Mendocino NF / Yolla Bolly

**Mendocino NF / Yolla Bolly – Tier A (May 29)** You're in a genuine morel window right now. Soil temps have just crossed the 52°F threshold and held for a week; the moisture trigger is live—that 0.24" of recent rain plus sustained VWC at 0.16 seven-day average is textbook. True Morels and Oysters are both high-confidence plays. The secondary species (Banded Mottlegill, Red Cage, Lanterns) are sitting on the cusp—soil temp is 3°F shy of their minimums and only 3/7 days qualified, so they're viable but not urgent. Your real constraint is desiccation risk, which is high; this window closes fast at elevation once the soil starts drying. You've got a 3–5 day window before soil moisture crashes. Watch the next 48 hours for any additional precipitation; without it, the VWC will tank and the secondary species drop off entirely. Morels may still fruit through slight drying, but oysters are sensitive to rapid moisture loss. **Hot tip:** Hit north-facing slopes and drainages where soil moisture persists longest—morels will cluster there as drying accelerates, and you'll extend your window by a day or two.

Generated by Claude (Anthropic) from the structured weather, soil, and phenology data on this page. The LLM can misread edge cases — treat this as a starting hypothesis, not a guarantee. Always verify conditions on the ground before committing to a long drive.