2017 Mosquito Reports

thirdbestfriend · Post by **thirdbestfriend** » Tue Jul 04, 2017 4:21 pm

Most of the trails are still covered in snow, although Castle Pass itself is dry. With lots of runoff and few standing pools just yet, mosquito activity was a 1-2. No bites, we saw a few at the trail head off I-80 and sprayed our clothes to keep them away. Then, nothing the rest of the weekend.

I estimate the snow will be off the trails by mid-July, so you may have just a short window to hike there and enjoy the scenery without getting attacked.

Post by **maverick** » Tue Jul 04, 2017 4:31 pm

Hi Thirdbestfriend,

Welcome to HST! Thanks for the update.

no2haven · Post by **no2haven** » Tue Jul 04, 2017 8:06 pm

Low level annoyance during the day: 1 in forests, 2 around lakes (Chicken Spring around noon) and creek crossings.

4 right at lake level (Soldier Lake) morning and evening, but quickly dropped to a 3 when you were 50 feet away from the water. Pretty bearable, actually. None seen in Mitre Basin during the day, and certainly not at Blue Sky (~40% ice covered still).

cgundersen · Post by **cgundersen** » Wed Jul 05, 2017 9:03 am

As of June 30, we were getting sporadic mosquitoes just below Lamarck col (East side) and the bug count increased the lower we went. Grass Lake was a 5, but in the dry areas over toward North Lake campground, there were very few bugs (1). DEET kept 'em at bay.
cameron

J ney · Post by **J ney** » Wed Jul 05, 2017 11:44 am

Around a 1 or 2 on the slabs above the lake. 3 or 4 in the forested areas around the inlet and back towards the cascade down from Branigan.
Also saw 5 or 6 piles of recent bear scat.

Crossing Fall Creek was straightforward (about knee deep with a mild current) albeit with major repercussions for a slip. We did not see anyone else on the slab side of Vernon Lake.

AlmostThere · Post by **AlmostThere** » Wed Jul 05, 2017 3:06 pm

Mosquitos were present and landing on us in meadows and wooded areas, probably a 1 or so, not truly bad. Swattable - about one per minute. I put on Ultrathon and wasn't bothered. Another hiker reported that Blaney Meadows area was "really bad" at around 9:30 am and we had more mosquitoes during the day than morning or evening, for some reason, not sure why. I wonder if sometimes people mistake flies/gnats for mosquitoes because they were worse than the mosquitoes.

Post by **Jimr** » Wed Jul 05, 2017 3:17 pm

July 4th
Scale of 1 to 5, 3 during the day kicking up to 5+ in the late afternoon until well after dark.

Lazeydazey · Post by **Lazeydazey** » Wed Jul 05, 2017 8:04 pm

Mineral King:
Atwell Campground
White Chief Trail to snowline and Franklin Trail to the creek.

All at level 2.
2 nights/2 days. 4 bites.

Nighthawk · Post by **Nighthawk** » Thu Jul 06, 2017 12:05 am

A 2 for the most part. We camped on an open ridge and the wind kept them away except around dusk. During the trip out, a 3 in some wet and wooded areas.

jfr · Post by **jfr** » Thu Jul 06, 2017 3:50 pm

As NightHawk said, the trail in the wooded area/aspens along the creek west of North Lake was about a 3 (at 9500 feet)

Paiute Lake was a 2 (at 11,000 feet)

Forsaken Lake below Mt Humphreys was a 1 (at 12,000 feet) - one mosquito landed on my hand after sunset

2017 Mosquito Reports

Castle Pass - Peter Grubb Hut (PCT) 7/3 - 7/4

Re: 2017 Mosquito Reports

Cottonwood Pass, Mitre Basin 7/1-7/4

Lamarck col down to Grass Lake

Vernon Lake, July 1

Re: Florence trail, Goddard Canyon

Sabrina Basin 7/4

Mineral King

Loch Leven Lakes 7/1-7/3

Paiute Pass Trail 7/1-7/3

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