Album of Dry Gulch Field Trip

Selected photos by Rod Crawford and Laurel Ramseyer from our 15 May 2015 spider collecting trip to Dry Gulch, extreme southeastern Chelan County, Washington. We had to stay longer than intended to get a sample at this aptly-named site, but eventually supplemented a 12-species orchard sample to 24 species, paying the price of shoes and socks full of seeds. You might say the cheatgrass dry-gulched us! At day's end we briefly visited a higher nearby site (Jumpoff Ridge) for pine cones, without much luck, but the woods were certainly full of flowers! See Laurel's account here.
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2015 aerial photo of Dry Gulch, SE Chelan County, Washington looking eastward down Dry Gulch, SE Chelan County, Washington
Lower Dry Gulch    (Chelan County, 2015) Looking eastward down-gulch           © Rod Crawford
rocks (boulders) at Dry Gulch, SE Chelan County, Washington Laurel Ramseyer looking down Dry Gulch, SE Chelan County, Washington
Nothing good found under rocks        © Rod Crawford Laurel looking down-gulch             © Rod Crawford
cheatgrass Bromus tectorum at Dry Gulch, SE Chelan County, Washington deep part of Dry Gulch, SE Chelan County, Washington
Invasive cheatgrass covered the ground     © Rod Crawford Parts of the gulch were precipitous           © Rod Crawford
cheatgrass seeds in sock, from Dry Gulch, SE Chelan County, Washington exposure of pillow lava, Dry Gulch, SE Chelan County, Washington
Sock had 5X as many seeds originally        © Rod Crawford Exposure of pillow lava             © Rod Crawford
culvert under Colockum Road at Dry Gulch, SE Chelan County, Washington culvert under Colockum road at Dry Gulch, SE Chelan County, Washington
Big culvert provided…         © Rod Crawford …a handy route under the road             © Laurel Ramseyer
sagebrush Artemisia tridentata at Dry Gulch, SE Chelan County, Washington purple sage Salvia dorri at Dry Gulch, SE Chelan County, Washington
Even sagebrush had few spiders     © Rod Crawford Ever wonder what inspired Riders of the Purple Sage?         © Rod Crawford
tumbleweeds at Dry Gulch, SE Chelan County, Washington Eriogonum sphaerocephalus at Dry Gulch, SE Chelan County, Washington
Tumbleweed produced no spiders either    © Rod Crawford Eriogonum sphaerocephalus          © Rod Crawford
bobcat track, Dry Gulch, SE Chelan County, Washington rain puddle in Dry Gulch, SE Chelan County, Washington
Bobcat track              © Rod Crawford It sometimes rains even in Dry Gulch           © Rod Crawford
crab spider Misumenops lepidus under Eriogonum flower, Dry Gulch, SE Chelan County, Washington jumping spider Sassacus papenhoei from Dry Gulch, SE Chelan County, Washington
Misumenops lepidus lurks            © Laurel Ramseyer Shiny Sassacus papehnoei        © Laurel Ramseyer
juvenile Steatoda from under rocks, Dry Gulch, SE Chelan County, Washington theridiid spider Enoplognatha marmorata, Dry Gulch, SE Chelan County, Washington
Juvenile Steatoda sp.    © Rod Crawford Female Steatoda triangulosa             © Rod Crawford
juvenile Habronattus jumping spider from Dry Gulch, SE Chelan County, Washington female Misumenops lepidus crab spider, Dry Gulch, SE Chelan County, Washington
Promising Habronatttus was juvenile, alas!  © Rod Crawford Misumenops lepidus              © Rod Crawford
egg sacs and exuvium of unknown spider under rock, Dry Gulch, SE Chelan County, Washington heading down toward river, Dry Gulch, SE Chelan County, Washington
Unknown spider's eggs & exuvium        © Laurel Ramseyer We started down toward the river            © Rod Crawford
Rod Crawford in sombrero at Dry Gulch, SE Chelan County, Washington Rod Crawford in sombrero at Dry Gulch, SE Chelan County, Washington
Where is my sombrero?        © Laurel Ramseyer It is on my head!           © Laurel Ramseyer
morning-glory, Soldanella sp., Dry Gulch, SE Chelan County, Washington shade of mulberry trees, Dry Gulch, SE Chelan County, Washington
Mystery species of morning-glory        © Laurel Ramseyer Finally, some shade!            © Rod Crawford
Laurel Ramseyer in shade of mulberry trees, lower Dry Gulch, SE Chelan County, Washington train seen across river from Dry Gulch, SE Chelan County, Washington
Laurel didn't take much advantage of shade © Rod Crawford Choo-choo, choo-choo            © Rod Crawford
ripples caused by hydroplane in Columbia River, Dry Gulch, SE Chelan County, Washington bouldery rocky bank of Columbia River, mouth of Dry Gulch, SE Chelan County, Washington
Current in the Columbia? No, hydroplane ripples   © Laurel Ramseyer Laurel caught wolf spiders among the boulders            © Laurel Ramseyer
non-native mulberry tree Morus alba, Dry Gulch, SE Chelan County, Washington mulberry trees Morus alba, Dry Gulch, SE Chelan County, Washington
Mulberry leaves              © Laurel Ramseyer Non-native mulberry trees             © Laurel Ramseyer

We visited the day's second site, Jumpoff Ridge, in an ill-starred search for pine cone spiders.

2015 aerial photo of Jumpoff Ridge site, SE Chelan County, Washington roadside habitats, Jumpoff Ridge site, SE Chelan County, Washington
Our second site, forest beside powerline   (Chelan County, 2015) Roadside habitats             © Rod Crawford
Balsamorhiza sagittata, balsamroot, Jumpoff Ridge site, SE Chelan County, Washington meadow of grass and balsamroot, Jumpoff Ridge site, SE Chelan County, Washington
Balsamroot was super-abundant        © Laurel Ramseyer It decorated both meadows and understory             © Rod Crawford
lupine at Jumpoff Ridge site, SE Chelan County, Washington male crab spider Misumenops sierrensis, Jumpoff Ridge site, SE Chelan County, Washington
Lupine was also common       © Rod Crawford Misumenops sierrensis: flowers supported many crab spiders    © Rod Crawford
ponderosa pine trunk, Jumpoff Ridge site, SE Chelan County, Washington ponderosa pine forest, Jumpoff Ridge site, SE Chelan County, Washington
Ponderosa pine was present        © Rod Crawford In fact, it was downright abundant            © Rod Crawford
closed pine cones, Jumpoff Ridge site, SE Chelan County, Washington Laurel Hill seen from Jumpoff Ridge site, SE Chelan County, Washington
Unfortunately most cones were closed       © Rod Crawford This is as close as Laurel got to Laurel Hill             © Rod Crawford
Laurel Ramseyer seeking pine cones, Jumpoff Ridge site, SE Chelan County, Washington view from road to Jumpoff Ridge site, SE Chelan County, Washington
Desperately seeking open cones       © Rod Crawford View on the way down from Jumpoff             © Rod Crawford
roof of E-Z's Burger Deluxe, Wenatchee, Washington E-Z's Burger Deluxe, Wenatchee, Washington
Roof decorations of…          © Laurel Ramseyer …our favorite Wenatchee burger place             © Rod Crawford
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This page last updated 7 November, 2015