Album of West Elwha Trail Field Trip

The first collecting site on the 6th spider collecting trip (29 April – 1 May 2008) of the Elwha River Biological Survey was inside the national park boundary on the West Elwha Trail, which goes through some really wild country even though it's right across the river from houses, campgrounds and so forth. This trip shows a major disadvantage of fixing the dates of field trips in advance: weather! Our site had been dumped on by a major rain and hail storm just shortly before we arrived. But on the bright side, we were lucky we weren't there sooner to be drenched ourselves! Most habitats were too wet to collect and we only got a few species under rocks, but it's clearly a spot we need to re-visit. Photos by Laurel Ramseyer and Rod Crawford.
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topographic map showing cliffside portion of West Elwha Trail, Clallam County, Washington Elwha River from West Elwha Trail, Clallam County, Washington
This trail section skirts a high cliff (USGS) Elwha River from partway up the west cliff    © Rod Crawford
West Elwha Trail (near north end), Clallam County, Washington cliffs along West Elwha Trail, Clallam County, Washington
The trail was soggy       © Laurel Ramseyer But in due course we reached the cliff area        © Rod Crawford
deposit of hail from recent storm, West Elwha Trail, Clallam County, Washington cliffs along West Elwha Trail, Clallam County, Washington
Pocket of hail among the leaves © Laurel Ramseyer Moss and a seep on cliff face       © Laurel Ramseyer
mossy root and forest understory, West Elwha Trail, Clallam County, Washington boardwalk or bridge, West Elwha Trail, Clallam County, Washington
Mossy tree root        © Laurel Ramseyer Trail bridges a chasm           © Rod Crawford
orchid, Calypso bulbosa, West Elwha Trail, Clallam County, Washington rocky spider habitat, West Elwha Trail, Clallam County, Washington
Calypso bulbosa       © Laurel Ramseyer Cliff-base rocks, our spider habitat       © Laurel Ramseyer
spider Cicurina pusilla Agelenidae with egg sac under rock, West Elwha Trail, Clallam County, Washington spider web Neriene digna Linyphiidae on cliff face, West Elwha Trail, Clallam County, Washington
Cicurina pusilla with egg sac    © Laurel Ramseyer Web of Neriene digna          © Laurel Ramseyer
salamander Plethodon vehiculum at cliff base, West Elwha Trail, Clallam County, Washington Rod Crawford on cliffside portion of West Elwha Trail, Clallam County, Washington
Plethodon vehiculum among rocks © Laurel Ramseyer Rod sets out in search of more rocks      © Laurel Ramseyer


This page last updated 4 February, 2009