High Sierra Topix

Post your reports here...
"The scale from previous years has worked out perfectly, so guess we'll keep on using it:"
1 - No mosquitoes or if there are some, but not biting yet
2 - Very light during the day, moderate at dawn and dusk
3 - Moderate during the day, heavy at dawn and dusk
4 - Heavy during the day, heavy at dawn and dusk
5 - Unbearable all day, no breaks, cannot eat outside of tent. If you stop, hundreds
will descend on you; when looking thru a camera viewfinder, you see more skeeters than
lake. If you slapped your arm, you'd smear blood from all the dead gorged bodies.

Lunch outside at McMenamins in downtown Bend. Perfect weather, a few clouds, good beer--mosquitoes--0.

Mosquitoes were also 0 in the cardio rehab center as I walked the treadmill with 30 lb pack at 2.5 mph and 10% grade for 40 minutes.

Sierra report in late May.

Mike

old ranger - I can arrange to have some mosquitoes sent to you for outdoor amiance while you rehab if you really miss the little guys.

Yosemite April 24-25- a few mosquitoes hatching in the puddles but essentially none in Camp 4 or on the trail. Some little gnats. Bees and wasps are active. Lots of standing water in valley so I expect mosquitoess soon.

Had one skeeter land on my arm at Hot Creek (Mammoth) last weekend, it was squished quickly.

WD

Thannks for your heartfelt (pun intended) concern. Now doing most of my rehab in foothills of Boise. No skeeters but hotter than my preference. Looks like cooler days ahead, though.

Mike

5/5: Yosemite Valley - 0-1 during the evening.
5/6: Yosemite Valley - 1+ during the morning: medium swarms, but they weren't landing. Didn't use repellent.
5/6: Hetch Hetchy: 0

Kennedy Lake- lots of little swarming winged things, but no mosquitoes. Flies are out! Husband said he saw one mosquito while fishing. Unusual that with all the standing water there were no mosquitoes. I suspect it is because it is still freezing lightly at night.

I was bit at my home for the first time last night. My home is at about 300' (Bay Area) and normally squitters don't bug me. I haven't been to the Sierra yet this year due to a bad bicycle wreck (car vs me) I had on Mar 5th (21 fractures in my face - my luck is running out, but not my desire to be in the Alpine). I'm going to Yosemite on May 30 for 5 days.

Lower Meeks creek they were a 2. Hiked out around 5pm and had around a dozen land on my arms (fatal attraction) in the 1.5 miles between the wilderness boundary and the trail head.

Belle Canyon-Sheep Creek Lakes: 0-1