High Sierra Topix

Thank you for your post Hiker_97, and welcome to HST!

All car camping and day hikes on this trip:
7/8/12 - Horseshoe Meadow walk-in campground and nearby meadow = 0
7/9/12 through 7/11/12 - McGee campground = 0-1, 2 right by the creek in the afternoon
McGee did have A LOT of non-biting bugs (moths, beetles, others) attracted to our lantern and headlamps at night. Wearing light colors = lots of friends on your back.
7/10/12 - Mosquito Flat to Ruby Lake, down and out to Marsh Lake = 0
7/11/12 - (Mammoth Lakes) Arrowhead Lake = 0, 1 by the outlet.
We were warned by backpackers on their way out that bugs were very bad...so maybe further up... By the Lake Mary Marina I was attacked by a few biting flies. They hurt a lot more than the mosquitoes!

Car camped in Lodgepole, about 100 feet from river, which was running lowish. Hot and sunny, arm nights, monsoonal flow clouds coming in by July 12. No rain at all. Mosquitoes a 2, used Deet because I was getting bitten, but I think that may have been flies rather than the mozzies. They left purple round 1cm bite marks which Ive never had from a mozzie - not itchy though.

July 7-13 on a trail crew near the junction of the Edison very trail at the JMT behind Lake Thomas Edison- 2

The mosquitos and the biting flies were pretty annoying in the evenings. It was so warm in the evenings this past week that the mosquitos didn't go away. The flies were pretty annoying all day. Some of them just buzzed, but occasionally, you get bit by one, hard.

Also, there were these little "no see-um" like small flies that bit your hands and ankles and left small, round, itchy red spots. I had not noticed them before on previous trips.

July 8-14 near Rutherford, Lillian and Vandeburg lakes - 2

Not too bad in the morning, but the evening was pretty bad requiring either headnets or Deet. The flies were bad during the day, and they were the biting variety. At Vandeburg, the bats came out to assist as they circled above our campfire.

Emigrant Wilderness, 7/11 thru 7/15, from Gianelli Trailhead to Toejam lake, Leopold Lake, Pingree Lake, Leighton Lake, Wood lake, Deer Lake, Starvation Lake, Pinto Lakes
Generally 2-3: meadows 3-4
Between lunch and dinner, any breeze at all and they were gone. After dinner, you want to be in a tent. We managed almost entirely without DEET, but we had headnets.

7/8 @ Buck Creek - 1
7/9 @ Hamilton Lakes - 1
7/10 @ Moraine Lake - 1
7/11 @ Kern Hot Springs - 1
7/12 @ Wallace Creek Junction -2
7/13 @ Guitar Lake - 1
7/14 @ Outpost Camp - 1

Get out there and start enjoying yourselves, I didn't even use one bit of my deet!!

I will post a trip report soon.

Just the 'squiter facts, ma'am (using the scale for this topic):

July 8th - Cedar Grove (at lodge) - 1
July 9th - Bubbs at Charlotte Creek - 3
July 10th - East Lake - 1
July 11th - Lake Reflection - 2
July 12th - Lake Reflection - 2
July 13th - East Lake - 1
July 14th - Bubbs camp about 1.5 miles west on trail towards Road's End (half-way between Charlotte Creek and Sphynx Creek along the Bubbs) - 1
July 15th - Cedar Grove (at lodge) - 1

Embellishments:

July 9th - Bubbs at Charlotte Creek - We did get to watch an adolescent, cinnamon colored black bear at dusk and again the next morning, so the 'squiters almost seemed a fair price to pay... The "3" could have even been a "4" around this zone as far as we know, since we were only there late and early. On the way back at the end of the trip, we sure kept right on moving thru this area!

July 10th and 13th - East Lake - We were camped along the east side just before the trail goes into the rocky, "uncampable" area on its way to the south end, so the camp areas with bear boxes right at the north outlet and the south inlet areas may have had more 'squiters, possibly approaching a "2" (based on some comments from others and our own meanderings).

July 11th and 12th - Lake Reflection - We were camped in the rocky zone on the east side with good breeze opportunity, so this helped.

July 14th - Bubbs camp about 1.5 miles west on trail towards Road's End (half-way between Charlotte Creek and Sphynx Creek along Bubbs?) - The Bubbs is simply moving through here with no creeks and no pooling, so that probably helped.

July 8th and 15th - Cedar Grove (at lodge) - saw a couple, but not a problem.

All that said, having a "5" level Mosquitoes trip experience (Emigrant Wilderness/Granite Dome area years ago for us) does help one accept the "3" and perhaps "4" levels sometimes. This trip was lighter than expected for the evil beasts, given the whole July thing, but even still, I ended up fairly well bit, as I usually do. They tend to like me, even though I take vitamin B1 and we use some non-DEET repellants. "Herbal Armor" worked okay for this trip for me, but it's a bummer Repel quit making their "Lemon Eucalyptus" in a cream...

July 13-16 visting Holcomb, Ashley and Beck Lakes.

Mosquitos were a 1.5 throughout the trip. They were non-exsitant in the drier areas and very moderate in the wetter sections. As expected with the low snow year, it seems that the mosquito season is at least a month ahead of schedule, if not more. It seemed more like late August than mid July.

July 12 -15 Car camping and day hiking in Bishop Creek Canyon:

4 Jeffreys campground - 0
South Lake - 0
North Lake - 0
Lake Sabrina - 0
Willow campground - horrible(3-4)
Bishop Creek above 4 Jeffreys CG and below South Lake - (2-3)

Based on what I saw the skeets are restricted to 8500' - 9500' in the Bishop Creek canyon and are staying very close to water.