backpacking w teens that hate skeeters

[giantbrookie]

In addition to choosing somewhat open areas, something to keep in mind is that weather within the High Sierra can vary a lot through the summer season from day to day, weekend to weekend, and week to week. If the weather is warmer-than-average with no little wind then mosquitoes are usually horrible even in dry and open areas. In contrast, cooler-than-average temps and breezy conditions can lead to nearly mosquito-free conditions in wet areas that are normally really awful. Exploiting this (aiming for breezy and cooler conditions) is difficult for most of us because we commonly have to set aside a time slot for the trip so far in advance (as you've done) that there can be no reliable weather report at the time you commit to the time slot. However, if you have the flexibility to choose between several weekends, you can sit back and wait for the weather report less than a week out, then choose to go.

Now if you have a time slot chosen, another strategy is to check to see if one part of the Sierra may have a breezier forecast than another (using the NOAA site, for example) as the weekend approaches, then choose the final destination. The Sierra is a really large mountain range so there can be quite a large amount of variability in weather from one area to another on some weekends. On the other hand, there can be weekends where the weather is fairly similar along the entire range. Hopefully June 28-July 1 will be breezy and cooler-than-average. If it is, it is likely your kids will have a pleasant experience.

I have quite a bit of experience planning trips to minimize mosquito attacks on my kids. My kids are total mosquito magnets, which isn't surprising, given that both me and my wife are. They react differently, however, to the same degree of mosquito attack. My son will put on his mosquito net when there's hardly anything flying around whereas my daughter commonly won't even when she's being swarmed. Mosquitoes are a major reason why my son is not so keen on high country hiking and fishing, whereas this doesn't discourage my daughter at all.