Selected photos by Rod
Crawford and Laurel Ramseyer from our 28 August 2018 spider collecting trip to an unnamed mountain about 2 miles east of Gee Point, Skagit County, Washington. This area had ideal conditions for a late summer trip, with good habitats at a lower (1730') and a higher (4300') elevation site. The mountain forest was quite a struggle to penetrate (old growth is not always cathedral-like!) but was worth the trouble, with a 12-species sample from dead wood. In all we came away with 37 species from the last field trip of August.
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| Our mountain (arrow to old growth grove) (Skagit County, 2006) | Low elevation site along Finney Creek Road © Laurel Ramseyer |
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| Red cedar foliage contributed © Rod Crawford | And roadside grass added several species © Rod Crawford |
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| Roadside thimbleberry © Rod Crawford | Moss on trees ready for Laurel's sifter © Rod Crawford |
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| Now, time to go Up, Up, Up! © Laurel Ramseyer | Overgrown road to our high-elevation site © Rod Crawford |
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| Climbing the steep old road © Laurel Ramseyer | Rod looks west to Gee Point, sampled in 2012 © Laurel Ramseyer |
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| Steep bank & dense trees made a barrier © Rod Crawford | Inside the old growth grove, a tangle © Rod Crawford |
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| Great, abundant dead wood habitat © Rod Crawford | More of the tangle of dead branches & logs © Laurel Ramseyer |
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| Edge of the grove at another point © Rod Crawford | Not at all easy to make our way in! © Rod Crawford |
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| Vast frontage of conifer foliage © Rod Crawford | Flowery, grassy roadside verge © Rod Crawford |
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| Needles of subalpine fir © Rod Crawford | Subalpine fir branch © Rod Crawford |
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| Western hemlock foliage © Rod Crawford | Looking back at Gee Point as long shadows form © Rod Crawford |
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| Laurel collecting a wolf spider © Rod Crawford | Understory of the old growth grove © Laurel Ramseyer |
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| Laurel checks curled leaves for Clubiona © Rod Crawford | Semi-snags were common in the high forest © Rod Crawford |
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| Nymphalis californica © Laurel Ramseyer | Juvenile male Misumena vatia © Laurel Ramseyer |
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| Exceptionally cute sawfly larva © Laurel Ramseyer | Roadside outcrop of Darrington Phyllite © Rod Crawford |
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| Fireweed in bloom © Rod Crawford | Sauk River from bridge © Rod Crawford |
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| Whitehorse Mtn. visible from far away © Rod Crawford | By evening, haze begins to obscure Whitehorse © Rod Crawford |
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| Evening pit stop, Burger Barn in Darrington © Rod Crawford | This time, light haze makes a brilliant sunset © Rod Crawford |
This page last updated 3 September, 2018