We hiked this weekend lured by the smell of damp soil after the epic Southern California rainstorms, hoping to find fruiting chanterelles. We didn’t find those golden Cantharellus californicus in my secret spots, but I did return to my favorite tree to find a young and pristine lion’s mane growing where I last harvested it. I had to balance Emily upon my shoulders – while unwittingly awakening a slightly groggy rattlesnake from its burrow just a few feet away – but we returned home with a beautiful specimen and the memory of a Sunday well spent outdoors together as husband and wife.