Mosquito Report 2007

Questions and reports related to Sierra Nevada current and forecast conditions, as well as general precautions and safety information. Trail conditions, fire/smoke reports, mosquito reports, weather and snow conditions, stream crossing information, and more.
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Fishytodd
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JOHN MUIR WILDERNESS MOSQUITO REPORT

Post by Fishytodd »

june 18-23: mosquitos were moderate at the lakes (lower graveyard, lone indian) in the late morning and early evening. Mucho DEET used.
Chief lakes no mosquitos.

I also learned that mosquito bites on me amount to nothing. no bumps, no itching, nada. makes up for my severe reaction to poison oak ;)
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ERIC
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Post by ERIC »

June 22-25

Heart Lake / Sally Keyes Lakes / Selden Pass:

Moderate conditions. Nothing at the pass, few at Heart Lake, but enough to kill a couple in one swat in and around Sally Keyes Lakes. Had to whip out the Deep Woods OFF, even though I was moving down the trail at a fairly good clip.

Heather Lake:

I think winter is the only time this place doesn't have a high population of mozzies. Less than I remembered a couple years ago when I was up there in July, but fishing without repellant still wasn't going to happen (especially in the evening, and/or on the side of the lake that's somewhat sheltered from the wind.
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TehipiteTom
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Re: JOHN MUIR WILDERNESS MOSQUITO REPORT

Post by TehipiteTom »

Fishytodd wrote:I also learned that mosquito bites on me amount to nothing. no bumps, no itching, nada. makes up for my severe reaction to poison oak ;)
Same with me--for Sierra mosquitoes, at least. (Lowland mosquitoes are a different story.) I don't know why, but I just don't have a reaction to the bites. When I'm in the mountains, I don't use DEET--I'd rather just let them land on me so I can kill them. ;)
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MountainMinstrel
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Post by MountainMinstrel »

Spent Sunday night at Cliff Lake (Dinkey Lakes Wilderness). The skeeters were not bad at all at the lake, but the trail was a different story. I got the first bite as I was getting out of the car and emediately deeted up. If you stoped for more than a few seconds the swarn would be all in your face. Once I got to the like though I changed into my sandals and never got a single bite on my untreated feet. This was suprising because there was only, at best, a very light breeze. When we came back on Monday we took a side trip to a couple of marshy lakes 1/2 mile north on the Nelson lake trail and had no problems, but again, from there to the trail head (along the creek) they were pretty bad.

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DoyleWDonehoo
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Post by DoyleWDonehoo »

I just got back last monday from a 5 day hike to the Lyell Fork of the Merced River (June 21-25, 48+ miles, and over 8500 feet of loss and gain). Below 8000 feet, they were not too bad, but from 9000 feet to over 10000 feet they got progressively worse (from "too many" to "attack clouds"). At Vogelsang Lake they were swarming. We were prepared, so we did not get too many bites, tho wearing face nets above 9k feet was a pain. The winds made things tolerable. The usual July infestation started about 3 weeks early, but I guess that means they will taper off early this year, maybe by mid-July.
And there is not much snow to speak of anywhere, except in the highest passes in the north faces.
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Lightning Dog
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Post by Lightning Dog »

Got back Tuesday from the Grand Canyon of the Tuolumne River. I had no problem with mosquitos and only got a couple of bites over the 5 days. But two of our party had that particular problem of being mosquitos magnets. They wore head nets at dawn and dusk and got many, many bites. I was glad to have them around to keep the bloodsuckers away from me. :D Also spent one day in the valley where the flying pests were not to be found. Two legged ones weren't too bad either.
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george
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Post by george »

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!
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Post by copeg »

Along the route from the west to and over Colby Pass and beyond...

Rowell, Comanche, and Sugarloaf meadows all had minor mosquitos - practically absent during the day and minor in the evening.

Above 9k...in the evening and morning at Colby Lake, in the Kern-Kaweah drainage, Picket Creek, and Kaweah Creek the mosquitos were very thick and very pesky. During the day the slight breeze and heat of the day seemed to drive them into hiding, with a few popping up here and there.
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SLO hiker
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Big Pine Creek - 6/28 - 7/1

Post by SLO hiker »

Just returned from a Big Pine Creek trip. NO bugs at the trailhead on 6/27 PM and 6/28 AM. a few on the hike back in on 6/28, mostly in marshier areas, but DEET worked great at repelling them. Camped at 4th lake, and NO bugs away from the lake during the day, but they came out at dusk, and needed to retreat to the tent. The next couple of days were mild for bugs, but they steadily increased their activity, so that I got the most bites hiking out on 7/1.
All in all, very mild for the trip.
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lostcoyote
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Post by lostcoyote »

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.
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