Selected photos (by Rod
Crawford & Della Scott) from our 30 May 2011 spider collecting trip also featuring Jerry Austin, to the site of the former town of Fairfax on the Carbon River, Pierce County, Washington. Fairfax was a coal-mining town abandoned just after WWI, and little sign of its existence remains, but the habitats (riparian forests, meadows, and river bank) are lush, beautiful, and rich in spiders. We took 36 species including some extreme rarities; and came away with about the same number of no-see-um bites…
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Aerial photo of townsite area (USGS, 1990) | Old road (now foot trail) descends to Fairfax © Rod Crawford & Della Scott |
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Jerry contemplates getting out of the car © Rod Crawford | The woods and trails were extremely flowery… © Rod Crawford |
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…especially forget-me-nots & buttercups © Rod Crawford | Trail passes through alders © Rod Crawford |
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Small creek crosses the trail © Rod Crawford | The forest was extremely green & mossy © Rod Crawford |
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Sifting moss for spiders © Rod Crawford | Xysticus pretiosus, found under a burlap bag! © Rod Crawford |
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Extremely rare Hypomma marxi © Rod Crawford | Rocky ravine descends from the highway to the trail © Della Scott |
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Start of meadows © Rod Crawford | Riparian meadow © Rod Crawford |
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Meadow grass, wolf spider habitat © Rod Crawford | Meadows where once were buildings © Rod Crawford | ![]() |
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Convoluted maple in the meadow © Rod Crawford | Lush maple crotch © Rod Crawford |
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Maple litter in the meadow © Rod Crawford | Forest forget-me-nots create illusion of water © Rod Crawford |
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Gravel bars made up the river bank © Rod Crawford | My quest for the Carbon River meets success © Rod Crawford |
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Cobbles & sand produced just one spider… © Rod Crawford | …well worth it, very rare Cybaeopsis spenceri © Rod Crawford |
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Lichen under maple tree © Rod Crawford | Stones in old roadbed produced some good spiders © Rod Crawford |
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Carbon River from high above on Fairfax Bridge © Rod Crawford | Historic Fairfax Bridge © Rod Crawford |
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Descendant of Fairfax citizen's rose garden? © Rod Crawford | Vivid sunset along I-5 made our trip home pleasanter © Rod Crawford |
This page last updated 29 March, 2012