Road of Peas

This summer I’ve been focusing on spiders that live under and within white and yellow flowers. The Goldenrod Spider has a destinctive pink streak on its abdomen. I found them on the daisies, and on a purple flowered plant. I haven’t seen any of them for several weeks.

Since then, I have found this kind of spider, which I’ve been unable to identify. The only spider with a similar appearance I’ve found in my reference books would have me living in the tropics instead of the Pacific Northwest. They’ve been on a whitish yellow flowering plant, and on the yellow roses.

I found the spider in the latest two pictures on Middle-Fork on the ground near the yellow rose bush. She was running around in the sun. There were a few rose petals from the next bush over on the ground. The spider would run up to one, climb on, and stay still for a few seconds - then rush off again. I placed a petal in her path and she climbed on. I carried her to a yellow rose, and snapped today’s picture. A moment later, the spider scurried off the red petal into the yellow rose. I believe that spider’s covering of dirt came from the bottom of the taxicab rose petal.

Yesterday I was wandering around west of Waldo Lake and found pinesap growing all over the place. I decided to take pictures of all that I encountered. I had stopped to rest, and glancing about I saw a clump growing maybe 10 yards away, right in a spot of sunlight. Lurching to my feet, I lumbered over, lay down next to them, and got the camera all set up. Then a bee showed up! Yikes! I took pictures very quickly, and this was the best shot. Best of the bee; I managed some excellent ones of the plant when the bee was around the backside - it kept crawling out of sight. I’m not real happy with any of the photos, but this one shows the bee clearly.

Here are some photos of Waldo Lake:

Waldo Lake And The Taylor Burn
Maiden peak, Waldo Lake, And Mt. Ray
View From Fuji Mountain

And the one Pinesap picture I’ve posted. I have much better ones waiting their turn.

And, most important news, the mosquitoes are no longer a bother up there on the crestline. It was a stunningly beautiful day in the wilderness.