Album of Potts Road Quarry Field Trip

Selected photos by Rod Crawford from my 2 November 2020 spider collecting trip with Jerry Austin to a quarry/gravel pit on the gravel portion of Potts Road, off the South Skagit Highway, Skagit County, Washington. To fill in records for the last unsampled gridspace along the S. S. Highway, I settled for this pre-selected site (not exactly spectacular in the habitat department) rather than spend time searching for other nearby sites. We got a 25-species sample anyway, and had a couple hours left over to do a long-planned hike in to Gilligan Creek Falls nearby.
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2019 aerial photo of Potts Road Quarry area off South Skagit Highway, Skagit County, Washington fall color on South Skagit Highway, Skagit County, Washington, 2 November 2020
We parked at red dot marking quarry turnoff   (Skagit County, 2019) Some glimpses of fall color along the highway                   © Rod Crawford
Potts Road Quarry off South Skagit Highway, Skagit County, Washington Potts Road Quarry off South Skagit Highway, Skagit County, Washington
East end of quarry               © Rod Crawford West end of quarry; unsampled habitats!                       © Rod Crawford
entrance of Potts Road Quarry off South Skagit Highway, Skagit County, Washington sword fern along road, Potts Road Quarry off South Skagit Highway, Skagit County, Washington
More color at quarry entrance             © Rod Crawford Ferns adjacent to road were a bit dew-wet               © Rod Crawford
Jerry Austin at parking spot, Potts Road Quarry off South Skagit Highway, Skagit County, Washington interior of forest, Potts Road Quarry off South Skagit Highway, Skagit County, Washington
Jerry at our parking spot              © Rod Crawford Understory within the forest was plenty dry enough to sweep    © Rod Crawford
mossy stump in forest, Potts Road Quarry off South Skagit Highway, Skagit County, Washington roadside verge habitat, Potts Road Quarry off South Skagit Highway, Skagit County, Washington
Picturesque stump              © Rod Crawford Roadside verge, a habitat I forgot to sample!                 © Rod Crawford
big, mossy trees, Potts Road Quarry off South Skagit Highway, Skagit County, Washington moss and litter by a culvert, Potts Road Quarry off South Skagit Highway, Skagit County, Washington
Moss on big tree trunks             © Rod Crawford Little creek comes out of culvert; lots of habitat visible!         © Rod Crawford
bigleaf maple leaf litter, Potts Road Quarry off South Skagit Highway, Skagit County, Washington nameless creek in the forest, Potts Road Quarry off South Skagit Highway, Skagit County, Washington
Bigleaf maple litter             © Rod Crawford Nameless little creek galumphs through the forest                 © Rod Crawford
mysmenid spider Trogloneta sp. #1, Potts Road Quarry off South Skagit Highway, Skagit County, Washington fall color along road, Potts Road Quarry off South Skagit Highway, Skagit County, Washington
Tiny mysmenid spider, Trogloneta sp.        © Rod Crawford Blue sky all gone, yellow trees still there                       © Rod Crawford

To properly conclude our day, we hiked in to Gilligan Creek Falls.

USDA aerial view of trail to Gilligan Creek Falls, Skagit County, Washington stream ravine at Gilligan Creek Falls, Skagit County, Washington
The falls occupy a well-timbered ravine       (USDA aerial) White water in the ravine bottom                    © Rod Crawford
sign at falls bridge about hardhats, Gilligan Creek Falls, Skagit County, Washington Gilligan Creek Falls, Skagit County, Washington
All officials are safety-obsessed             © Rod Crawford Gilligan Creek Falls                      © Rod Crawford
Gilligan Creek Falls, Skagit County, Washington looking down gorge of Gilligan Creek Falls, Skagit County, Washington
A direct-on view of the falls         © Rod Crawford Looking down the gorge                    © Rod Crawford
hanging gardens on ravine side, Gilligan Creek Falls, Skagit County, Washington maidenhair firn in cliff gardens, Gilligan Creek Falls, Skagit County, Washington
The Hanging Gardens of Gilligan        © Rod Crawford Vertical, spray-nurtured maidenhair fern…                     © Rod Crawford
maidenhair fern, Gilligan Creek Falls, Skagit County, Washington Jerry Austin climbing precarious ladder out of ravine, Gilligan Creek Falls, Skagit County, Washington
…my one spider habitat at the falls          © Rod Crawford Jerry climbing precarious ladder out of the gorge                © Rod Crawford
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This page last updated 6 November, 2020