Re: skeeter situation

Hey all,

My son and I want to do the JMT from Cathedral Lakes to Happy Isles. Usually we wait until after Labor day, after mosquito season, but before YARTS stops running the bus to Tioga from the Valley. Looks like we may have to change our plans and try for July (reservationsless hoping we get to the Ranger Station early enough to get our trailhead permit). Sooo how are the mosquitos this year? I know some years during the summer it's worse than others. Any help would be appreciated!

James

A friend was at Ten Lakes last weekend. He said they were definitely there, but the numbers weren't huge. YMMV of course.

Eeek what does YMMV mean?

Also has anyone ever camped at Cloud's Rest? Is there a backpackers' site there?

Thanks. I haven't posted here in a long while but I read it all the time. BTW

James

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rroland
Eeek what does YMMV mean?

YMMV = Your Milage May Vary

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Also has anyone ever camped at Cloud's Rest?

There's a goat here that claims to have done so.

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Is there a backpackers' site there?

There are places near the top that aren't bad for camping.

In the summer you can't camp on the "top" because you won't be able to get 100 feet off the trail but you can camp on the east side before going up to the pinnacle. Bring water.

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Old Dude

The skeeters at Cathedral Lake and Sunrise Meadow were out in swarms over the first weekend of July. I was going to camp up by Sunrise HSC but they were so bad that I hiked out to Tuolomne. Water=Skeeters.




Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/10/2009 12:00PM by blooty.

I'll start hitting the trails this Sunday and plan to come well prepared. Every article of clothing has been prepped with Permethrin, bare skin will be coated with expensive Deet, short sleeved shirts will take a back seat to long sleeved shirts, the leggings on my combination pants will not get removed except at wet feet stream crossings, I've got treated soft gloves to keep the little bloodsuckers off my hands, and yes, I've even got one of those silly head nets to use at camp sites if it's really as bad as everybody is saying (and try not to eat food throught the net). This will be my river, waterfall and skeeter trip. Next year I'll book the trip in September and wear long sleeved shirts and long pants for normal reasons!

Jim



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/10/2009 01:01PM by tomdisco.

I was out at Cathedral lake on the 4th of July. It was pretty bad. There's marsh before you get the to lake, and that's where they all come out from. You can run as fast as you want, but the swarm will catch up in a matter of minutes. For us, it was bad enough where we couldn't enjoy hanging out at the lake for more than 5 minutes... Hope it's not as bad when you go though, its an amazing sight.

We were in the valley a couple of nights on June 18-20th and they were BIG and hungry...this could be a June thing since we normally go in August...

On July 11th at Tenaya Lake the buggers were thick and easily inhaled. During the day not bad but we came down from Cloud's Rest and went by the lake at about 7:30PM. They started showing up about 6:30PM about halfway down the switchbacks from the Sunrise Lakes junction. Elevation about 8500 feet. A light coat of Deet kept them from biting but bandannas over the mouth to prevent the inhalation. Took in three pre-bandanna. Hack gag hack!!

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Old Dude

We tried to outrun 'em, but Skeeters got their relay down to a science!!!!

What amazes me is that the mosquitos will be in areas that haven't seen humans for years. Apparently they can reproduce by other sources of nutrition (non-blood) but greatly prefer a blood meal.

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The cure for a fallacious argument is a better argument, not the suppression of ideas.
-- Carl Sagan

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Frank Furter
What amazes me is that the mosquitos will be in areas that haven't seen humans for years. Apparently they can reproduce by other sources of nutrition (non-blood) but greatly prefer a blood meal.

As with almost everything... the world would do just fine without us.

Plenty of other wildlife to satiate them. birds, deer, bear, etc...

"Both male and female adults feed on nectar. Females also feed on blood which is needed to produce eggs.
Some species can produce eggs without a blood meal. Males do not feed on blood."

There should be a skeeter-meter for geographic areas like the risk of fire or terriorist attacks.*

*(attacks by a breed of dog owners).

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The cure for a fallacious argument is a better argument, not the suppression of ideas.
-- Carl Sagan



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/14/2009 10:05AM by Frank Furter.

Spent July 9-12 in the park:
july 9, hetch hetchy backpacker's campground, hike to wapama fall - no skeeters
july 10: yosemite creek CG ---> yosemite point - no skeeters
july 11: yosemite falls trail --> valley floor: very few skeeters
july 12: tioga road --> yosemite creek CG: very few skeeters; tenaya lake (10 minute 1:30 p.m. dip): few skeeters.

Reportedly at Vogelsang on July 10-11, skeeters swarming, a guy packed his tent "on the run"

And to combat these critters...what was being sold in Yosemite Valley at the Curry and Yosemite general stores worked wonders
(until the lil' buggers start going for your eyes!). Both stores sold only one product in various forms AND it was citronella based...nothing dangerous.

On my recent trip 7/12-718 I discovered a lot less skeeters than everybody led me to believe I would encounter. Obviously, they tended to be heavy near most any lake on mornings and early evenings but my hiking kept me away from such areas at these times. They were thickest for me during mid day at Young Lakes but treated clothing plus deet plus staying on the move seemed to work fine. I was a bit taken back by all the folks coming down the Sunrise Lakes trail wearing skeeter head nets because there were none to speak of on the switchback. All these folks told horror tales of the skeeters at the lakes but when I got there around 11AM they were virtually gone, making Sunrise Lakes a wonderful day hike experience. These folks spent the rest of their day wearing these stupid nets ruining their views when it was was totally unecessary.

Jim

I would have darn near killed for a skeeter net the evening returning to the Sunrise TH, perhaps thats what freaked out all those net-wearing commandos on the return! I suppose that every location is different, and the time of day accounts for the density of the buggers, too.

Just returned from a week at Reds Meadow and yes, the bugs were the worst I've ever experienced. One skeeter managed to crawl down my back (where I didn't DEET) and had at me till I dropped everything I was carrying and used a trekking pole to get at it.

The compromise was the best wildflower bloom I've ever seen in late July. More later...

Oh of course after hiking along all week, it wasn't till I started the car to leave this morning that I get to see a bear up close (click photo to enlarge to 900k):

From the Reno Gazette Journal:

Wet spring gives bugs a bit more bite

Plenty of skeeters at Elizabeth Lake yesterday. Enough to shorten our stay.

Just got back and I did see em but had no problems...I used a Lemon Eucalyptus Oil by REPEL that worked great and is also better for yourself and the environment.