New Year’s Mendocino Mushroom Foraging Retreat with Mycologist Taye Bright Dec 31-Jan 3
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Details, Dates, and Registration!
What To Expect: Mushrooms, Community, Great Food & New Year’s Celebration
Join expert mycologist Taye Bright for an all-inclusive four-day retreat on the gorgeous Mendocino Coast, Dec 31 to Jan 3. We will be targeting edible mushrooms such as black trumpets, chanterelles, yellowfoot, and hedgehogs, teaching you how to ID the dozens of species we will likely find, and learning all about coastal ecology and land history along the way. Under Taye’s expert guidance, you’ll learn foraging skills, sustainability, and stewardship practices that honor the interconnections of our natural world.
This retreat is perfect for people looking for a deeper dive in mushroom foraging, mycology, coastal ecology, and Mendocino. It’s also perfect for people wanting a fun way to spend New Year’s, eating delicious food with a great group of people, and exploring a beautiful place.
Throughout the retreat, Taye and Carrie will be facilitating community building and providing optional opportunities to reflect on the past year and dream into the year to come.
Our retreat center has fire pits, epic coastal views, gorgeous hikes, and more. Camp out, stay in the dorm, or book private lodging for yourself or you and a friend or partner.
Whether you’re coming for the thrill of the hunt, Chef Tim’s delicious food, the incredible views, the ecological knowledge, or to meet cool, like-minded people, this retreat has something for everyone. Get ready for a transformational journey, new friends, and enriching lifelong skills. You’ll leave with a deeper connection to the fascinating flora, fungi, and fauna, and the lands and waters of the Mendocino Coast.
Where and When
Jug Handle Creek Farm is located on the Mendocino Coast and is a 15-30 minute drive to where we will be foraging. Please note it is not permitted to forage on the Jug Handle Creek Farm property.
Retreat begins at 3pm on Thurs Dec 31, and ends at 12pm on Sunday, Jan 3.
A celebratory NYE dinner is provided on Dec 31, 3 meals on Jan 1 & 2, and a send-off brunch on Jan 3.
Retreat Schedule Overview
Thurs starting at 3pm: arrive and settle in. Dinner + community building + intention setting for the new year and a NYE DJ dance party with DJ Wootsie Woot. Celebratory fun dance outfits optional :)
Fri: breakfast, 9am leave for all-day field class (bag lunch provided) return around 4pm, snacks, dinner and optional evening activities
Sat: 9am leave for all day field class (bag lunch provided) return around 4pm, snacks, dinner and optional evening activities
Sun: brunch and closing activities, depart by 12pm
Evening activities will include: New Year’s reflections, fire pit/smores time, music jam, ecology lectures, and choose your own adventure.
Ticket Options*
$850 early bird ticket (til July 31)
$900 standard ticket (til Sept 30)
$950 last call (til full)
*Children/adults are the same price for this event
Lodging Options (with no additional cost):
+$0 camping
+$0 dorm - shared 5-person room with twin bunk beds, with a private bath
Private lodging options (with extra cost)***:
Room 1: +$300 downstairs private room with queen bed, shared bath with others in Farmhouse. Max of 2 people.
Room 2: +$300 upstairs, Cypress private room with queen bed, shared bath with others in Farmhouse. Max of 2 people.
Room 3: +$300 upstairs Garden/Primrose private room with two twin beds, shared bath with others in Farmhouse. Max of 2 people.
Room 4: +$300 upstairs Skylight/Starlight private room with one full bed. shared bath with others in Farmhouse. Max of 2 people.
Room 5: +$300 upstairs Sitka/Spruce/Columbine private room with two twins. shared bath with others in Farmhouse. Max of 2 people.
Room 6: +$300 upstairs Iris private room with queen bed, shared bath with others in Farmhouse. Max of 2 people.
Room 7: +$300 upstairs Terrace/Poppy private room with queen bed, shared bath with others in Farmhouse. Max of 2 people.
Bunkhouse 1: +$400 one queen, twin bunkbed, max of 4 people, private bath
Bunkhouse 2: +$400 one queen, twin bunkbed, max of 4 people, private bath
Private Cabin: +$400 Private cabin with shared bath: queen bed, max of 2 people.
**For dorms, you will not be able to choose your roommate; however, you can save a spot for a friend if you get there early.
*** For private lodging, you don’t need to share, but if you are sharing, you are responsible for finding a roommate if you want to share and split the cost. Fork in the Path will not be coordinating room shares. One person per group should reserve the lodging, and you can work out with each other how you want to split the cost and who gets which bed. (Additional roommates should use the “Bringing own tent” form so that you don’t pay an additional lodging fee.)
More Important Details
You are required to get a mushroom-picking permit from Jackson State Demonstration Forest for $20. You can get that here. You must get your paperwork to the JDSF office by Dec 7th to have your permit in time for this trip.
This trip goes rain or shine! Please be prepared for all weather conditions. Rain is common at this time of year in this location.
In case of hazardous weather, such as severe storms with high winds and heavy rains, we reserve the option to cancel guided forays if conditions are unsafe. The retreat will happen regardless, and we will have backup indoor activities, or you can go to the forest, at your own risk.
Registration is non-refundable and non-rescheduleable. If you register and can no longer attend, you can sell or gift your ticket to someone in your network. If you want us to try to resell it for you, if we are successful, we will donate your funds to the scholarship pool; no refund is issued.
All participants should be prepared to walk slowly, covering about 3-5 miles on uneven terrain. This program may involve driving an hour round trip from our retreat (we go where the mushrooms are!)
The retreat is capped at 30 participants
Fees cover program, food, and lodging costs only and do not cover transportation or gear
You will be required to sign a waiver to participate
While we usually do, finding edibles is not a guarantee
Dogs are not permitted at this program
These programs are very popular and often fill up very quickly. We encourage you to register right away if you'd like to attend!
You will receive a registration confirmation once we've received this form + your payment + your signed liability waiver. We cannot hold your spot until we've received all 3.
Instructors/Retreat Staff Include:
Lead Educator: Taye Bright (she/her, they/them) is a mycologist, naturalist, artist, and all-around biophile passionate about fungal ecology, community science, and conservation. Taye holds a B.S. in Biology and Environmental Science, certifications in Ecosystem Restoration Design, and is a certified UC California Naturalist. She is currently pursuing her MSc in Mycology at California State East Bay, studying fungal biodiversity of rare and threatened ecosystem types in California. Outside of her research, she leads classes, courses, workshops, and walks around California and beyond, focusing on increasing accessibility of mycological and ecological education outside of conventional academia. She is especially interested in allying with fungi to encourage ecological literacy, create life-ways in alignment with bioregional intelligence, and uplift cultural narratives that encourage interspecies reciprocity.
Chef: Daniella Bensimon (she'/her) specializes in farm-to-table North African, Mediterranean, and Middle Eastern cuisine, with a California fresh twist. Chef Bensimon also has a variety of experience with other cuisines, including Latin American, Thai, Italian, American, Eastern European, and many more. She is a food artist. Her art is her cooking, creating balanced meals with nutrition in mind, never sacrificing taste and flavor. Since age 4, Chef Bensimon has been creating culinary delights. She has also had the amazing and unique opportunity to live and travel in the Middle East, Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean, and Europe; tasting, smelling, and learning about cultures through the food of the locals.
Educator: Ryath Fujita Beauchene (he/him) has been studying, foraging, cultivating, ingesting, making medicine with, and absolutely loving fungi for fifteen years. Ryath is also a trained horticultural-herbalist who consults with private clients, makes myco-herbal blends & co-stewards an outdoor mushroom farm in Sebastopol, CA. Ryath teaches online & at mycological gatherings and regularly facilitates myco-ecology walks on the CA coast and in the Sierra Nevada.
Educator & Retreat Organizer: Carrie Staller (she/her) is the founder of Fork in the Path. She has a master's degree in sustainability, a decade of experience foraging mushrooms, plants, and fruits in California, 9 years of teaching yoga, and a deep passion for building community and organizations. She has led teams at experience design companies and loves integrating best practices for adult learning and curating special, transformative classes. She lives in Berkeley, CA, and wakes up every morning in gratitude for the land, her teachers, and this incredible team of educators and participants who are learning and growing together at Fork in the Path by cultivating deeper relationships with our beautiful and wondrous natural world.
To make our programs accessible to more people, we offer sliding-scale pricing; please choose the rate that's best for you. For those who need additional financial assistance, please see our scholarship program.
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