Album of Grade Creek Road Field Trip

Selected photos by Rod Crawford and Rachel Webber (on her first spider trip) from our 4 July 2012 spider collecting trip to (1) a bridge near Darrington and (2) three sites on a ridge north of the Suiattle River, Snohomish and Skagit counties, Washington. At the first site we completed a partial sample from 2009; on a nameless ridge west of Grade Creek, we got 26 species starting from scratch. Rachel's Tutelina similis from the bridge site was a real find! A great, quiet way to spend a noisy holiday.
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Sauk River Bridge just E of Darrington, Snohomish County, Washington retaining wall, Sauk River Bridge just E of Darrington, Snohomish County, Washington
Sauk River Bridge                   © Rod Crawford Bridge retaining wall: Salticus scenicus habitat!            © Rod Crawford
roadside verge habitat, Sauk River Bridge just E of Darrington, Snohomish County, Washington salticid jumping spider Tutelina similis from roadside verge, Sauk River Bridge just E of Darrington, Snohomish County, Washington
Weedy-grassy roadside verge          © Rod Crawford Rachel's beginner's luck, a female Tutelina similis         © Rod Crawford

Our main site, a mountain roadside at 3750' with young and old-growth forest and a tiny rock quarry.

2009 aerial photo of ridge west of Grade Creek, S-central Skagit County, Washington waterfall on Grade Creek, S-central Skagit County, Washington
Much more snow in this aerial photo than we found this year! Note strip of old growth, left side of road    (Skagit County, 2009) Cascading waterfall on Grade Creek               © Rod Crawford
Rachel Webber at Grade Creek, S-central Skagit County, Washington northern alligator lizard
Rachel strikes a "ready for anything" pose  © Rod Crawford Northern alligator lizard in quarry               © Rod Crawford
small rock quarry, ridge west of Grade Creek, S-central Skagit County, Washington small rock quarry, ridge west of Grade Creek, S-central Skagit County, Washington
Left side of quarry shows bedding       © Rachel Webber Rock is all shattered on right side of quarry         © Rod Crawford
small shattered rocks in quarry, ridge west of Grade Creek, S-central Skagit County, Washington bigger shattered rocks in quarry, ridge west of Grade Creek, S-central Skagit County, Washington
Little rocks – no spiders             © Rod Crawford Bigger rocks – few spiders              © Rod Crawford
road on ridge west of Grade Creek, S-central Skagit County, Washington old growth western hemlock Tsuga heterophylla, ridge west of Grade Creek, S-central Skagit County, Washington
Deserted road lined with spider-rich young hemlocks © Rachel Webber Just off the road, a grove of old growth hemlock           © Rod Crawford
View of White Chuck Mountain from ridge west of Grade Creek, S-central Skagit County, Washington banana slug Ariolimax columbianus, ridge west of Grade Creek, S-central Skagit County, Washington
Looking toward White Chuck Mountain   © Rod Crawford Your friendly neighborhood banana slug                       © Rachel Webber

We stopped briefly halfway back down the ridge to sweep roadside grass.

roadside cascade, ridge west of Grade Creek, S-central Skagit County, Washington roadside grass, ridge west of Grade Creek, S-central Skagit County, Washington
Roadside cascade        © Rod Crawford Tall grass added a few spider species             © Rod Crawford

We put the finishing touches on our sample in bigleaf maple forest on the Suiattle River floodplain.

2009 aerial view, maple forest at Suiattle River Road 26 X 2640, Skagit County, Washington Road and roadside, Suiattle River Road 26 X 2640, Skagit County, Washington
Aerial view shows largely-maple forest       (Skagit County, 2009) Suiattle River Road             © Rod Crawford
moss on maples, Suiattle River Road 26 X 2640, Skagit County, Washington Rod Crawford sifting moss, Suiattle River Road 26 X 2640, Skagit County, Washington
Rich moss on maple branches          © Rod Crawford Rod prepares to sift a batch of moss                © Rachel Webber
salmonberry-nettle understory, Suiattle River Road 26 X 2640, Skagit County, Washington crab spider Xysticus luctuosus with parasitic mite, Suiattle River Road 26 X 2640, Skagit County, Washington
Salmonberry-nettle understory           © Rod Crawford Xysticus luctuosus with parasitic mite                 © Rod Crawford
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This page last updated 28 July, 2012