On Saturday, August 16th, two of us conquered Mount Mitchell, located south of Mt. St. Helens and Swift Reservoir in Washington. I decided not to take my bulky camera, so you and I will just have to imagine how neat the 4 mountain view was at the top. We only saw 1 other hiker the entire day and we filled out the logbook at the top. Unfortunately, the mosquitos and biting flies were out in full force, so it made the rest at the top a little less enjoyable than hoped. The temperature was also in the mid 90s.

Last night I was brushing my teeth and saw one of the biggest spiders I’ve ever seen in a house… unfortunately, mine. While looking in the mirror my eye caught movement in a box of bandages located a few inches from my face. I jumped back and saw the black legs inside.

I happened to have a clear plastic box on hand, so I scooped the bandages box into the clear box and taped it shut. A large spider then emerged.

I then took a few closeups of it, as you can see. Oh man, if that thing jumped out of the box and hid, I wouldn’t be sleeping tonight… or ever. There’s a certain comfort knowing it’s locked up and won’t be later found in my bed… unless there’s more.

I hope that’s all of them and that there’s not some enormous mama spider around this place somewhere.

Using a macro filter, I shot this with smaller aperature (for more depth of field) and at a slower shutter speed. I used a flashlight to backlight the hairs on the spider’s legs, enhancing the ‘creepiness’ of the image.