. Be sure to check out what unique early Fall finds are at our very exciting September display.

Introducing MycoMap BC: A DNA Sequencing Project 

We're excited to announce MycoMap BC, a project aimed at documenting fungal and slime mould biodiversity in British Columbia. Through a partnership with Mycota Lab, free, year-round DNA sequencing for mushroom and slime mould collections is available to anyone in BC. Your contributions will help us better understand the unique biodiversity of our province. 

How to Participate 

We invite mushroom enthusiasts, backyard collectors, and mycologists to help us collect thousands of specimens from all regions of BC. Here’s what you'll need to get started: 

  • A collection box 
  • An iNaturalist account and a camera or phone 
  • A food dehydrator 

Once your collections are dried, you’ll ship them to our Victoria, BC collection point. We are currently accepting all collections made in 2025. 

For detailed protocols, FAQs, and shipping instructions, please visit 

mycota.com/the-mycomap-bc-network/. You can also find a link to our iNaturalist project and a form to receive the mailing address for your specimens. 

Launch Event 

Join us for a virtual launch event and celebration on September 16th at 7 PM via Zoom. The event will feature guest speakers including Stephen Russell of Mycota Lab and Andy Mackinnon and Kem Luther, authors of Mushrooms of BC. They will discuss the importance of DNA sequencing, followed by an overview of the collection protocol. There will also be a Q&A session. Register for the event here: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/l0L8ztPTQjGI4cvxq17-fA 

We will also be hosting an online mycoblitz from September 17th-24th in hopes of hitting our first 1000 specimens! Join our iNaturalist project (linked on website below), and start making collections to join our leaderboard. 

Project Support & Contact 

This project is supported by the South Vancouver Island Mycological Society, the BC Biodiversity Program, the Metchosin Foundation, Whistler Naturalists, SERAL (Society for Education, Research and Arts on the Land), and the Vancouver Mycological Society. 

For any questions or to offer support, please contact project coordinators Elora Adamson (elora.adamson@svims.club) or Ann McCall (ann.mccall@svims.club). 

Happy collecting! 

We are pleased to officially announce the VMS Discord Server – an additional community space for you to hang out with and learn from your fellow mushroom enthusiasts.

Logged in VMS members can view vanmyco.org/discord and join the server

New Blog Posts: Detailed histories and more!

Stuck inside? We've got lots of new articles for you to read. Enjoy!

A History of Mushroom Cultivation in BC - by Paul Kroeger

Four Decades of Vancouver Mycological Society: How mushrooming in BC has changed - by Paul Kroeger

Health and safety issues concerning commercial marketing of Edible Wild Mushrooms in British Columbia - by Paul Kroeger

BC’s Truffle Industry: The Next Frontier is Underground - by Rosi Hunter

Get on our Instagram feed

Spotted a cool mushroom? Share it with the club (and the world) by using the hashtag #vanmyco. Your pictures will automatically appear in the feed below.

Please note: this is not an identification service, but a way for club members to easily share their unique vision of fungi.