Are the mosquitoes in Jefferson Park really that bad?

[Ironbar]

A buddy and I took a hike to Hanks lake via Pamelia Lake a couple years ago, and I thought the mosquitoes were bad there. They were at least manageable with lots of Deet anyway.

But all the reports I see online make Hanks Lake look like a backyard BBQ compared to the swarms reported in Jefferson Park. What say you?

[Aimless]

Mosquito levels alter from place to place, from one part of a summer to another and from one year to the next, as do people's tolerance of various levels of mosquitos. There is no accurate answer to the question you asked. My gauge of when mosquitos are becoming nearly intolerable is when the very air is never silent, but is constantly permeated with the whiny hum of tiny wings from dawn to past dusk and there are never fewer than a dozen landing on you at once. Even then I've found some way to live with it, when that's necessary to the trip. Some people retreat when there are just a couple dozen per hour.

Short answer: it depends.

[retired jerry]

July is a bad month. Right after the snow melts.

These biting flies are maybe worse. For one thing, deer doesnt bother them like mosquitoes

[Webfoot]

No matter how bad the mosquitoes get around here I like to remind myself it's not Alaska (or Siberia), as these photographs by Joel Sartore and Amos Chapple show.

[walrus]

I've never had a problem, but I always wait until August when they're sticking to 6-7k (and they are most definitely present if you go up there!). If you call the ranger station, they usually have a good idea of where you'll find them.

[adamschneider]

In my experience from August trips, they're worst along the South Breitenbush River. The lakes haven't been too bad.

[kelkev]

It depends.....I've visited in mid-July a couple of times, and once was in a very low snowpack year - - No mosquitoes as things were very dry that year. One other time I visited in mid-July and found it miserable - - a normal snowpack year.