High Sierra Topix

SSSDave wrote:

I often rinse my hands and wrist off in order to not get oil on my camera and lenses.

A pair of really thin gloves takes care of that issue.

Mosquito's are horrible in the North Fork of Big Pine Creek. You cannot stop to catch your breath without getting swarmed by hundreds of the bloodsucking beasts! I envied those with mosquito nets.......

Was just up at Long Lake, must have been too cold for them as there was ice covering part of the lake still, so I would call it a 1.
Did the hike to Parker Lake, skeeters were prominent in the section once out of the exposed beginning section of trail. There were a few areas of boggy meadowlike stuff, I would rate them a 2. Once up at the lake itself, a moderate breeze kept them to a 0. I wore DEET anyways and didn't get bitten more then what I can count on one hand. And temps were in the mid 80s.

NF Big Pine, Mosquitos at 3 to 4 at both Dawn and Dusk and in the trees, but down to 1 during the heat of the day in open exposed areas.

July 6th-9th, mosquitoes were a solid 3 throughout the day.
From 5am to 7 am and from 4pm to 8pm, they were all over the place! DEET up or stay inside your tent!
This is true for Lakes 2 & 3 (even half a mile from the water) and near any creeks. Less at Long lake because of breeze, none at High Lake Saturday.
They were swarming even before sunrise!

0 in Leavitt Meadow except for the few wet areas where it was 1-2. Almost none on most of the hike between the meadow and Roosevelt/Lane Lakes. Even the areas next to standing water were only ~1. We were able to chill in camp (mostly) without bites. I attribute this to the arid and hot conditions as well as to the consistent breeze.

On the hike out, stopped at Secret Lake for lunch and swimming. Our not quite 2 year old daughter loved the cool water. No sign of skeeters.

At the far north end of the range the mozzies were a 1 in the Lake Almanor/Chester area near Lassen NP over the 3-5th while we were there. We ventured outside the Sierra after that into the Cascades and visited Crater Lake NP. Mozzies were minimal in the park, but where we camped on the south end of Diamond Lake at a forestry campground the mozzies were a solid 5. Deet and picardin spray didn't even put a dent in them. An hour before and two hours after dusk or dawn was the worst. Wife and kids hung out in the tent to escape them.

7/10-7/15. Mosquito Flat TH to Ruby Lake. Mono Pass to Pioneer Basin. Fourth Recess Lake and back up to Trail Lakes. Back over Mono Pass.

Trailhead- 2 mostly early morning and dusk. But hikers said going up Rock Creek was really bad. Trail to Ruby Lake was fine.
Ruby Lake- 1-2, only at dusk and dawn. Breezy which helped.
Pioneer Basin 0-1. Mostly a nice breeze and NO mosquitoes at all!
Fourth Recess Lake. Very swampy. 2 middle of the day. The east slope (off trail) up to Trail Lakes was about 3. The mosquitoes are mostly in the forested areas. I did not camp here because there was a lot of standing water.
Trail Lakes. 1-2. Just pesky dawn and dusk. Very few biting. Mostly little ones just flying around.

What mosquitoes I saw were little baby ones. Not many would even bite. I used a head net when cooking just because I do not like them in my face. Never used any repellent. Had "bugs-off" shirt and pants. Not sure if I even needed that. It froze the first two nights. Warmer the other nights. Plenty of standing water, but I think it is just too cold at night for a big hatch. That may quickly change.

July 15-17: Indian Head trail (behind Sorenson's Lodge): Level 1
July 16: Luther Pass: level 1 on the old road, but when descending towards Hope Valley, we took a right turn onto a foot trail contouring west until we ran into Level 3 skeeters in some boggy areas, enough to turn us back to the old road.
July 17: PCT heading north from Carson Pass: Level 0! :-)