Album of Thorp Highway Bridge Field Trip

Selected photos by Rod Crawford and Laurel Ramseyer from our 21 April 2017 spider collecting trip to the Thorp Highway crossing of the Yakima River, Kittitas County, Washington. Although closer to Interstate 90 than we might have liked, the site proved a pleasant spot to spend the day and produced a number of interesting records from varied spider habitats. It also produced my first mosquito bite of 2017! See Laurel's account of the day here.
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2015 aerial photo of Thorp Highway Bridge spider collecting sites, just outside Ellensburg, Washington snow and ice at Lake Keechelus, Snoqualmie Pass, Washington on 21 April 2017
Sampling sites (4 habitats) in red   (Kittitas County, 2015) Snow & ice at Lake Keechelus, Snoqualmie Pass        © Rod Crawford
low railing of Thorp Highway Bridge, near Ellensburg, Kittitas County, Washington Yakima River at Thorp Highway Bridge, near Ellensburg, Kittitas County, Washington
Laurel had to bend way over to collect from bridge railing      © Laurel Ramseyer A lot of swift-moving water to fall into              © Laurel Ramseyer
juvenile orbweaver on railing, Thorp Highway Bridge, near Ellensburg, Kittitas County, Washington gravel pile in county field, Thorp Highway Bridge, near Ellensburg, Kittitas County, Washington
Juvenile orbweaver on bridge       © Laurel Ramseyer Last year, this was all a grassy field             © Rod Crawford
edge of field and riparian woodland, Thorp Highway Bridge, near Ellensburg, Kittitas County, Washington remnant of grassy field, Thorp Highway Bridge, near Ellensburg, Kittitas County, Washington
Edge of field and riparian woods            © Rod Crawford There was still enough field left to sweep              © Rod Crawford
rockpile in county field, Thorp Highway Bridge, near Ellensburg, Kittitas County, Washington photo of Western Skink
Man, what a pile of rocks!              © Rod Crawford Few spiders in rockpile, but 2 Western Skinks    (Connor Long photo, Wikimedia Commons)
edge of riparian woodland, Thorp Highway Bridge, near Ellensburg, Kittitas County, Washington crab spider Thanatus altimontis from rockpile, Thorp Highway Bridge, near Ellensburg, Kittitas County, Washington
Edge of riparian cottonwood belt              © Rod Crawford This nice Thanatus altimontis was active on the rocks        © Rod Crawford
cottonwood Populus trichocarpa trunk in riparian woodland, Thorp Highway Bridge, near Ellensburg, Kittitas County, Washington gated dirt road down into cottonwoods, Thorp Highway Bridge, near Ellensburg, Kittitas County, Washington
Cottonwood trunk            © Rod Crawford Gated dirt road leads down into the cottonwoods           © Rod Crawford
cottonwood leaf litter, Thorp Highway Bridge, near Ellensburg, Kittitas County, Washington forest floor with litter layer, Thorp Highway Bridge, near Ellensburg, Kittitas County, Washington
Lovely cottonwood litter       © Rod Crawford Litter-carpeted forest floor produced 11 species            © Rod Crawford
sifting cottonwood litter, Thorp Highway Bridge, near Ellensburg, Kittitas County, Washington male telemid spider Usofila pacifica from cottonwood litter,
Sifter full of cottonwood litter         © Rod Crawford Surpassingly rare male of Usofila pacifica          © Rod Crawford
mushrooms among the leaf litter, Thorp Highway Bridge, near Ellensburg, Kittitas County, Washington Lepthyphantes furcillifer from cottonwood litter, Thorp Highway Bridge, near Ellensburg, Kittitas County, Washington
Mushrooms in the leaf litter        © Rod Crawford Lepthyphantes furcillifer from cottonwood litter                 © Rod Crawford
Yakima River full of water, Thorp Highway Bridge, near Ellensburg, Kittitas County, Washington sky between cottonwood trunks, Thorp Highway Bridge, near Ellensburg, Kittitas County, Washington
Yakima River full of water            © Rod Crawford Sky between the cottonwoods             © Rod Crawford
ponderosa pine tree with cones at freeway retention pond, Thorp Highway Bridge, near Ellensburg, Kittitas County, Washington ponderosa pine trees by freeway retention pond, Thorp Highway Bridge, near Ellensburg, Kittitas County, Washington
Pine with lots of cones for…        © Laurel Ramseyer Part of a row of pines by the freeway retention pond         © Laurel Ramseyer
Philcophora americana, pholcid spider from pine cones, Thorp Highway Bridge, near Ellensburg, Kittitas County, Washington Poecilochroa (Sergiolus) montana, gnaphosid spider from pine cones, Thorp Highway Bridge, near Ellensburg, Kittitas County, Washington
Pholcophora americana owned the cones  © Laurel Ramseyer Poecilochroa montana was also present              © Laurel Ramseyer
stony slope by freeway retention pond, Thorp Highway Bridge, near Ellensburg, Kittitas County, Washington cheliferid pseudoscorpion from ponderosa pine bark, Thorp Highway Bridge, near Ellensburg, Kittitas County, Washington
Laurel's rocks had lots more spiders than mine     © Laurel Ramseyer Cheliferid pseudoscorpion from pine bark           © Laurel Ramseyer
planted pine trees by state police station, Thorp Highway Bridge, near Ellensburg, Kittitas County, Washington crab spider Bassaniana utahensis from pine cones, Thorp Highway Bridge, near Ellensburg, Kittitas County, Washington
Second pine cone site was well-guarded     © Laurel Ramseyer Bassaniana utahensis             © Laurel Ramseyer
Sign at Mountain High Hamburgers, Easton, Washington Stuart Range seen from I-90 near Cle Elum, Washington on 21 April 2017
Our favorite burger joint          © Rod Crawford Plenty of snow on the Stuart Range               © Rod Crawford
sun drops behind the Cascades sun setting behind The Brothers (Olympic Mountains) from near Issaquah, Washington on 21 April 2017
Sun drops behind a near-Pass peak         © Rod Crawford Sunset silhouettes The Brothers as we approach home          © Rod Crawford

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This page last updated 27 April, 2017