Yosemite Morel Memorial Day Weekend Retreat with Thea Chesney & Chad Hyatt

What You'll Learn

Join expert naturalist Thea Chesney for an all-inclusive four-day retreat near beautiful Yosemite. We will be targeting morels and spring porcini mushrooms and learning all about mountain mushrooms, plants, ecology and land history along the way. Of all mushroom habitats, mountain conditions are the most variable - we never know exactly what we’ll find! But you’ll be in the best possible hands: Thea has lived and worked her whole life in the mountain forests of California, and is a treasure trove of Sierra Nevada secrets. We can't wait to show you how to read the landscape and teach you montane mushroom and plant foraging skills. We can promise you a transformational deep-dive into the ecology of the Sierra Nevada, knowledge you’ll carry on every hike for the rest of your life. We can’t wait to scout these slopes with you; our sights are set high on filling everyone’s baskets, and we’ll be using every bit of our expertise for the best shot at making that happen.

All meals and snacks are provided by popular myco-chef Chad Hyatt. Carrie will be facilitating community building throughout. Our retreat center has outdoor hot tubs, a sauna, fire pits, epic views, a silent disco, and more! Camp out, stay in the dorm, or book private lodging for yourself, you and a friend, or you and a loved one.

Whether you’re coming for the thrill of the hunt, Chad’s epic food, the mountain magic, the ecological knowledge, or to meet cool, like-minded people, you’ll leave with new foraging friends, a deeper connection to the land, and some solid foundational skills for how to hunt morels on your own in the future.

This all-inclusive retreat includes: lodging, an all-day field class on Saturday and Sunday, and all meals.

Where and When

Camp Earnest, about 60 miles outside of Yosemite National Park.

Retreat begins at 3pm on Friday, and ends at 12pm on Monday, of Memorial Day Weekend, May 22-25.

Retreat Schedule Overview

Friday starting at 3pm: arrive and settle in, followed by dinner & optional evening activities

Saturday: breakfast, 9am leave for all-day field class (bag lunch provided) return around 4pm, snacks, dinner and optional evening activities

Sunday: 9am leave for all day field class (bag lunch provided) return around 4pm, snacks, dinner and optional evening activities

Monday: brunch and closing activities, depart by 12pm

Evening activities will include: sauna, hot tub, silent disco, fire pit, music jam, ecology lectures, and choose your own adventure.

Instructors Include:

Thea Chesney (she/her)is an expert naturalist and a lifelong Sierra Nevada foothill resident. Her childhood interest in local mushrooms, wildlife, and flora has developed into an unending devotion to studying and understanding the natural world. She earned her BS in forestry from UC Berkeley while pursuing her passion for fungal taxonomy in the Berkeley mycology labs, and since then has spent her time exploring the California mountains and the organisms that call them home. She has worked as a botanist, a forester, and a field mycologist. Her fieldwork and her own studies are centered in the mountains of California.

Chad Hyatt (he/him) is the author of the Mushroom Hunters Kitchen. He has made a name for himself in Northern California and beyond by sharing his delicious spin on wild mushroom cookery at public and private events. Both an expert forager and classically trained chef, he has cooked in a variety of restaurants and private clubs around the San Francisco Bay area, where he can often be found putting on wild mushroom-themed dinners and teaching mushroom-related classes.

Chad's cooking career began after leaving an engineering career for culinary school. He has cooked in a wide range of kitchens, from Michelin-starred fine dining to opening a BBQ restaurant, and from country club to gastropub. He is passionate about approachable comfort food, based on local, seasonal ingredients, and, of course, wild mushrooms. He has been working as an independent freelance chef since the middle of 2018, with a focus on special events.

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.

Ticket Options*

• $850 early bird ticket (til Mar 31)

• $900 standard ticket (til April 30)

• $950 last call (til Memorial Day weekend)

*Children/adults are the same price for this event

Lodging Options (no additional cost):

• +$0 camping

• +$0 indoor dorm (shared dorm room with 6-8 people - may be co-ed)

• +$0 your own RV

Private lodging options (with extra cost)***:

• +$100 glamping tent (2 twin beds, 2 people max)

• +$100 Write & Fight Hut (2 twin beds, 2 people max)

• +$200 Kewl Mom’s Cottage (2 twin beds, 2 people max)

• +$200 King Yurt (1 king 1 twin sleeper sofa, 3 people max)

• +$200 Queen Yurt (1 king, 1 twin sleeper sofa, 3 people max)

• +$350 Hilltop Apartment (1 full, 1 bunk bed with twin/full + private bath + private kitchen)

*** For private lodging, you don’t need to share. But if you are sharing, you are responsible for finding a roommate. 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.

This trip goes rain or shine! 

•  In case of hazardous weather such as snow, high wind, or fire, we reserve the option to cancel your date and offer reschedule, refund, or gift ticket

•  All participants should be prepared to walk slowly, covering about 3-5 miles on uneven terrain. This program may involve driving an hour + from our retreat (we go where the mushrooms are!)

• The retreat is capped at 25 participants

•  Fees cover program 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

More Important Details

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.