Album of Gold Creek Valley Field Trip

Selected photos by Rod Crawford, Laurel Ramseyer and Markku Savela from our 17 July 2018 spider collecting trip (with Jerry Austin) to the Gold Creek trail and valley (just east of Snoqualmie Pass), Kittitas County, Washington. The previous week, we found this site soaking wet and headed for drier pastures, but this time it was dry; indeed, hot! The site was well worth visiting, and the four of us found nicely varied habitats, not all productive but jointly yielding a solid 34 species.
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2015 aerial view, Gold Creek Valley near Snoqualmie Pass, Washington Gold Creek Valley (near Snoqualmie Pass, Washington) from the south
Gold Creek Pond & Valley; our sites in red    (Kittitas County, 2015) Our mountain valley from the south          © Rod Crawford
sign for Gold Creek Pond, Gold Creek Valley near Snoqualmie Pass, Washington Gold Creek Pond, Gold Creek Valley near Snoqualmie Pass, Washington
Butterflies on Gold Creek Pond sign     © Rod Crawford On the circum-pond trail                © Rod Crawford
road from parking lot to trailhead, Gold Creek Valley near Snoqualmie Pass, Washington Parnassius clodius butterfly on thistle, Gold Creek Valley near Snoqualmie Pass, Washington
We had to hike a long way on driveable road      © Markku Savela Parnassius clodius nectars on thistle           © Markku Savela
Papilio rutulus western tiger swallowtail on purple flowers, Gold Creek Valley near Snoqualmie Pass, Washington trail's closest approach to Gold Creek, Gold Creek Valley near Snoqualmie Pass, Washington
Roadside nectaring Papilio rutulus      © Rod Crawford Trail's closest approach to Gold Creek             © Rod Crawford
gravel bar of Gold Creek, Gold Creek Valley near Snoqualmie Pass, Washington Gold Creek and gravel bar, Gold Creek Valley near Snoqualmie Pass, Washington
Jerry got spiders from gravel bar      © Laurel Ramseyer Gold Creek was very substantial at this point          © Laurel Ramseyer
trail comes out into the open, Gold Creek Valley near Snoqualmie Pass, Washington valley-side talus meadow, Gold Creek Valley near Snoqualmie Pass, Washington
Trail comes out into the open           © Rod Crawford Rich, valley-side talus "meadow"                  © Rod Crawford
rocky trail through talus, Gold Creek Valley near Snoqualmie Pass, Washington slide alder thicket in talus meadow, Gold Creek Valley near Snoqualmie Pass, Washington
Trail through talus gets rocky          © Rod Crawford Thicket of slide alder with litter and moss            © Rod Crawford
colorful vine maple Acer circinatum, Gold Creek Valley near Snoqualmie Pass, Washington talus meadow along trail, Gold Creek Valley near Snoqualmie Pass, Washington
Colorful vine maple              © Laurel Ramseyer Talus meadow habitat very extensive           © Rod Crawford
talus-meadow vegetation, Gold Creek Valley near Snoqualmie Pass, Washington talus meadow and cliff above, Gold Creek Valley near Snoqualmie Pass, Washington
Dense foliage in talus meadow        © Rod Crawford Talus meadow and sub-cliff rocky slope above       © Rod Crawford
log with loose bark, Gold Creek Valley near Snoqualmie Pass, Washington Callobius sp. spider, Amaurobiidae, under bark, Gold Creek Valley near Snoqualmie Pass, Washington
Log with loose bark              © Laurel Ramseyer Callobius sp. under bark                   © Laurel Ramseyer
Cybaeus sp. male spider under bark, Gold Creek Valley near Snoqualmie Pass, Washington understory shrubs and herbs, Gold Creek Valley near Snoqualmie Pass, Washington
Undetermined male Cybaeus from bark       © Laurel Ramseyer Shrub-herb understory, not very spider-rich         © Rod Crawford
Cornus canadensis dwarf dogwood in understory, Gold Creek Valley near Snoqualmie Pass, Washington western hemlock Tsuga heterophylla in understory, Gold Creek Valley near Snoqualmie Pass, Washington
Cornus canadensis in understory      © Rod Crawford Western hemlock in understory             © Rod Crawford
forester moth Androloma mac zopherid beetles Phellopsis porcata with mites, Gold Creek Valley near Snoqualmie Pass, Washington
Forester moth Androloma maccullochii    © Rod Crawford Zopherid beetles Phellopsis porcata carry mites              © Laurel Ramseyer
true fir trunk Abies sp. at meadow edge, Gold Creek Valley near Snoqualmie Pass, Washington Markku savela on trail, Gold Creek Valley near Snoqualmie Pass, Washington
Large true-fir trunk at meadow edge       © Rod Crawford Markku forges ahead on the trail               © Laurel Ramseyer
Heracleum and Castilleja flowers along trail, Gold Creek Valley near Snoqualmie Pass, Washington open habitat around Heli's Pond, Gold Creek Valley near Snoqualmie Pass, Washington
Heracleum and Castilleja by trail          © Rod Crawford Productive open habitat around Heli's Pond                © Rod Crawford
Jerry Austin near Heli's Pond, Gold Creek Valley near Snoqualmie Pass, Washington open habitat near Heli's Pond, Gold Creek Valley near Snoqualmie Pass, Washington
Jerry near Heli's pond          © Rod Crawford Start of trail around Heli's Pond            © Rod Crawford
warning sign at Heli's Pond, Gold Creek Valley near Snoqualmie Pass, Washington Heli's Pond, Gold Creek Valley near Snoqualmie Pass, Washington
Nanny State warns us there's a pond        © Rod Crawford Heli's Pond itself is a lovely body of water                 © Rod Crawford
clubmoss Lycopodium sp. along Gold Creek Trail, Gold Creek Valley near Snoqualmie Pass, Washington Rampart Ridge from Gold Creek Valley near Snoqualmie Pass, Washington
Clubmoss along the trail           © Rod Crawford Rampart Ridge from near Heli's Pond            © Rod Crawford

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This page last updated 4 August, 2018