High Sierra Topix

Score of 4 Heavy Mosquitos during day and dusk and throughout the night. Deet useless. Headnets required.

mono village > crown lake > seavey pass area > lake arndt > peeler > mono village:
basically a 3 everywhere besides trailhead elevation.
not an issue while moving, pretty bad when stopped, headnets helped.

Hilton Lakes - Base camp at Lake 3 with a couple of kiddos, mosquitos level 3. We climbed up to the higher lakes for the day and seemed like less buggy. Lake 2 / Davis during the day was a 2 but did not spend a night there so cannot speak for dawn / dusk.

Mosquitos mostly minimal throughout our 5-day trip, with of course more in swampier areas and fewer in dryer, rocky areas. We did wear long sleeves/long pants/hoods and pre-sprayed our clothing with picaridin twice (day 1 and day 2) which seemed to help. Only had to wear bug nets a couple of times while passing through the worst spots.

North Lake TH: 2
Lamarck Lakes: 2
Darwin Canyon: 1
Darwin Bench: 1
Lower Evolution Valley: 3 (only passed through mid-morning)
Upper Evolution Valley: 1
Davis Lakes Basin: 1-2

Crabtree Trailhead: 2
Whiteside Meadow: 4+
Upper Wire Lake: 4
Y Meadow Lake: 2

The heaviest concentrations of mosquitoes I've experienced in over 30 years. DEET didn't seem to do much. Without head nets, it would have been unbearable. I also learned that they can bite through hiking & liner socks - wear boots even when camped.

08/06 - Long Lake (Cottonwood Lakes) - 3
We all had to wear head nets at dusk and just went to bed early rather than deal with them.

08/07 -08/10 - Miter Basin - 2
Not bad during the day, but morning and evening were annoying, but not enough for head nets.

08/10 - Lower Soldier Lake south to PCT - 3
Got annoying in the day on the way out. Especially in the lower areas.

Day-hiked a few miles north on the Pacific Crest Trail from the Donner Summit area to Round Valley. Elevations 7200 to 8200 feet. Skeets level 3 in damp forest and meadow when no wind. Wind knocked them down to level 2 or even 1.

We camped at the upper lakes in the basin- above 11,000', and had no mosquito troubles at all. Perhaps 1 morning of level 2 at Tomahawk Lake. Last camp at Piute Lake, and on the walk out to North Lake was solid level 2. Staying high was the way to go, as we spoke to folks who sufferered mightily lower down in Piute Canyon.

Crabtree Trailhead: 2
Grouse Lake: 2
Groundhog Meadow: 3 <== worst skeeter spot we passed through
West Fork Cherry Creek: 2
Big Lake: 2
Pingree Lake: 3

Five day trip from Crabtree Trailhead (first night camped Cherry Creek, two nights at Big Lake, and final night at Cherry Creek). Mosquitos not as bad as expected--I've seen worse on prior trips to Emigrant. Totally enjoyable trip and bugs didn't ruin the party.

Worst spots were moist wooded areas and dawn and dusk and the woodsier lakes. Stuck to areas with rocky slabs like (some) parts of Cherry Creek and Big Lake during the day and was fine. Pants, shirt, and socks all prepped with permethrin. Never used my mosquito net. Slathered DEET in the AM and would do another dose in the evening if needed (sometimes nights didn't even need to). Saw a couple of skeeter swarms in the AM by the lake, but never was attacked by them. It was usually a single or pair of aggressive skeeters at a time buzzing the ears if any. Retreating to the tent at 8pm also helped. There was a good deal of rain during our trip, so the return through Groundhog meadow was noticeably worse than our entry leg as the trails were much more damp as we exited.

The dragonfly population was also looking very healthy.

8/13 Devils Postpile Pumice Flat campground by the river - 3
Rainbow Falls - 1

8/14 King Creek Trail, Fern Lake, and Anona Lake - 3
8/15 King Creek Trail and Holcomb Lake - 2 breezy w/ afternoon thunderstorm

8/16 Little Lakes at Mosquito Flat trailhead - 3
8/17 Little Lakes at Chickenfoot Lake - 3 on the trail, 2 at the lake (breezy)

8/18 Stopped at Whitney Portal for a burger on the way home - 1