High Sierra Topix

Use the following scale to report severity of the mozzies you experience:

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

Please do not post questions or ask about a particular area in this thread. Also, include where you went, with dates included, in the "Subject" box. Thanks

April 30th - May 1st Horseshoe Meadow - 1
The meadow is very dry and the creeks are very low.

May 14 - May 16

A partner and I did the Deadman Canyon loop, sleeping at Tamarack Lake and Comanche Meadow. 0 in most spots along the trail, 1 at Comanche Meadow and in lower Deadman Canyon.

Golden Lake and Golden Creek and Ruby Lake and Mono Creek Trail as of 5/25- NO SKEETERS!!!

May 24-May 28. Shingle Springs Trailhead, Sachse Springs, Boundary and Little Bear Lakes, Kibbie Lake.

Mosquitoes--0 to 1. I saw several but only at Kibbie late in the week, but they were rare and not aggressive.

The mullen is beginning to unfurl which is a sure sign that mosquitoes are on the way, though. Should be good for about a week.

Please change "subject" tab to the location and date of your trip. Thank you.

Zero mosquitos anywhere, anytime. Extremely dry.

Did a quick overnight trip from big meadow trailhead on Hwy 89 to showers lake along the TRT and back. Mosquitos would be mostly 0 but maybe 1 in this 1 area by round lake.

Mosquito conditions made little sense to me.
6/26 Vernon Lake via Beehive. Nice breeze, none hiking, a few dusk and dawn (0-1)
6/27- Hike Moraine Ridge to Jack Main at Meadow at trail junction/creek crossing. Few hiking, nice breeze, moderate dusk. Frost in Meadow next AM. (0-2)
6/28- dh Jack Main to PCT jct. move camp bench just before dropping to Jack Main. Mix of mosquitoes and black flies(gnats), bad when calm, dusk. (1-3)
6/29- x-c to Bearup Lake, camp unnamed lakes on Frog Creek. Very few in spite of lots of wet swampy conditions. 1hr big lightning storm. (0-1)
6/30- x-c down Frog Creek, intersect Moraine Ridge tail, Camp west shore Laurel Lake. Not bad day (breeze), horrible at dusk at Laurel Lake (0-3)
6/31- very warm night, already bad at 5:30 AM, skipped breakfast, total head net morning. OK hiking. Very hot and dry down switchbacks to Hetch-Hetchy. (3-0)

Not sure what the not-mosquito things were- small, black round. Squished one inside my tent- it was full of blood (mine). Similar gnats in the Wind Rivers - bite, active in day, not at dusk and dawn. They do not buzz like mosquitoes. A mix of both. Mosquitoes were very annoying and swarmed my face, but not a lot of biting. A nice breeze during days but died down like clockwork at 5:30-6:00PM, then mosquitoes. I suspect the mosquitoes would have been worse during day without the breeze. The last 2 days were VERY hot, even at night.

Met two PCT hikers and they said mosquitoes are out even up high. Northern Yosemite is known for bad mosquitoes.

Caveat: I am very bad with mosquitoes. They swarm me even when no one else. Many others at Laurel Lake were running around in shorts and t-shirts and seemingly not bothered at all.

May 29-31: Sierraville / Tahoe Forest / Gold Lake: 5

Yes. A five. I am looking at my legs after just getting home tonight. There are approximately 20 giant red mosquito bites per calf. It looks like the night sky. It feels like I have chickenpox. There are a few that are bleeding. My arms may have more bites but less of a reaction.

I have never, ever experienced anything this bad, after battling mosquitos on 4 other continents, this is the worst to date.

The mosquitos were gigantic, aggressive, and ubiquitous. I couldn't put on sunglasses without interrupting a mosquito's blood mission.

It was the worst in Sierraville and the Tahoe forest near Lake Independence.

It was better near Gold Lake/Frazier Falls.

Wear. Your. DEET. Like. It's. Your. Religion.