2017 Mosquito thread?

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TodF
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2017 Mosquito thread?

Post by TodF » June 29th, 2017, 8:15 am

Is there a mosquito/bug thread started yet?

I have heard predictions of a bad mosquito year, but I have been surprised at how few I have seen so far. 3 days up at Lookout Mtn this weekend and only 2 bites to show for it, while lounging about the meadow in shorts. That's nothing for me – I seem to have very tasty blood – and with all the fresh snowmelt up there I was expecting more. Same in Badger Creek wilderness a few weeks ago.

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Don Nelsen
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Re: 2017 Mosquito thread?

Post by Don Nelsen » June 29th, 2017, 9:42 am

I was hiking in the Santiam Pass area on Monday and there were swarms of little mosquitos everywhere. I saw only a couple of the big ones but one of those got me too. About a dozen bites before I could even get the deet out of the trunk and get it on!

dn
"Everything works in the planning stage" - Kelly

"If you don't do it this year, you will be one year older when you do" - Warren Miller

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K.Wagner
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Re: 2017 Mosquito thread?

Post by K.Wagner » June 29th, 2017, 12:05 pm

When I was out on June 24, I did Greenhorn Buttes, which is essentially the first peak south of Randle (Hwy 12). There were a couple of snow patches around, but it was basically bare. I didn't swat at a single bug (of any breed) the entire time I was out.
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retired jerry
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Re: 2017 Mosquito thread?

Post by retired jerry » June 29th, 2017, 2:14 pm

When I was in Trinity Alps a couple weeks ago I saw few bugs.

This can vary from day to day. This is the time of year one should be prepared, even if there were no bugs some place the day before. Long sleeves, pants, head net, DEET.

Those biting black flies are the worst. They should be out at any moment. It was cold last winter so maybe it killed a lot of bugs so it won;t be so bad this summer?

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xrp
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Re: 2017 Mosquito thread?

Post by xrp » June 29th, 2017, 7:12 pm

PCT into Indian Heaven Wilderness @ Crest Camp Trailhead (going north) = moderate mosquitos at trailhead (11am Saturday last weekend). As we applied some deet and progressed on the trail up in altitude, they disappeared quickly.

TodF
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Re: 2017 Mosquito thread?

Post by TodF » June 30th, 2017, 8:58 am

retired jerry wrote:When I was in Trinity Alps a couple weeks ago I saw few bugs.

This can vary from day to day. This is the time of year one should be prepared, even if there were no bugs some place the day before. Long sleeves, pants, head net, DEET.

Those biting black flies are the worst. They should be out at any moment. It was cold last winter so maybe it killed a lot of bugs so it won;t be so bad this summer?
The Trinity Alps was my go-to spot when I lived in Northern Cali. I can't remember ever having a bug problem there. It was one of the things I loved about it.

TodF
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Re: 2017 Mosquito thread?

Post by TodF » June 30th, 2017, 9:09 am

Don Nelsen wrote:I was hiking in the Santiam Pass area on Monday and there were swarms of little mosquitos everywhere. I saw only a couple of the big ones but one of those got me too. About a dozen bites before I could even get the deet out of the trunk and get it on!

dn
I took my wife on a now-infamous backpacking trip on the PCT south of McKenzie Pass a couple years ago in July. Bad mosquitoes, and we started to run out of repellent. I'll never live that down!

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drm
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Re: 2017 Mosquito thread?

Post by drm » July 2nd, 2017, 2:39 pm

Did the Trapper Creek loop Fri / Sat (Trapper Ck / Observation Trail) and camped at the site at the 192 / 132 junction. Bugs are coming out there, a week or two from peak. More flies than mosquitoes, for the moment.

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K.Wagner
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Re: 2017 Mosquito thread?

Post by K.Wagner » July 5th, 2017, 11:44 am

The 3rd & 4th, we were east a little ways of Indian Heaven. We hiked up Steamboat Mtn, then poked around. There is still a lot of snow on the ground all through the area. Had difficulty finding a place to camp that wasn't swarming with mosquitoes. We finally found a clean hunter's camp off the 88 Road, that seemed good. Until we got the tent put up, then the hoards pulled a sneak attack on us! Jungle Juice (100% Deet) didn't seem to do anything to dissuade the them. We threw everything we needed into the tent, jumped in, and swatted for the next 1/2 hr. They were even active in the middle of the night, and early morning.
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retired jerry
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Re: 2017 Mosquito thread?

Post by retired jerry » July 6th, 2017, 9:02 am

Fairly bad mosquitoes below Paradise Park and on Zigzag ridge, between 4000 feet and 5500 feet. Very few down along the Sandy at the campgrounds. Up above I had to find a windy place for relief. I used DEET and my head net.

None of those biting flies.

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