Emigrant: Gianelli --> Long Lake --> Toejam --> Gianelli

[Berkeley]

Moderators were were asking for trail report so here you go:

In short, I would AVOID our route (Gianelli --> Long Lake --> Toejam --> Gianelli) due to serious issues with mosquitos. We had a 5 day trip that was cut down to a little over 1 due to how severe the mosquitos were. I was equipped with DEET 40% and bug/mesh jacket which did little to nothing. We were optimistic that things would improve by the time we arrived at Long Lake; we were wrong. We decided to hike out. After about 13-14 miles we decided to drop into Toejam which was just as bad. I jumped in my tend at 645p and woke up at 345a to hit the trail and get out.

It was unfortunate because it really is beautiful right now but unfortunately not enjoyable. Ive been up in that area for my third time now and have never experienced anything that awful. Maybe some more experienced people on here can comment when the mosquitos begin to mellow out, but as of last week, they really are unbearable.

Thanks

[bwd]

I was contemplating a trip to Emigrant this week but dang does this make it sound unappealing! I'm not seeing any more recent trail reports; anybody have advice on whether the skeeters are better/worse/same?

Ben

[MountainMinstrel]

Moderators were were asking for trail report so here you go:

In short, I would AVOID our route (Gianelli --> Long Lake --> Toejam --> Gianelli) due to serious issues with mosquitos. We had a 5 day trip that was cut down to a little over 1 due to how severe the mosquitos were. I was equipped with DEET 40% and bug/mesh jacket which did little to nothing. We were optimistic that things would improve by the time we arrived at Long Lake; we were wrong. We decided to hike out. After about 13-14 miles we decided to drop into Toejam which was just as bad. I jumped in my tend at 645p and woke up at 345a to hit the trail and get out.

It was unfortunate because it really is beautiful right now but unfortunately not enjoyable. Ive been up in that area for my third time now and have never experienced anything that awful. Maybe some more experienced people on here can comment when the mosquitos begin to mellow out, but as of last week, they really are unbearable.

Thanks

I was up there out of Crabtree a couple of weeks ago and had 0 skeeters. Heading up again for a few days tomorrow. I don't expect the bloodsuckers to be a problem but 100% deet is your friend.

[dougieb]

Damn. That really bites. (Couldn't help myself...) It's true when they're bad, they're really bad. This nearly happened to me last year in SEKI. Our first day and night were so bad we thought about bailing after the first day of a week long trip. Fortunately we decided to keep moving forward the next day and all of the rest of the trip turned out to be an improvement. Granted, we were on a route with more varied elevation, topography and vegetation than where you were going so we had more change in conditions from one place to the next.

[salvilla]

I did a trip from Crabtree TH to Big Lake 7/5 to 7/6. The skeeters were not a problem at Big Lake. Other hikers I encountered on the way reported a lot of mosquitos at other lakes.

[Nozmo King]

I had a similar experience in Emigrant Wilderness almost 30 years ago, also at the end of June. I brought along two dogs & the mosquitoes were so thick, the dogs were actually whining. I love Emigrant but it can be mosquito heaven.

[c9h13no3]

Moderators were were asking for trail report so here you go:

In short, I would AVOID our route (Gianelli --> Long Lake --> Toejam --> Gianelli) due to serious issues with mosquitos. We had a 5 day trip that was cut down to a little over 1 due to how severe the mosquitos were. I was equipped with DEET 40% and bug/mesh jacket which did little to nothing. We were optimistic that things would improve by the time we arrived at Long Lake; we were wrong. We decided to hike out. After about 13-14 miles we decided to drop into Toejam which was just as bad. I jumped in my tend at 645p and woke up at 345a to hit the trail and get out.

It was unfortunate because it really is beautiful right now but unfortunately not enjoyable. Ive been up in that area for my third time now and have never experienced anything that awful. Maybe some more experienced people on here can comment when the mosquitos begin to mellow out, but as of last week, they really are unbearable.

Thanks

When doing a conditions report (especially for mosquitoes) include the following:

Date, time, location of the bad mosquitoes. And what the weather was like.

FWIW, I was in the Lower Relief Valley on 19-July-20 between 9AM & 11AM, and the mosquitoes were pretty minimal. Maybe killed one mosquito while crossing Relief Creek. But it was the morning, and then a thunderstorm blew in during the afternoon.

[c9h13no3]

Also, we have a thread for this sort of thing.