Album of Fairfax Field Trip

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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1990 aerial photo of Fairfax town site, Pierce County, Washington former road leading to Fairfax town site, Pierce County, Washington
Aerial photo of townsite area    (USGS, 1990) Old road (now foot trail) descends to Fairfax   © Rod Crawford & Della Scott
Jerry Austin in car at Fairfax town site, Pierce County, Washington flowery trailside at Fairfax town site, Pierce County, Washington
Jerry contemplates getting out of the car   © Rod Crawford The woods and trails were extremely flowery…              © Rod Crawford
forget-me-nots, trail to Fairfax town site, Pierce County, Washington
…especially forget-me-nots & buttercups   © Rod Crawford Trail passes through alders                © Rod Crawford
stream crossing trail to Fairfax town site, Pierce County, Washington moss on maple trees, Fairfax town site, Pierce County, Washington
Small creek crosses the trail        © Rod Crawford The forest was extremely green & mossy                 © Rod Crawford
sifting moss for spiders at Fairfax town site, Pierce County, Washington crab spider Xysticus pretiosus from Fairfax town site, Pierce County, Washington
Sifting moss for spiders            © Rod Crawford Xysticus pretiosus, found under a burlap bag!         © Rod Crawford
rare microspider Hypomma marxi from Fairfax town site, Pierce County, Washington rocky ravine along trail to Fairfax town site, Pierce County, Washington
Extremely rare Hypomma marxi           © Rod Crawford Rocky ravine descends from the highway to the trail      © Della Scott
start of meadows, Fairfax town site, Pierce County, Washington riparian meadow, Fairfax town site, Pierce County, Washington
Start of meadows          © Rod Crawford Riparian meadow                    © Rod Crawford
grass wolf spider habitat, Fairfax town site, Pierce County, Washington meadows where once were buildings, Fairfax town site, Pierce County, Washington
Meadow grass, wolf spider habitat      © Rod Crawford Meadows where once were buildings               © Rod Crawford
bigleaf maple tree Acer macrophyllum in meadow, Fairfax town site, Pierce County, Washington maple crotch with moss & fern, Fairfax town site, Pierce County, Washington
Convoluted maple in the meadow         © Rod Crawford Lush maple crotch                  © Rod Crawford
maple litter in meadow, Fairfax town site, Pierce County, Washington forget-me-nots
Maple litter in the meadow        © Rod Crawford Forest forget-me-nots create illusion of water            © Rod Crawford
gravel bar, bank of Carbon River, Fairfax town site, Pierce County, Washington Carbon River, Fairfax town site, Pierce County, Washington
Gravel bars made up the river bank    © Rod Crawford My quest for the Carbon River meets success           © Rod Crawford
cobbles & sand along Carbon River, Fairfax town site, Pierce County, Washington amaurobiid spider Cybaeopsis spenceri from Carbon River bank, Fairfax town site, Pierce County, Washington
Cobbles & sand produced just one spider…   © Rod Crawford …well worth it, very rare Cybaeopsis spenceri        © Rod Crawford
foliose lichen under maple tree, Fairfax town site, Pierce County, Washington stony roadbed habitat, Fairfax town site, Pierce County, Washington
Lichen under maple tree          © Rod Crawford Stones in old roadbed produced some good spiders        © Rod Crawford
Looking down at Carbon River from Fairfax Bridge, below Fairfax town site, Pierce County, Washington historic Fairfax Bridge, below Fairfax town site, Pierce County, Washington
Carbon River from high above on Fairfax Bridge    © Rod Crawford Historic Fairfax Bridge                  © Rod Crawford
unidentified red flower, Fairfax town site, Pierce County, Washington Sunset along Interstate 5 south of Seattle, 30 May 2011
Descendant of Fairfax citizen's rose garden? © Rod Crawford Vivid sunset along I-5 made our trip home pleasanter       © Rod Crawford

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This page last updated 29 March, 2012