High Sierra Topix

Just got back from Nelson lake area (btwn Cathedral Lakes area and Lyell Canyon roughly) and they were a 4. I am covered in bites and I had DEET on! They were very tiny too...just hatching, sigh. It was still a beautiful trip. I did have long sleeves and long pants knowing the probability of skeeters, but forgot the headnets...!

maverick wrote:Pleasant & Pate Valley #2 on amount of skeetrz but not really biting yet, sure to change
pretty soon.

So...maybe most here know this already, but the first ones to come out don't bite cuz they are the males. They just do tons of pollinating...give us wildflowers! It's the females that do the biting and sucking blood to reproduce....

Thanks to CinnamonGirl for the TR! In spite of the postholing at this time of year, the snow really adds perspective to the hills and fuels all those splendid bugs!
Cheers,
CG

5+ in Monarch Divide area- Granite Lake/Pass, State Lake, Volcanic Lakes, and Kennedy Pass

As of the 4th, a 3 in cottonwood lakes/miter basin/rock creek, but 1 above 11,000ft.

Just finished the High Sierra Trail yesterday.

Skeeters not bad, except for Wallace Creek, which was terrible, where the HST and JMT meet. Hamilton Lakes was supposed to be terrible, but it was very manageable. Also, Outpost Camp below Whitney was unpleasant, but not terrible.

Just returned from the Sonora Pass area of the PCT over the July 4th weekend:

Sonora Pass/Peak: 0
PCT north of Sonora Pass (past wolf lake in the river valley): 2-3

The bugs were out, but not that aggressive yet and pretty small. But they will learn how to get their dinner quickly enough so I suspect the next few weeks might not be that fun

Y Meadow Lake 7/4-7/6:
In my estimation, the area around Y Meadow Lake and Granite Lake for this past weekend was between 4 and 5.
They were non existent on the trail from Gianelli to the Lake, but once there it was very bad.
It was extremely difficult to eat outside at all times unless there was a breeze, which was far less common than we would've liked. At one time on Sunday evening my girlfriend counted over 15 mosquitos on my hat/net, and that was just the ones that had landed. There were dozens around our head at nearly all times during the mid morning and early evening...and yes, we had Deet on and had jumped into the lake to clean up and cool off!
On the way out Monday they were less pronounced because the wind was much stronger in the AM as we packed up and made our way out. However, when the wind died down for as little as 1 minute they were all over us again!!!!
Once we left the area around the lake they disappeared again, though that may coincide with a stiffer breeze on the trail.
Never thought I had "sweet blood," but am convinced I definitely had the goods this past weekend. Bummer.

Still, for our first time in Emigrant we were both floored by the beauty of the place and the possibilities sans mosquitos. We'll be back!

A couple of us photogs went into the Velma Lakes basin in Desolation July3>6 and were mostly at the 7.5k to 8.5k altitudes. There were modest areas of snow in less exposed north facing areas above 8k that continued to feed many areas of standing water that skeets breed in. Vegetation skeets tend to live in was quite green and in marshy areas wet with many wildflower species near or at peak. Visiting areas I had previously been at during late August 2007, I found a great many more ponds about the glaciated granite bedrock landscape that skeeters will continue to breed in through July until they dry up. The main area we visited had lots of damselflies and dragonflies that were buzzing all about eating skeets during the day and keeping them stuck back in shady marshy areas we avoided. Overall mosquitoes were about a 3. We wore cool lightweight clothing they could not bite through like dense nylon shells, safari caps with neck and ear drapes. I got bit a few times on my hands after performing usual camp chores like washing eating utencils before reapplying strong DEET but otherwise was only annoyed with them. My friend never put on DEET the whole trip as it bothers his skin and got several bites on his face and hands at times. During the breezy days, there were times at our shady forest campspot only 100 feet from standing water ponds that we layed out for hours exposed without DEET or much clothing. However early and late in the day when dragonflies were sleeping they were out.

David

Ebbetts Pass area last Saturday & Sunday..Upper Kinney Lake were not that bad..I thought they would be a lot worse.

Tuesday Desolation Area..Grass lake/Glen Alpine area...we really had none of them....it was a bit breezy so I think that kept them away.

Today Friday..just got back from the Carson Pass area Winnamucca Lake....nothing there....but very windy ...sitting in the trees out of the wind we still did not have any.

I think they are getting less..as I have notice less on my walks along the Truckee River..and it is a very wet meadow area.