Album of Mt. Washington Pass Field Trip

Selected photos by Rod Crawford and Matisse Lorance from an 18 July 2012 spider collecting trip to sites near Mt. Washington Pass, southeast Olympic Mountains, Mason County, Washington. This pass, near Mt. Washington, confusingly appears on maps as "Washington Pass," but there's one of those on the North Cascades Highway! The Forest Service seems to call it Nettleton Pass, but that name doesn't appear on any map. In any case, the persistent clouds never rained on us and we got a good sample of 33 species from some lovely habitats including old-growth hemlock and a completely natural Spiraea marsh that we crossed dry-shod.
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aerial view of oldgrowth hemlock grove and cut-over land near Mt. Washington Pass, Mason County, Washington approaching Bremerton on Washington State ferry, 18 July 2012
Our main site; old growth stand center-left  (Mason County, 2011) Approaching Bremerton on the ferry         © Rod Crawford
enclave of vegetation among regrowth hemlock, near Mt. Washington Pass, Mason County, Washington diverse foliage among regrowth hemlock near Mt. Washington Pass, Mason County, Washington
Nook of diverse foliage among the young hemlock   © Rod Crawford More diverse vegetation          © Rod Crawford
pretty yellow roadside flowers near Mt. Washington Pass, Mason County, Washington roadside rock outcrop, near Mt. Washington Pass, Mason County, Washington
Purty flowers           © Rod Crawford Roadside outcrop supports lupine & paintbrush         © Rod Crawford
blud-sky break on cloudy day, near Mt. Washington Pass, Mason County, Washington linyphiid spider Poeciloneta lyrica from hemlock foliage near Mt. Washington Pass, Mason County, Washington
Chink of blue on mostly-cloudy day       © Rod Crawford Poeciloneta lyrica from hemlock foliage               © Rod Crawford
mountain hemlock foliage Tsuga mertensiana near Mt. Washington Pass, Mason County, Washington Matisse Lorance gazes at old growth hemlock near Mt. Washington Pass, Mason County, Washington
Mountain hemlock foliage       © Rod Crawford Matisse gazes at the tall timber             © Rod Crawford
old growth hemlock trunk & litter near Mt. Washington Pass, Mason County, Washington old growth hemlock stand reaches clouds, near Mt. Washington Pass, Mason County, Washington
Old growth hemlock trunk & litter    © Rod Crawford The old growth stand reaches the clouds            © Matisse Lorance
canopy from below of old growth hemlock stand near Mt. Washington Pass, Mason County, Washington old growth hemlock forest within a cloud, near Mt. Washington Pass, Mason County, Washington
A glimpse of the old growth canopy        © Matisse Lorance Inside our "cloud forest"                © Rod Crawford
rocky knobs seen below the road, near Mt. Washington Pass, Mason County, Washington Jefferson Peak seen from the road, near Mt. Washington Pass, Mason County, Washington
Rocky knobs seen below the high ridge    © Rod Crawford Jefferson Peak briefly emerges from the clouds          © Rod Crawford

Our second collection site was a lower-elevation clearcut, not intensively planted, with diverse shrubs and herbs.

aerial photo of clearcut below Mt. Washington Pass, Mason County, Washington shrub-herb vegetation in clearcut below Mt. Washington Pass, Mason County, Washington
Clearcut from the air            (Mason County, 2011) Diverse shrubs cover much of the clearcut                  © Rod Crawford
delicious red huckleberries Vaccinium parvifolium, clearcut below Mt. Washington Pass, Mason County, Washington side road with verge habitat, clearcut below Mt. Washington Pass, Mason County, Washington
Red huckleberries, yum yum!            © Rod Crawford Side road with extensive verge habitat                      © Rod Crawford
Matisse Lorance sweeping roadside verge, clearcut below Mt. Washington Pass, Mason County, Washington herbs and ferns in clearcut below Mt. Washington Pass, Mason County, Washington
Matisse sweeping the roadside verge        © Rod Crawford Herbs and ferns in clearcut             © Rod Crawford

Finally, we located and collected at a lovely natural shrub-wetland in the valley below.

aerial view of shrub-marsh near East Fork of Lilliwaup Creek, Mason County, Washington Matisse Lorance on decomissioned road through willow stand near East Fork of Lilliwaup Creek, Mason County, Washington
Aerial view of shrub-marsh and forest buffer   (Mason County, 2011) Nothing but willow seen by the decommissioned road       © Rod Crawford
juvenile orbweaver Neoscona sp. from marsh meadow near East Fork of Lilliwaup Creek, Mason County, Washington marsh meadow near East Fork of Lilliwaup Creek, Mason County, Washington
Neoscona unfortunately didn't mature      © Rod Crawford The willow screened this shrubby wetland meadow             © Rod Crawford
Spiraea densiflora in wetland near East Fork of Lilliwaup Creek, Mason County, Washington Matisse Lorance half-hidden by Spiraea in wetland near East Fork of Lilliwaup Creek, Mason County, Washington
Spiraea densiflora dominated some parts   © Rod Crawford Matisse and I wade through a sea of Spiraea         © Rod Crawford
mossy maple trees near East Fork of Lilliwaup Creek, Mason County, Washington herbaceous part of marsh meadow near East Fork of Lilliwaup Creek, Mason County, Washington
Last stop, mossy maples by main road      © Rod Crawford Herbaceous part of the meadow         © Rod Crawford
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This page last updated 3 September, 2012