High Sierra Topix

Leavitt Trailhead - Bonnie Lake 06/29 - 06/30 (Hoover Wilderness/Stanislaus/Yosemite)

First 8 miles in we had very little interaction, occasionally a 2. After that 8 we started our ascent up Bond Pass, for the next 4 miles or so it abruptly turned to a 5. Unbearable, we camped out and turned right around the next morning. Spoke with a few PCT'ers who stated it was bad the last 3 days. To be more specific of where we were it was the 1,000 mile mark on the PCT.

In summary - near water a 2 - away from water a 1. If you stopped for about 2 minutes or so on the trail, a few would find you. My wife and I got away with 0 bites, but the kids weren't as lucky - about 10 bites between the two of them.

The gnats were being at a full 3 maybe 4 up near Barney lake. The din from their buzzing was wild to behold.

Daytime 0-1 away from water, 2-3 in wet meadow areas
Evening 3 away from water. Optimal camp sites away from creek crossings and lakes. We were pleasantly surprised after hearing some of the trip reports...it was definitely better than expected!

Looking for information on mosquitos along the High Sierra trail and the Big Arroyo area. Anyone been in that area yet?

Thanks,
Silverfox

June 26: Granite Park via Pine Creek. 0 from the t/h to the east side of Pine Lake. 4 along Pine Lakes to Honeymoon Lake and 5 along the creek between the 1st and 2nd Pine Lake. I couldn't drink water without also drinking all of the bugs that flew into the bottle in this section. Almost went home. 4 while camping along one of the tarns in the upper Granite Park area.

June 27: 3 on the way to Italy Pass, 2 at the pass. 1 along Lake Italy with some short sections of 3 near Toe Lake. 0 at the tarn on the south side of Gabbot Pass.

June 28: 0 on the south side of Gabbot Pass, 1-2 on the north side. Bugs got bad at Upper Mills Creek Lake and the various tarns and creeks in the area, 3 at dusk.

June 29: 2 along Lower Mills Creek Lake, Second Recess. Amazingly few bugs along Mono Creek Trail all the way to the bridge before VVR, 0.

June 30: 0 From Bear Ridge to the JMT/Lake Italy junction. 2 on the Italy Lake Trail but 4+ in the meadows.

July 1: 4 along the creeks/waterfalls/meadows just below the outlet of Lake Italy. Miserable.

July 2: 1 around Teddy Bear and Brown Bear Lakes. 3 in Bear Lakes Basin around White Bear and Black Bear Lakes. 0 at Dancing Bear Pass and Italy Pass. 2 in upper Granite Park. 4 from Honeymoon to Lower Pine Lake. Amazingly 0 once I made it to the east side of Lower Pone Lake all the way to the t/h.

7/5 and 7/6 Lake Kirkwood- a pleasant 2 they were around here and there during the day but very tolerable, more of them at night but again VERY tolerable. Slept outside both nights and was bothered only a couple times.

7/7 Frog Lake and Lake Winnemucca- was only in this area during the day but didn't notice any

it was very windy at all of these places which I'm sure swept a lot of the skeeters away.

Anvil Camp - 2
Shepherd Pass Lake and Williamson Bowl - 1. Many babies but not biting yet

Grand Canyon of the Tuolumne July 4th - 8th -
Pate Valley - 1
Waterwheel Falls - 1
McGee Lake - 3/4 walking through was heavy
Polly Lake - 2/3 not much activity during the day but heavy at dawn and dusk
Climb out of Polly Lake to Tuolumne Peak was heavy...
10 Lakes - 2/3 - camped at the first lake...

Used Eucalyptus spray on clothing when it was heavy and it seemed to do the trick.

7/5 - Lower Lamacrk - 1 - It was very windy for most of the day/night, so bugs were no issue.
7/6 & 7/7 - Wonder Lakes - 3 - The wind died down and the bugs found us at our camp in the driest spot around, but they weren't too bad.

Olancha peak as of 7-9-13 not bad at all, evenings they picked up a bit but overall I would say it was a 2. Very dry, all the springs are either dry or just puddles. Long stringer creak was dried up. This is usually a great spot to catch goldens.