Go to Cangshan Mountain to pick pine cones and pine nuts

"I'm Xiao Jing, and our favorite place is the forest. The mountains have different treasures throughout the year: mushrooms in the rainy season, pine cones, pine nuts, and ferns in autumn and winter. Each season has its own flowers and plants. The girls in our picking group always go up the mountain and find new things no matter what season it is. Join our mountain adventure!"

Video of a hike:

Hiking distance: 4 km in total, with an altitude increase of about 300 meters.

Suitable age: 3-60 years old (in good physical condition).

The whole trip is not very easy, but everyone has different physical strength and different definitions of easy, so please judge for yourself. The youngest recorded age of the route is 3 years old, but she is in good physical condition and not squeamish.

From March 1st to June 15th, Cangshan Mountain is under fire prevention and martial law, and the pine cone picking route will no longer pass through Jizhao Temple. During this period, we will go to another wild trail to pick pine cones.

This route passes through the fields, where you can see the crops that villagers sow at different times. If you pay close attention, you can also find some wild flowers and vegetables between the stalks, especially in spring.

After passing through the fields, we reached the hillside, where the view was vast, with a general view of farmland, villages and Erhai Lake. Going up further, we entered the real forest.

Passing by untended wild tea trees and lush large ferns, look for pine cones and plump pine nuts that fall in the carpet of pine needles. In spring, azaleas of several colors will slowly bloom.

Depending on the seasons, you will see different plants and fruits along the way. Camellia, pine nuts, pine cones, azalea, fragrant white beads, Nepalese alder, viburnum, hydrangea primrose, winter cherry, ferns, etc. It is not recommended to ask specifically what you will see, because even in winter, the vegetation on Cangshan Mountain is rich. Walking in the forest is a general feeling of the forest. It will be more enjoyable if you don't have a purpose.

If you also like wild fun, don’t like commercial scenic spots, and don’t mind passing by a cemetery on the way, then you are welcome to go treasure hunting in the mountains with the girls in the picking group.

Small scene:

One year, after the mushroom season ended, I went hiking in the mountains. I found a piece of soft moss to sit down and rest. There were no mushrooms at this time. Maybe because my eyes habitually looked for things on the ground, I unexpectedly found small pine nuts on the ground. They were plump and firm, as if they had just emerged from pine cones. I cracked one and it had a strong pine fragrance, which was very different from the pine nuts that were usually fried with butter.

That day, I squatted on the ground and found many pine nuts. I didn't want to go down the mountain. Looking for pine nuts feels a bit like picking mushrooms. If you find the first one, you will find the second one. Slowly, you will become more and more sensitive to the shape and color of pine nuts. Collecting pine nuts one by one feels like relieving stress.

Every year from September to October, pine nuts are hidden in pine cones. Villagers who want to get a lot of pine nuts will go up the mountain to pick green pine cones directly from the trees, take them home and wait for them to dry. The pine cones will naturally crack and the pine nuts will naturally come out. Some people will directly split the green pine cones in half on the mountain, take out the pine nuts one by one, and then go down the mountain. This will save some physical strength and they don’t have to carry the whole pine cone down. Those pine cones that are not visited by the villagers will be temporarily hung on the pine trees. When the time is up, the pine cones on the pine trees will dry and naturally explode, and the pine nuts will fall to the ground. At this time, the happiness of us and the little squirrels comes.

Picking team introduction:

There are five or six girls in our group, namely, Weed Jing, Yan Zi, Xiao Min, Wan Wan, Li Zhen Hao and Elephant. They all have their own strengths. They study various mushroom books and participate extensively in field work in different forests.

To summarize their characteristics: they have both profound theoretical knowledge and rich field experience in forestry.

Some photos from previous pine cone-picking hikes:

Picnic in the forest (the guide will bring tea, picnic mats, fruits, and snacks)