Selected photos by Rod
Crawford and Laurel Ramseyer from our 3 August 2015 spider collecting trip up the newly reopened Suiattle River Road. We got a surprisingly good low-elevation sample at Green Mountain Pasture in the river's flood plain, then climbed the Green Mountain Trail into subalpine meadows and parkland; we had too late a start to even dream of the summit. We got a solid 32 species for the day, making over 40 with older records before the road washed out. As reported by hikers, the meadows were swarming with grasshoppers! Don't miss Laurel's account here also!
The first 10 photos below are from the lower-elevation
Green Mountain Pasture site.
| READ TRIP NARRATIVE | PHOTO ALBUM INDEX | MAIN JOURNAL INDEX |
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| Green Mountain Pasture (Snohomish County, 2012) | The pasture, the shed, and a log pile © Rod Crawford |
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| Rich Douglas-fir foliage at pasture edge © Rod Crawford | Rod getting a sweep sample © Laurel Ramseyer |
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| Plenty of dead wood habitat © Rod Crawford | Phrurotimpus borealis from under fallen bark © Rod Crawford |
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| Yellow tansy ragwort produced no Misumena © Rod Crawford | However, I did get one from fir foliage! © Rod Crawford |
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| Dead mother Coriarachne in egg retreat © Laurel Ramseyer | Woodpile in the pasture shed © Laurel Ramseyer |
On completing the pasture sample, we headed up Green Mountain Trail for subalpine spiders.
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| South slope of Green Mountain with giant Green Meadow (trailhead lower right) (Snohomish County, 2012) |
Trailhead sign, habitat for Zygiella dispar © Rod Crawford |
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| Rod starts up the trail © Laurel Ramseyer | Slope of the trail was mostly gentle © Rod Crawford |
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| Laurel found a solitary white pine tree © Laurel Ramseyer | The white pine cones had spiders! (Note tiny hemlock cones) © Laurel Ramseyer |
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| Old growth hemlock trunk © Rod Crawford | Understory in a glade © Rod Crawford |
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| Tree had decisions to make, finally went straight © Rod Crawford | Trail comes out of forest into giant meadow © Rod Crawford |
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| Next, trail passes 2 slide alder thickets © Laurel Ramseyer | Active hornet nest in the first alder thicket © Rod Crawford |
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| Philodromus alascensis at treeline © Laurel Ramseyer | Then, the vast bracken-flower meadow © Rod Crawford |
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| Misumena vatia on a flower, as it should be © Laurel Ramseyer | The Suiattle River is way, way down there! © Rod Crawford |
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| Spiraea densiflora in the flower meadow © Laurel Ramseyer | Sloan Peak in view on the skyline © Rod Crawford |
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| Grasshopper porn © Laurel Ramseyer | Then Glacier Peak comes into view © Rod Crawford |
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| Lycaena mariposa nectaring © Laurel Ramseyer | We walked among flowers (and grasshoppers) for miles © Laurel Ramseyer |
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| Speyeria hydaspe tattered but still game © Laurel Ramseyer | Farther to the west, Sulphur Mountain © Laurel Ramseyer |
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| Subalpine tree group with habitats… © Laurel Ramseyer | …dead wood, needle litter and hemlock cones © Laurel Ramseyer |
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| "Eenk!" © Laurel Ramseyer | Laurel vainly seeks hemlock cone spiders © Rod Crawford |
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| Unknown juvenile Theridion © Rod Crawford | Varied habitats in subalpine glade © Rod Crawford |
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| Rod heads down the mountain © Laurel Ramseyer | Backlit bracken in meadow © Laurel Ramseyer |
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| Back down to Suiattle River at dusk © Rod Crawford | Sunset from Suiattle River Bridge © Rod Crawford |
This page last updated 20 September, 2015