Cold Springs Summit (off Beasore Rd, above Bass Lake) to Chilkoot Lake and Little Shuteye Peak, 06/26/10: #1. There were a few skeeters now and then, but none were landing, biting, or even following me. There was runoff everywhere and I had to cross many small streams and swampy areas, but I think there's still too much current in these areas for any serious hatching.
____________________________________________________________________________________
I don't want to derail this thread too much with a related tangent, but SSSdave made some great points and I'd like to discuss them a bit. Over the past several years, I've changed my clothing strategy for protection from bugs and sun. I've been very pleased with the results. I used to always hike in nylon running shorts, cotton tee, and bandana. I always assumed that was the best combination for avoiding heat exhaustion. But I often came home burned and bitten, no matter how much sunscreen and repellent I used.
Since then I've switched to thin, extremely well-ventilated nylon full-length pants and long-sleeved shirt. (I HIGHLY recommend RailRiders Eco-Mesh pants and shirt. Although expensive, they're ultralight, durable, and really well designed.) I ditched the bandana in favor of a rain hat that doubles as a sun hat. I also bought a mosquito head net. It doesn't have the plastic hoop that SSSdave mentioned, but the brim of my OR Nimbus Hat holds it away from my face even better than those hoops do. And the hat isn't any hotter than a baseball cap, despite the Gore-Tex membrane. I hate wearing a hood, so the hat is awesome when it rains too. Dave made a great point about the use of a neck flap. I wish my hat had one. Maybe I can add one using velcro patches. Hmmm...
In my recent efforts to lighten my load, I've also added an extremely light and thin windbreaker, to maximize the effectiveness of my insulating layers, rather than carry an additional insulating layer. Turns out this is a very effective piece of armor against skeeters too, when combined with my nylon shirt underneath. I've been bitten through the pants, but they definitely decrease the bites (and sunburns!) I receive. I haven't found any pants that are the equivalent of the windbreaker as far as being ultralight, but I'm considering Permethrin treatment for the pants and shirt.
I'm a bit concerned about any possible negative health effects from wearing a garment that's been treated with repellent, so I need to find out more about Permethrin. I can't even stand getting bug repellent on my hands (since it's essentially poison), so I always use the Cutter stick. You just rub it on like a stick deodorant. I don't like sprays either, because it's hard to control where the repellent is being applied and I always end up breathing some of it.
As far as time of day to avoid skeeters, I don't pay attention. I like to hike all day and don't usually stop to camp until just before dusk. I put on "battle gear" if needed as soon as I stop to make camp. If I'm hiking through an area with really heavy swarming, I just increase my pace until I reach a better area. I only stop to reapply repellent if the bugs are driving me mad and I can't outrun them. But I usually avoid applying any repellent unless the bugs are really bad to begin with.
Campsite selection is definitely key. Avoiding standing water is obvious and I prefer a somewhat exposed site to a wooded site, to catch a little breeze. This not only decreases the bug problem, but also decreases condensation in my tent. But of course those benefits have to be weighed against other concerns, like the hazards of lightning and strong gusts in an overly exposed site. There's usually a happy medium, if you're willing to take the time to really look and don't insist on camping as close to a lake shore as possible.
Speaking of lakes, I hope most hikers think to rinse themselves off well away from streams and lakes before jumping in for a swim. When I was younger I didn't think to do this until I noticed a scum of sunscreen and repellent rising to the surface of the lake from my body.
Then there's the good ol' campfire. Always an effective bug deterrent, but not always allowed or advised, depending on fuel scarcity and forest fire danger, of course. I don't usually build one, but I've been known to reconsider due to the skeeter population.
If all of the foregoing seems too obvious, then I apologize. But for the less experienced hiker, perhaps some of it is useful. Anyone know what the heck Permethrin really is?