High Sierra Topix

quentinc wrote:Daisy, thanks for that info. I had no idea there were multiple species of mosquitoes, each with its own specialty! (Sort of like doctors.)

Actually they closer resemble lawyers...

Mozies last weekend were rare in the Grand Canyon of the Tuolumne. Only one spot had a moderate number and our campsite in Pate was mosquito free. rating: 0

In Reds Meadow they were moderate to heavy from 8-9am and 4-5pm around the campgrounds and area trails. rating:1-2

June 7-10, 2012 trip into the Wonder Lakes above Lower Lamarck Lake. No mosquitos all 4 days.

Had a few mosquitos in Yosemite Valley...tiny...few trying to bite. Week of June 2-9

June 14...some biting mosquitos at the junction of Treasure Lakes and Bishop Pass trails. By far...the largest and peskiest mosquitos I have endountered this year are at the trailhead parking at South Lake.

Just spent a few nights at Upper Pine Lake and Honeymoon Lake. I would rate the mosquitoes a 2, with crazy swarms at dusk. When we first arrived at Upper Pine Lake, there were virtually no mosquitoes. Within about 12 hours, they were pretty vicious.

Does anyone have any experience using anything like lemongrass granules or mosquito coils to try to keep the bugs at bay within a campsite?

It's nice to be on this site!

Matlock lakes area and kearsarge lakes area this weekend june 15-17 there were quite a few mosquitos buzzing about (swarms but not thick) but none of them biting. I have never seen anything like it. No headnet or deet needed yet! Dont know how long this will last

Hiked into Harden Lake near White Wolf 6/15, camped just northeast of lake. Mosquitos fine on hike in, at camp there were a few, but some bug spray (30% DEET) took care of it. Not sure about the mosquito scale... maybe a 1? Next morning (6/16) at 5am they were a bit nagging but as soon as we got hiking down into Pate Valley we had no problems. Didn't stop for long, although at some river crossings when we filled water bottles, one or two would harass us, but nothing too crazy. No problems all the way up the Grand Canyon of Tuolomne until just above Le Conte Falls, more would harass you if you stopped walking, biggest problems were small gnats there though. Closer to Glen Aulin they got worse, although some people were out sunbathing with seemingly little problem. They were pretty annoying at Glen Aulin camp where we stopped for water and restrooms, maybe a 2 (DEET was effective here though). Hiking towards May Lake/ McGee Lake, however, turned into mosquito hell quickly. In the 3-4 miles between Glen Aulin and the turnoff to Murphy Creek Trail (just before May Lake turnoff), we made the decision to bail because of the mosquitos. They were terrible. We thankfully had the DEET and mosquito head nets (I felt paranoid packing them at the time, but I don't know what would have happened without them), but even then they were swarming everywhere, getting to our hands and legs to the point where it was hard to walk properly, from swatting constantly, and if you stopped moving at all, they would cover you in big clouds. Definitely a 4 (or more?). We had already hiked 25+ miles at that point starting at 5am, and had planned to camp near Tuolomne Peak, then hike the remaining 20 or so miles to White Wolf the next day, but we could barely drink water (we had Camelback bladder hoses thankfully), could not eat, and had no idea how we would set up a tent without getting eaten alive or the mosquitos getting in, much less sleeping. We thought about walking all they way through the night to White Wolf, but without food, it wasn't going to happen. So we walked as fast as we could out to Tioga Rd near Tenaya Lake; the Murphy Creek Trail was just as bad, by the way, until the road, where it improved slightly for some reason. We tried to hitch a ride for 10 minutes, and a park ranger amazingly pulled over and went out of her way to give us a ride back to White Wolf- we were prepared to try to walk back, anything really, so we were so thankful, and felt so ridiculous about it all, for her help. We had dreams of mosquitos all night and are covered in bites now. This sounds ridiculous to complain about, I realize, but this comes from two people who are very pain-tolerant and stubborn; I ran a 50K trail race last weekend with two dead toenails (at the start, from a marathon the month before), we've hiked for days without much food and with serious GI infections in the middle of the Peruvian Andes, and climbed many 14ers and a 6000m peak... I'm not trying to brag, but to say that we aren't total wimps, but the mosquitos on that trail forced us to bail. Avoid at all costs...

June 16-17th: Crabtree Meadows -> Gem Lake
Crabtree -> Camp Lake: 1-2. Mostly in shaded areas along the trail/lakes. None at Bear Lake at 1pm on 6/17 (sunny and breezy).
Piute-Creek -> Gem Lake: 4-5. Extremely bad at evening/dawn, consistently highly annoying during the day along the trail in shade/sun/dry/swampy areas. They lasted past dusk into the early evening (fell asleep to the croaking of frogs and whine of mosquitos around the tent). Headnets highly recommended, 100% DEET did little to keep them at bay.

June 16-17: South Lake > Dusy Basin

Bugs were hardly present on the east side of Bishop Pass. I only hiked through there in the middle of the day, but I'd say 1.

It's amazing how much things can change when you go over a pass. Dusy Basin was a solid 4. They were swarming me constantly in the afternoon as I hiked around. It was kinda brutal. Good thing I had full coverage to protect me.

How long does the peak period normally last? I'm heading out for a 5 day trip in 2 weeks and I was originally planning the Pioneer Basin area but now I'm having second thoughts and am wondering where the bugs might be thinned out around then.

June 16 - 18:

Lamarck Lakes area -- 3+ [and just last week, someone reported 0!]

Evolution Lake -- 2

Wanda Lake -- 1