High Sierra Topix

June 30 - July 3: King's Canyon - Road's End to Mt. Brewer. The mosquitos were terrible from about 8,000 feet all the way until 12,000 feet. Even with 100% Deet on I was being attacked really bad at the lower and the higher Sphinx Lakes and all along Sphinx Creek. They finally left me alone when I got over Sphinx Pass, which is about 12,000 feet above sea level.

george wrote:Just returned from an easy 5-day loop north out of Mineral King: Timber Gap, Kaweah Gap, Hands-and-Knees Pass, Glacier Pass. No bugs at all until below Precipice Lake. Had a glorious 1/2-day and night at Hamilton Lake with no bugs or people. But mosquitoes all day long in the Big Arroyo, Little Five Lakes and Big Five Lakes basins, and by and above Spring Lake. We camped on ridgetops where there was some breeze, which helped a bit. A lovely, varied loop hike with good flowers and plenty of flowing water still- more than we expected!

Thanks for the report George as I am likely to be in Mineral King tomorrow afternoon to start my 2-day slow slog over Sawtooth. I backpacked into White Chief June 17 so your report now a couple weeks later sounds about right. I'm guessing the only squeets that may bother me will be Lost Canyon. ...David

There were very few mosquitoes out during my 3-night backpack into some 8k to 9k Mokelumne Wilderness areas June 29>July 2. Didn't use any repellent and pretty much went around unconcerned during daylight hours in my t-shirt. The area I visited was mostly dry volcanic with peaking summer wildflowers though I camped near one of the small streams that was quite lush with lupine and paintbrush. It was pretty windy part of those days which likely diminished whatever few there were about. Even there with balmy night temperatures hardly any mosquitoes came whining though one actually did bite me one evening. I did sleep with my bivy netting over my head since there were likely a few in the area.

So far I've done 5 backpacks since Memorial Day weekend with mosquitoes about as few as any year I can recall. ...David

June 30-July 4 Woodchuck Country and Blackcap Basin.
Mosquitoes were generally moderately annoying to light. June 30: Rancheria to Woodchuck L. Worst section was last ascent to Woodchuck L. MAR5, other wet areas locally MAR 3-4 when wind died; the rest probably mostly MAR1-2. July 1: Woodchuck L. to Pearl L. Worst of this was along N. Fork Kings. The final approach to the off trail cutoff was getting to MAR 6 range causing me to hike really fast. Early part of hike was pretty mild (MAR 1-3). July 2 Blackcap Basin exploration. Much of morning was MAR 1 or so with MAR 0 at Valor Lake (nice cool breeze) as things headed toward evening graded to MAR 3-4 at Pearl L. when the breeze went away. July 3. Pearl L. to Scepter L. On a warming trend and the bugs were up at the crack of dawn. Upper part of N Fork Kings bad again MAR 5 at worst parts. Scepter was surprisingly mild considering it's marshy nature (mostly MAR 2) and a brief visit to Crown was nearly mosquito free (MAR1), although the mosquitoes really picked up in the evening disturbing our big fish dinner at Scepter (MAR 4). Biting flies on the hike to Scepter were pretty bad, though and their numbers peaked on that day of the hike. July 4. Scepter L. to Rancheria via Duck L. The day dawned rather buggy with the first mosquito kill at about 610 am, but it stayed pretty moderate on the 100 percent off trail 'cut the corners' route to Duck L. say MAR 3-4 tops. Duck L. was very pleasant with very few mosquitoes (MAR 0-1). Hike out was hot and dusty and mosquitoes seem to have largely vanished.

lostcoyote wrote:June 30-July 1

Twin Lakes, Kaiser Wilderness

MAR 4 near the lakes and meadows without wind - especially in the morning as the nightime temps were rather warm

When the wind picked up a tad in the afternoon, MAR droped to around 3.

About a mile from the lakes, the mosquitoes were virtually nonexistant.

I'll second this. Was at Upper Twin Lake 7/4-7/5. No problems during the day except along the marshy areas. Evenings were heavy but no DEET was required as I put on the long pants and windbreaker. Still managed to get some bites but was nothing as bad as I've experienced in the past.

July 19 (Thursday). Cunningham Lake, east of Kaiser Pass elev 9040+. Dayhike from White Bark Vista climbing to about 10100 before descending gully to lake. Wonderful breezy weather. Highs probably reached high 60's. In spite of the somewhat marshy fringe of parts of the lake I encountered but a solitary mosquito on the entire trip (ie MAR=0). The wildflowers were excellent: tiger lilies, paintbrush, monkey flower, lupine, fireweed, pink allium (onion), etc. It is rare to hit a place when the wildflowers are in full bloom but the mosquitoes are absent (usually peak wildflowers coincide with pretty bad mosquitoes).

Better late than never - Twenty Lakes Basin July 14-15. Lots of skeeters. The wind was blowing so it wasn't too bad, but when out of the wind or when it stopped, the bloodsuckers came out of nowhere to feast.

Just returned from five days 7-30>8-3 up Bear Creek. Mosquito situation for me was very predictable. The lower canyon of Bear Creek below 9k has numerous seeps coming down from the high canyon slopes above. Due to the glaciated granite geology, willow, and aspen clogged stream courses, all of them harbor mosquitos that will likely last throughout summer. Thus one can be hiking along in many areas with few if any squeets and enter a green wet area where modest numbers thrive. The four worst areas of that trail were at Twin Falls ~8100, the first swamp bench above at ~8250, the second swamp bench above at ~8600, and Kip Camp streams at 8900. Outside of those areas during mid day, one can easily forgo repellent and merely squish the few about. However late in the afternoon, overnight into early morning, all areas had some mosquitoes hunting about even in the driest landscapes. On my last night, I filled my water containers on a stream at the PCT/Bear Creek trail junction, took my second refreshing dip in the creek at 8800. Then climbed up to the domes at 9000 feet where I camped among the smooth granite and junipers. And not surprisingly, even there, mosquitoes hunting during the night would every 15 minutes or so disrupt my atempt at enjoying unemcumbered peace of mind in sleeping without any head net. ...David

I just got back from a trip to Kearsarge Lakes and was amazed at how few skeeters we saw. We didn't even bother with bug juice and I only got a couple of bites. Spent one night at Flower Lake and needed the DEET there but they still didn't seem as bad as in the past.
Gary C.

Humphrey"s Basin, 11,200' 8/2-8/7 Even though we were camped near a lush green damp creek, we only had a handful and not particularly agressive. Never used the juice