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Lateral view of a Female Hexagenia limbata (Ephemeridae) (Hex) Mayfly Dun from the Namekagon River in Wisconsin
Hex Mayflies
Hexagenia limbata

The famous nocturnal Hex hatch of the Midwest (and a few other lucky locations) stirs to the surface mythically large brown trout that only touch streamers for the rest of the year.

Case view of a Pycnopsyche guttifera (Limnephilidae) (Great Autumn Brown Sedge) Caddisfly Larva from the Yakima River in Washington
It's only barely visible in one of my pictures, but I confirmed under the microscope that this one has a prosternal horn and the antennae are mid-way between the eyes and front of the head capsule.

I'm calling this one Pycnopsyche, but it's a bit perplexing. It seems to key definitively to at least Couplet 8 of the Key to Genera of Limnephilidae Larvae. That narrows it down to three genera, and the case seems wrong for the other two. The case looks right for Pycnopsyche, and it fits one of the key characteristics: "Abdominal sternum II without chloride epithelium and abdominal segment IX with only single seta on each side of dorsal sclerite." However, the characteristic "metanotal sa1 sclerites not fused, although often contiguous" does not seem to fit well. Those sclerites sure look fused to me, although I can make out a thin groove in the touching halves in the anterior half under the microscope. Perhaps this is a regional variation.

The only species of Pycnopsyche documented in Washington state is Pycnopsyche guttifera, and the colors and markings around the head of this specimen seem to match very well a specimen of that species from Massachusetts on Bugguide. So I am placing it in that species for now.

Whatever species this is, I photographed another specimen of seemingly the same species from the same spot a couple months later.
27" brown trout, my largest ever. It was the sub-dominant fish in its pool. After this, I hooked the bigger one, but I couldn't land it.
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By Troutnut on July 5th, 2013
My wife and I took the July 4th weekend to do a 19-mile hike through some pretty, remote country off the Denali Highway in the Alaska Range. Except for the last few hundred yards, the only trails were the ones left by caribou and moose.

Photos by Troutnut from Clearwater Mountains and Clearwater Creek in Alaska

Wild geranium. I'm not sure how to tell which species this is within the genus Geranium, but Geranium erianthum is common in Alaska, so that may be it.

From Clearwater Mountains in Alaska
Beautiful mountain valley where I got my caribou in 2012.

From Clearwater Mountains in Alaska
Clearwater Creek meanders in the distance.

From Clearwater Creek in Alaska
Looking up toward the pass we had to go through to start our second day hiking.

From Clearwater Mountains in Alaska
Carrying a heavy load.

From Clearwater Mountains in Alaska
Panoramic view of the mile-wide shoulder of a tundra ridge with a little valley in the middle.

From Clearwater Mountains in Alaska
Jacob's ladder (Polemonium). A few different purple species of the genus Polemonium are found in Alaska, and I'm not sure which one this is.

From Clearwater Mountains in Alaska
Whorled lousewort (Pedicularis verticillata). This might also belong to other Pedicularis species, including sudetica and langsdorfii... I'm just guessing.

From Clearwater Mountains in Alaska
Kamchatka lily (Fritillaria camschatcensis), also known as the chocolate lily.

From Clearwater Mountains in Alaska
My wife bushwhacks through some dwarf birch on our way up into the mountains. There's no trail.

From Clearwater Mountains in Alaska
Rainbow over the Clearwater Creek valley.

From Clearwater Mountains in Alaska
Upper Clearwater Creek valley

From Clearwater Mountains in Alaska
Some species of the genus Spiraea, I'm not sure which.

From Clearwater Mountains in Alaska
Rhodiola integrifolia (King's Crown)

From Clearwater Mountains in Alaska
Valeriana capitata

From Clearwater Mountains in Alaska
Bear flower (Boykinia richardsonii)

From Clearwater Mountains in Alaska

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