High Sierra Topix

Route: Crabtree TH, Camp Lk, Piute Meadow, XC to Groundhog Meadow, Rosasco Lk, Hyatt Lk, Pingree Lk, Kole Lk, Coyote Lk, Karls Lk, Leighton Lk, Red Can Lk, Wood Lk, Buck Lks, at small lakes at trail crest cut off to Long Lk outlet, Middle and South Wire Lks, Toejam Lk, Granite Lk, Bear Lk, Camp Lk, Crabtree TH.

Mosquitoes: zero (that wold be 1 on the scale; the scale should start at 0 instead of 1), except the last day after the wilderness sign, a few landed and bit behind the knee. After putting long pant legs I didn’t see any more of them. No wind most of the time.

1 - Beehive Meadow, Laurel Lake 5/24-5/25. Cold and wet after three days of rain.

1 - Moraine Ridge, Jack Main Canyon, Falls Creek 5/25-5/26. Cool and sunny with lots of water on the trail.

1 - Tilden Lake 5/26-5/27. Cool and sunny with patchy snow.

2 - Tiltill Valley 5/27-5/28. Sunny and wet.

3 - Slot canyon south of Tiltill, heading for Rancheria 5/28.

1 - Hetch Hetchy (Rancheria-Wapama-Dam) 5/28.

Happy trails!

Hi PAG,

Welcome to HST! Thank you for the mosquito report.
If you get the time, an intro would be appreciated here: viewtopic.php?f=1&t=9329

tomba wrote:Route: Crabtree TH, Camp Lk, Piute Meadow, XC to Groundhog Meadow, Rosasco Lk, Hyatt Lk, Pingree Lk, Kole Lk, Coyote Lk, Karls Lk, Leighton Lk, Red Can Lk, Wood Lk, Buck Lks, at small lakes at trail crest cut off to Long Lk outlet, Middle and South Wire Lks, Toejam Lk, Granite Lk, Bear Lk, Camp Lk, Crabtree TH.

Mosquitoes: zero (that wold be 1 on the scale; the scale should start at 0 instead of 1), except the last day after the wilderness sign, a few landed and bit behind the knee. After putting long pant legs I didn’t see any more of them. No wind most of the time.

What a difference a few days makes. I day hiked out to Bear lake today 5/29 and while there was nothing on the main trail, the spur trail between Camp and Bear was at least a 3 and looked like it would be getting much worse in the next few weeks.

Just returned from 3 days out, going from Big Meadow Trailhead on hwy 50 to Dardanelles Lake.

5/28 - mostly 1
plenty of mosquitoes in spots, but not all that interested in biting except one spot on trail

5/29 - 2
many more in number at the lake this day, but not all that interested in biting - many more at dawn and dusk.

5/30 - 1

Kearsarge to Glen Pass. Just got out today. Didn't see one dirty sucker. God bless the USA on that one!!!!

MountainMinstrel wrote:

tomba wrote:Route: Crabtree TH, Camp Lk, Piute Meadow, XC to Groundhog Meadow, Rosasco Lk, Hyatt Lk, Pingree Lk, Kole Lk, Coyote Lk, Karls Lk, Leighton Lk, Red Can Lk, Wood Lk, Buck Lks, at small lakes at trail crest cut off to Long Lk outlet, Middle and South Wire Lks, Toejam Lk, Granite Lk, Bear Lk, Camp Lk, Crabtree TH.

Mosquitoes: zero (that wold be 1 on the scale; the scale should start at 0 instead of 1), except the last day after the wilderness sign, a few landed and bit behind the knee. After putting long pant legs I didn’t see any more of them. No wind most of the time.

What a difference a few days makes. I day hiked out to Bear lake today 5/29 and while there was nothing on the main trail, the spur trail between Camp and Bear was at least a 3 and looked like it would be getting much worse in the next few weeks.

Same here! We just did Crabtree -> Pine Valley -> West Fork Cherry Creek -> Back via Camp Lake and they were a solid 4 with a good hour of 5 at camp last night, and we even moved up away from the marshy areas and stayed high above Cherry Creek. It felt much more like mid July out there than late may.

0/1 - Lyell (Tuolumne Meadows) out-and-back 5/31/15. Warm and breezy, with some standing water on the trail.

This reports isn't about Mosquitos, but my wife and I went up Trailmaster just North of Cottonwood Pass. Most of the area above 11,000 feet was very buggy. Millions of little guys were all over Trailmaster Peak, swarming around. Not real annoying, but they were definitely "in your face" a little, getting inside open water bottles, etc. Lots of Lady Bugs too and all other sorts of bugs. Never seen so many bugs, especially staring up higher like that above the greenery.

I definitely wouldn't avoid the area, but just thought I would mention it in case they're not at their peak yet.

0.0 May 23-25, no mosquitoes where I ventured in Lassen Volcanic NP at 5.5k to 7.5k though expect squeets are now making an appearance. TS's each day but relatively dry in most landscapes except below snowline.

http://www.davidsenesac.com/Spring_2015 ... 015-1.html