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Re: 2017 Mosquito Reports
Posted: Tue Jul 04, 2017 4:31 pm
by maverick
Hi Thirdbestfriend,
Welcome to HST! Thanks for the update.
Cottonwood Pass, Mitre Basin 7/1-7/4
Posted: Tue Jul 04, 2017 8:06 pm
by no2haven
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).
Lamarck col down to Grass Lake
Posted: Wed Jul 05, 2017 9:03 am
by cgundersen
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
Vernon Lake, July 1
Posted: Wed Jul 05, 2017 11:44 am
by J ney
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.
Re: Florence trail, Goddard Canyon
Posted: Wed Jul 05, 2017 3:06 pm
by AlmostThere
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.
Sabrina Basin 7/4
Posted: Wed Jul 05, 2017 3:17 pm
by Jimr
July 4th
Scale of 1 to 5, 3 during the day kicking up to 5+ in the late afternoon until well after dark.
Mineral King
Posted: Wed Jul 05, 2017 8:04 pm
by Lazeydazey
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.
Loch Leven Lakes 7/1-7/3
Posted: Thu Jul 06, 2017 12:05 am
by Nighthawk
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.
Paiute Pass Trail 7/1-7/3
Posted: Thu Jul 06, 2017 3:50 pm
by jfr
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
Mammoth High Country 7/1-7/4
Posted: Fri Jul 07, 2017 9:57 am
by happycamper0313
Devils Postpile National Monument/JMT - bearable and repellant works in this area
Agnew Meadows - they will eat you alive. Bites are terribly painful and numerous - we each had about 20+ and used Jungle Juice. Lots and lots of sitting water in this area. I would say full mosquito net is the only safe harbor. I got bitten through layers of clothing. And these buggers HURT. What makes some swarms' bite hurt and others unnoticeable? I felt as if I was being stung by bees all over my body!
High Trail/PCT - once you get out of the Agnew meadows area and gain some elevation, you're free. But they are terrible for the first couple miles.
Thousand Island Lakes - none
River trail - bearable by the San Joaquin but hungry and swarming further from the river.
TL;DR: Agnew Meadows is a hellhole.