Selected photos by Rod
Crawford and Fred Austin from our 9 July 2014 spider collecting trip (with Jerry Austin) to Slide Lake, well into the Cascades in Skagit County, Washington. The trailhead is reached by an even 20 miles on the gravel Illabot Creek Road, fortunately in much better shape than the Forest Service claimed. The trail was rather rough but not too difficult, and brought us to the lake in time to collect about 29 spider species from vegetation, litter, moss, and bark, plus one active wolf spider species.
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Slide Lake from the air (Skagit County, 2013) | Whitehorse Mountain in the distance from Illabot Creek Road © Rod Crawford |
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Driving that long, long road © Rod Crawford | Fred and Jerry survey the scene at the trailhead © Rod Crawford |
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Well, here we are at the trailhead © Rod Crawford | Good thing the sign's there! Trail on right a bit inconspicuous © Rod Crawford |
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Above road, Otter Creek looks like a creek © Rod Crawford | Below road, Otter Creek looks like a river! © Rod Crawford |
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Cornus canadensis in the forest © Rod Crawford | Parts of the trail are rough and rocky © Rod Crawford |
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Abundant boulders along the trail © Rod Crawford | The boulders have been there for a very long time! © Fred Austin |
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Tree rings, anyone? © Fred Austin | Hoo boy, have we got tree rings for you! © Rod Crawford |
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Rubus parviflorus © Rod Crawford | Bride's bonnet, Clintonia uniflora © Fred Austin |
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Nurse log © Fred Austin | First pond encountered before reaching lake © Fred Austin |
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And here we are at the lake! © Rod Crawford | But where's the lakeshore meadow? Underwater! © Rod Crawford |
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Boulder talus across the lake © Rod Crawford | Snowking Mountain, guardian of the lake's head © Rod Crawford |
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Lake shore vegetation, fairly spider-rich © Rod Crawford | Sparse hemlock foliage added some species © Rod Crawford |
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Green, transparent lake water © Fred Austin | Rod rakes in the spiders from the lake shore © Fred Austin |
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Shelf fungus © Fred Austin | Vine maple thicket had some dry leaf litter © Rod Crawford |
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Sifting the litter produced 3 species © Rod Crawford | There was lots of dry moss on rocks © Fred Austin |
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Sisis rotundus sifted from moss © Rod Crawford | Back at the road, roadside verge was our last habitat © Rod Crawford |
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The sunset begins © Rod Crawford | The sunset peaks © Rod Crawford |
This page last updated 9 August, 2014