Cryptoporus volvatus

This oddity seemed to be killing pine trees on one of the slopes where we were hiking. The entire tree would be covered in these toasted marshmallow puffs that were hard and smooth. They sounded like they might be hollow and were quite dry to the touch. I'm not entirely sure if they are a fungus or a symptom of a different conifer disease.

Ha-Ha! Never give up. While searching for a beetle I came across this one of my lingering ID's. These are indeed fungi - they start out looking a lot like a puffball growing on a tree, but dry to the hard lacquered appearance that I found. They are spread not by spores floating in the air, but only by wood boring beetles (thus why I found it on my beetle quest).