Other benefits to mountain biking: wildlife

It’s pretty cool to have a such a large and fantastic mountain bike park, Lebanon Hills, in the middle of big Twin Cities suburb (Apple Valley), adjacent to the MN Zoo and just ten minutes from the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport and the Mall of America.

Also cool is the abundant wildlife in the park. Last week I heard owls hooting back and forth to each other very close to the trail.  Today, I came upon a white-tailed deer and two fawns just a few feet from the trail. They just stood and stared at me.  And a few minutes later, I spotted a clump of sulphur shelf mushrooms at the base of a tree on the trail. Into my pack it went, as it’s delicious—known as ‘chicken of the woods.’

white-tailed deer at Lebanon Hills sulphur shelf mushrooms at Lebanon Hills sulphur shelf mushrooms at Lebanon Hills

Update 08/29:  fried sulphur shelf mushrooms, ready to eat.

frying sulphur shelf mushrooms fried sulphur shelf mushrooms, ready to eat