2021 Bug Conditions Reports

General discussions on hiking in Oregon and the Pacific Northwest
gallione11
Posts: 51
Joined: May 10th, 2019, 6:45 am

Re: 2021 Bug Conditions Reports

Post by gallione11 » July 24th, 2021, 2:12 pm

Did the Hood River Meadows Loop Counterclockwise from the Elk Meadows TH. Relatively bug free with two exceptions. About half way up the Newton Creek Trail, a bit before you hit the slightly steeper switchbacks, mosquitoes were suddenly terrible. We're talking a cloud of at least 20 around both of us, even after we Offed ourselves. Thankfully, this was only maybe a .25-.5 mile section of the loop.

Second was we took a short break at Umbrella Falls and were fighting of flies in about the same quantity. Stop for a picture or two, but don't recommend using it as a lunch point or anything

User avatar
romann
Posts: 2417
Joined: May 28th, 2008, 10:03 pm
Location: Vancouver, WA

Re: 2021 Bug Conditions Reports

Post by romann » July 24th, 2021, 6:58 pm

Don't see if someone mentioned Goat Rocks, but last weekend mosquitoes were noticeable. Not too bad, but I used head net and bug spray in camp. Mosquitoes increased in numbers over 3 days, so I guess it wasn't past peak season yet.

Snow, OTOH, is mostly gone (more like end of August) and if you're into wildflowers they are getting pretty good already, and will be best probably for the next 2-3 weeks.

jvangeld
Posts: 156
Joined: May 29th, 2018, 6:36 pm
Location: Proebstel, WA

Re: 2021 Bug Conditions Reports

Post by jvangeld » July 26th, 2021, 7:28 am

I drove a big loop in GPNF last Saturday.

Little Lookout Mountain had big black horseflies. They are in abundance on all the high ridges in that area according to my coworker.

Zig Zag lake, horseflies at the trailhead, assorted bugs on the way down. Mosquitoes at the lake, but they didn't bite me as much as I expected. Lots of them landed on me, but I don't have bites everywhere they landed. I wasn't using DEET or other gunk. There were yellowjackets out looking for food, but they minded their own business.

West Crater, the fewest bugs of the day, though still present. Bugs disappeared at the summit, probably due to the breeze. There were yellowjackets there, too.

I camped at a beautiful spot just a bit west of the PCT crossing on Trout Creek. There, too someone had brushed things out recently. The bugs were tolerable enough that I left my arm hanging out of my bivy. It gained a few more mosquito bites over night.
Last edited by jvangeld on September 3rd, 2021, 7:55 am, edited 1 time in total.
Jeremy VanGelder - Friends of Road 4109

User avatar
Chip Down
Posts: 3037
Joined: November 8th, 2014, 8:41 pm

Re: 2021 Bug Conditions Reports

Post by Chip Down » July 26th, 2021, 2:29 pm

gallione11 wrote:
July 24th, 2021, 2:12 pm
we Offed ourselves.
That seems a bit extreme. :|

User avatar
Chip Down
Posts: 3037
Joined: November 8th, 2014, 8:41 pm

Re: 2021 Bug Conditions Reports

Post by Chip Down » September 2nd, 2021, 6:02 am

Near Wind/Dog mountains Sept 1: Mosquitoes weren't dense and aggressive, but there were more than I was hoping for, and more than I've seen anywhere in a few weeks.

Tom of the Woods
Posts: 44
Joined: July 10th, 2016, 6:27 pm
Location: Rogue Valley

Re: 2021 Bug Conditions Reports

Post by Tom of the Woods » September 2nd, 2021, 6:59 pm

Southern Oregon ... went into the Blue Canyon Basin in Sky Lakes Wilderness last weekend. The yellowjackets around Medford are epic this year. In the basin we saw no mosquitoes and very few yellowjackets .. didn't even bother us when we were eating. On the hike back out via Blue Canyon Lake trail, we didn't see any bugs 'til we got to the lake level. From there to the ridgeline and back out via Cat Hill Way the yellowjackets were thick.

The trails are a bit rough .. could use a little brush-out work. The main trails didn't seem to have any logs to deal with. The Blue Canyon Lake trail was a different story. Someone had worked a lot on it up to lake level .. and stopped. From there on up it was log hopping and plowing through shin high huckleberry. Cat Hill Way had even more logs but a little less ground level scrub.
- Tom

User avatar
teachpdx
Posts: 395
Joined: January 21st, 2014, 4:45 pm
Location: Hillsboro, OR

Re: 2021 Bug Conditions Reports

Post by teachpdx » September 3rd, 2021, 9:29 am

Just did the Matthieu Lakes loop from Lava Camp TH yesterday. Absolutely zero bugs whatsoever.
instagram: @remyodyssey

User avatar
Water
Posts: 1355
Joined: May 28th, 2008, 10:03 pm

Re: 2021 Bug Conditions Reports

Post by Water » September 7th, 2021, 8:16 pm

two weekends in a row i have been attacked and gotten bites at divide camp TH on Mt. Adams. Though they were gentle mozzies, just occasional, and kept off by the simple breeze of hiking or a gentle forest sway, they still got a few bites in on me while prepping at the car. go figure.. last year in mid August same place it was for sure 0.

I would not want to cowboy camp at that TH for instance.
Feel Free to Feel Free

Post Reply