Album of Elbow Lake Trailhead Field Trip

Selected photos by Rod Crawford and Laurel Ramseyer from our 6 September 2019 spider collecting trip to the Elbow Lake trailhead, Middle Fork Nooksack River, Whatcom County, Washington (a short distance SW of Mt. Baker). Reached by a good DNR road and a bad Forest Service road, the site is remote but did have a few other visitors (who didn't stay). The Elbow Lake trail is only for the brave, but the rest of us have some very decent habitats available around the trailhead, and Laurel hit the jackpot with a brand-new Wubana and rare Cybaeopsis spenceri; we got 38 species in all.
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aerial photo of Elbow Lake Trailhead area, Middle Fork Nooksack River, Whatcom County, Washington trailhead parking, Elbow Lake Trailhead area, Middle Fork Nooksack River, Whatcom County, Washington
Roadside & riverbank sites in red          (USDA, 2017?) Wide spot in the road for the trailhead         © Rod Crawford
western hemlock Tsuga heterophylla foliage, Elbow Lake Trailhead area, Middle Fork Nooksack River, Whatcom County, Washington forest understory, Elbow Lake Trailhead area, Middle Fork Nooksack River, Whatcom County, Washington
Plenty of hemlock foliage to beat        © Rod Crawford Lush forest understory still, in late summer yet!       © Rod Crawford
alder leaf litter, Elbow Lake Trailhead area, Middle Fork Nooksack River, Whatcom County, Washington tiny roadside brook, Elbow Lake Trailhead area, Middle Fork Nooksack River, Whatcom County, Washington
Good litter fills cracks between rocks    © Rod Crawford Tiny roadside brook provided alder-litter habitat            © Rod Crawford
dead wood in forest, Elbow Lake Trailhead area, Middle Fork Nooksack River, Whatcom County, Washington banks of the Middle Fork, Elbow Lake Trailhead area, Middle Fork Nooksack River, Whatcom County, Washington
Dead wood habitat in forest             © Rod Crawford Banks of the glacial-milky Middle Fork            © Rod Crawford
shelf fungus, Elbow Lake Trailhead area, Middle Fork Nooksack River, Whatcom County, Washington mature forest overlooking river, Elbow Lake Trailhead area, Middle Fork Nooksack River, Whatcom County, Washington
Shelf fungus & more wood            © Rod Crawford Mature forest overlooking the river        © Rod Crawford
City Zygiella web on our car at Elbow Lake Trailhead, Middle Fork Nooksack River, Whatcom County, Washington variegated banana slug Ariolimax columbianus, Elbow Lake Trailhead, Middle Fork Nooksack River, Whatcom County, Washington
How city spiders get carried to the forest    © Laurel Ramseyer A variegated Ariolimax           © Laurel Ramseyer
stonefly exuvium, Elbow Lake trailhead on Middle Fork Nooksack River, Whatcom County, Washington grass around parking area, Elbow Lake trailhead on Middle Fork Nooksack River, Whatcom County, Washington
Big stonefly exuvium            © Laurel Ramseyer Unproductive (for spiders) grass around parking area     © Rod Crawford
Cornus canadensis in fruit, Elbow Lake trailhead on Middle Fork Nooksack River, Whatcom County, Washington river cobbles, Elbow Lake trailhead on Middle Fork Nooksack River, Whatcom County, Washington
Cornus canadensis in fruit            © Laurel Ramseyer Embedded river cobbles, Cybaeopsis spenceri habitat     © Laurel Ramseyer
fern beside trail, Elbow Lake trailhead on Middle Fork Nooksack River, Whatcom County, Washington caddisfly on river cobble, Elbow Lake trailhead on Middle Fork Nooksack River, Whatcom County, Washington
Sword fern beside trail             © Laurel Ramseyer Caddisfly on large river cobble                     © Laurel Ramseyer
log bridge to trail, Elbow Lake trailhead on Middle Fork Nooksack River, Whatcom County, Washington log bridge to trail, Elbow Lake trailhead on Middle Fork Nooksack River, Whatcom County, Washington
Actual Elbow Lake Trail right across this log  © Laurel Ramseyer Is there a funambulist in the house?                 © Laurel Ramseyer
Pardosa, probably xerampelina, on river cobble, Elbow Lake trailhead on Middle Fork Nooksack River, Whatcom County, Washington wolf spider Pardosa exuvium on river cobble, Elbow Lake trailhead on Middle Fork Nooksack River, Whatcom County, Washington
Pardosa, probably xerampelina    © Laurel Ramseyer Pardosa exuvium on river cobble                    © Laurel Ramseyer

Then we made a brief stop at Wallace Creek Bridge.

Wallace Creek from forest road bridge, Middle Fork Nooksack River road, Whatcom County, Washington Laurel Ramseyer collecting spiders from Wallace Creek Bridge, Middle Fork Nooksack River road, Whatcom County, Washington
Wallace Creek is also glacial in origin!    © Rod Crawford Laurel collecting from Wallace Creek Bridge                © Rod Crawford
rocks beside Wallace Creek Bridge, Middle Fork Nooksack River road, Whatcom County, Washington garter snake on Wallace Creek Bridge, Middle Fork Nooksack River road, Whatcom County, Washington
Rock habitat with no spiders               © Rod Crawford Skinny garter snake crossed the entire bridge                   © Rod Crawford
sunset on 6 September 2019 from near Middle Fork Nooksack River road, Whatcom County, Washington sunset from I-5 in Skagit County, WA on 6 September 2019
Early sunset                 © Rod Crawford Full-blown sunset from I-5                             © Rod Crawford
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This page last updated 31 January, 2020