High Sierra Topix

Mineral King: Farewell Gap/Franklin Lakes/Franklin Pass areas, Aug 23-25:

0-1

Mosquitoes are basically gone.

Yosemite August 25 - 28.

Amazingly there are still a fair amount of mosquitos out there.
May Lake 2, almost none during the day but pretty annoying at dawn and dusk.
Nelson Lake 3, didn't get here until late in the day, very annoying at dusk and again at dawn.
Fletcher Lake 2, some in the afternoon and evening, and again annoying to eat breakfast while fighting them off at dawn.

8/27-28, Sonora Pass, then the Hoover Wilderness (Virginia Lakes TH to Summit Lake, and to Return Creek up towards Virginia Peak). None at Sonora Pass, even in the morning. On the hike, pretty-much none during the day - I saw maybe 1 or 2 of them while hiking. There were a few in the evening by Summit Lake (maybe a "1" rating), along with some little black flies. But compared to the swarms a few weeks ago in the Ansel Adams Wilderness, this seemed basically insect free!

Carson Iceberg Wilderness 8/24-8/28:
Ebbett's Pass to Highland Lakes: 2 until thru the pass near Tryon Peak (?) and down the trail towards Asa. Then it went to a 4. Highland Lakes was our alt lake due to mosquitos at Asa, and they were awful there, a 5. Relentless all day/night.
Highland Lakes down the Arnot Creek Trail: 5. Heavy mosquitos and biting flies.
Highland Lakes, Wolf Creek Trail to Bull Lake: 3-5. Lighter on the Wolf Creek Trail due to wind, but once heading up the Bull Creek Trail they were murderous again, a 5. Heavy despite breezy weather.

The flies were really aggressive and took a vampiric liking to this cut on my leg. Deet and OFF made little difference, though I'm sure it helped some. I have at least 30 bites on my arms/legs/back/shoulder.

Anyone know about the current/recent skeeter conditions in Desolation Wilderness? We're headed there (Lake Aloha) this coming weekend. Thanks.

Hi,

We were in desolation from 8/26 - 8/28. We entered through Rockbound Pass and did our own version of the McConnell Lakes Loop. We had a decent breeze most of the trip so the skeeters were not bad...probably about a 2 most of the trip. You had to deet up for the evenings, especially if the breeze died down (turned into a 3) but it was pretty manageable. Past horsehoe near the 4Q lakes when we lost the trail for a bit, we wandered into some lower lying areas that were pretty rough (4 or so) but these areas could be avoided.

I was with two buddies from Seattle who were not acclimated to the Sierra skeeters but they were not all that bothered by them. Never did break out the headnet. Have a great trip!

Aug 26-Sept 3. Duck Lake (1-2), Fish Creek (4), Olive Lake (2), Anna Lake (1), Peter Pande (1-2), Wilbur May Lk (2-3), Lake of Lone Indian (1), Lake Virgina (0-1), Ram Lake via Glenette Lakes (0-1), upper basin Ram Lakes (0), Duck Lake (0-1). Day 1 and 2 afternon storms, muggy. Rest of trip was mostly windy. Fish Creek was really bad all the way to the outlet of Olive Lake, where finally a wind kept them down. Going in from Duck Pass TH - moderate but after 9 days, none coming out.

We were at Thousand Island 8/25, Garnet 8/26, down the Shadow lake trail the 27th (up River plus over night the 24th). Skeeters were mostly absent or a 1, except for the evening of the 27th at Agnew Meadow where it was more like a 2. Lots of non-biting mayflies at the lakes though. Very pleasant!

So it looks like the little bloodsuckers are all but gone in recent reports, but I'm seeing 30% chance of rain coming up this weekend. Is rain going to revive them for one last hurrah? Or is gone for the season gone for the season?

I just returned from a trip to Craig Lake in Desolation Wilderness. The mosquotes Saturday night were biting hard. On a scale of 1-5 it was a 4. Sunday night I went into my tent early,7p, it was pretty bad. The temps were in the mid 70's, night time in the mid 50's. 9/3 thru 9/5. No sign of it cooling down. The water was very warm for swimming.