Album of Blackpine Campground Field Trip

Selected photos by Rod Crawford and Laurel Ramseyer from our 20 October 2015 spider collecting trip to upper Icicle Creek, Chelan County, Washington. The object was to complete our partial sample from the 30 June Chatter Creek trip, and also get a complete sample from the next area west at Blackpine Horse Camp. Thanks to rich leaf litter, we succeeded – despite various obstacles including dense brush, wet ground, anemic vegetation fauna, very hard-to-find pine cones, and early darkness. See Laurel's account here also!
READ TRIP NARRATIVE PHOTO ALBUM INDEX MAIN JOURNAL INDEX
2013 aerial photo, vicinity Blackpine Campground Chelan County, Washington clouds on Stevens Pass Highway near Baring, Washington, 20 Oct. 2015
Aerial view of camp vicinity     (Chelan County, 2013) Noteworthy clouds east of Index           © Rod Crawford
yellow fall cottonwood foliage east of Stevens Pass, Washington yellow fall cottonwood foliage near Nason Creek Rest Area, Chelan County, Washington
Fall foliage found immediately over the pass        © Rod Crawford Yellow cottonwoods get intense around Nason Creek             © Rod Crawford
puddles in Icicle Creek Road near Blackpine Horse Camp, Chelan County, Washington vine maple and other impenetrable brush with gray jay, Blackpine Horse Camp, Chelan County, Washington
Ground very wet, but vegetation mostly dry!    © Laurel Ramseyer Brushy understory a barrier – unless you're a gray jay  © Laurel Ramseyer
sign for Blackpine Horse Camp, Chelan County, Washington Blackpine Horse Camp, Chelan County, Washington
No humans allowed?            © Rod Crawford Nobody in the campground but us             © Rod Crawford
solitary white pine tree Pinus monticola, Blackpine Campground, Chelan County, Washington white pine cone, Pinus monticola, Blackpine Campground, Chelan County, Washington
White pine tree in solitary splendor       © Laurel Ramseyer Fortunately the tree dropped a few cones             © Laurel Ramseyer
mushroom in forest, near Blackpine Campground, Chelan County, Washington female Cicurina sp,. #1, Agelenidae, Blackpine Campground, Chelan County, Washington
Mushroom on forest floor            © Rod Crawford Cicurina sp. #1 from pine cone          © Rod Crawford
white pine trunk Pinus monticola, Blackpine Campground, Chelan County, Washington black cottonwood trunk Populus trichocarpa, Blackpine Campground, Chelan County, Washington
White pine trunk            © Laurel Ramseyer Black cottonwood trunk               © Rod Crawford
dead leaf fragment mistaken for salamander, Blackpine Campground, Chelan County, Washington bright yellow cottonwood tree near Blackpine Campground, Chelan County, Washington
Forest floor so dim I thought this was salamander    © Rod Crawford Leaf litter source so bright it overexposed               © Rod Crawford
wet cottonwood leaf litter near Blackpine Campground, Chelan County, Washington leaf litter sifting setup near Blackpine Campground, Chelan County, Washington
Litter wet on surface, not soaked through  © Rod Crawford Litter sifting setup                © Rod Crawford
vine maple & cottonwood leaf litter near Blackpine Campground, Chelan County, Washington red fall color on vine maple, Blackpine Campground, Chelan County, Washington
Vine maple litter the frosting on cottonwood litter bed © Rod Crawford The vine maple turned red in sunny spots            © Rod Crawford
crab spider Thomisidae Xysticus pretiosus male from cottonwood litter, Blackpine Campground, Chelan County, Washington dry
Xysticus pretiosus from litter shown above   © Rod Crawford Dry Blackpine Creek (elaborately forded by road)           © Rod Crawford
west peak of Grindstone Mountain from Blackpine Campground, Chelan County, Washington bracken meadow Pteridium, Blackpine Campground, Chelan County, Washington
West peak of Grindstone Mountain          © Rod Crawford Sweeping bracken produced little                © Rod Crawford
yellow fall cottonwood trees near Blackpine Campground, Chelan County, Washington fir foliage in forest, Blackpine Campground, Chelan County, Washington
The cottonwoods were gorgeous       © Laurel Ramseyer Even fir foliage didn't produce much                © Rod Crawford
microspider Lepthyphantes mercedes Linyphiidae from understory, Blackpine Campground, Chelan County, Washington microspider Microneta viaria Linyphiidae from leaf litter, Blackpine Campground, Chelan County, Washington
Laurel swept Lepthyphantes mercedes    © Rod Crawford Microneta viaria from leaf litter           © Rod Crawford
fall color, Blackpine Campground, Chelan County, Washington roadside grass, Blackpine Campground, Chelan County, Washington
More fall color             © Rod Crawford Sweeping roadside grass produced little           © Rod Crawford
Cryphoeca exlineae agelenid spider in web under stone Icicle Creek near Blackpine Campground, Chelan County, Washington cobble bank of Icicle Creek near Blackpine Campground, Chelan County, Washington
Cryphoeca exlineae's under-rock web    © Laurel Ramseyer Cobble bank of Icicle Creek, a good habitat              © Laurel Ramseyer
Last sun, first moon at Blackpine Campground, Chelan County, Washington Icicle Creek in late fall afternoon, near Blackpine Campground, Chelan County, Washington
Last of the sun, first of the moon     © Laurel Ramseyer Icicle Creek looked full at this point           © Laurel Ramseyer
cottonwood trees at Chatter Creek Trailhead, Icicle Creek Road, Chelan County, Washington meadow at Chatter Creek Trailhead, Icicle Creek Road, Chelan County, Washington
Chatter Creek Trailhead: little cottonwoods had good litter
© Rod Crawford		 Natural meadow, but not much to sweep here either              © Rod Crawford
moon rising, Chatter Creek Trailhead, Icicle Creek Road, Chelan County, Washington Rod Crawford sifting leaf litter by dim dusk light, Chatter Creek Trailhead, Icicle Creek Road, Chelan County, Washington
Moon over Chatter Creek             © Laurel Ramseyer Rod bravely chases one more spider with his last gasp? No, I'm still around
© Laurel Ramseyer

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This page last updated 2 November, 2015