Mosquitos? - John Muir Trail

imported
#1

I’m going to be thruhiking sobo on the JMT starting around the 7th or 8th of july. How bad are the mosquitos?

Slick B

#2

That time of year they could be epic, depending on the timing of the snow melt. If you go then, definitely bring warm enough camp stuff so that you can camp high and where there is a breeze. And bring a headnet.

On the other hand, in late August '06, there were only mosquitos to speak of in a couple of places…a total of maybe 20 miles of trail.

markv

#3

Unless you have a superhuman tolerance to their relentless assualts, you will be using your mosquito treatment of choice most of the time on your trip. We left on July 15th last year (a wet year) and found that the concentrations varied along the way. Here is my non-scientific opinion of the worst areas (in no particular order):

  1. Sunrise High Sierra Camp to Tuolumne Meadows.
  2. Donahue Pass to Rush Creek.
  3. Bear Valley (from Bear Ridge to just above Rosemarie Meadow).

I was told (and found) that as you head south the trail becomes more arid (relatively), so they aren’t as bad. This seemed to happen around Mather Pass. When I was at Rae Lakes, other people we met complained about how bad they were, by then I barely noticed them.

We used Ultrathon (a time released 30% DEET lotion) which worked very well (better than the 100% DEET sprays or liquids others were using). We only had to apply it sparingly twice a day at the most. Of course all this did was keep them from biting us, we still were buzzed by ones looking for an opening. In the mornings and evenings long sleeves, pants, and headnets proved effective, albeit cumbersome.

Enjoy the mosquitoes, they make a nice protein addition to your evening meals.

Snowball

#4

Awful! Horrible! I’ve never seen that many mosquitos in my life! The mosquitos are going to differ from year to year, but last July they were brutal. I spent most of the hike in a headnet and got to the point where I refused to stop and look around for fear of being eaten alive. When I got to bodies of very cold water, I stood in them as the mosquitos couldn’t get me below the water-line. Filtering water was the worst as I couldn’t use my hands to murder the skeeters. Let me put it this way, when I slapped my leg to kill one mosquito I wound up with 6 dead bugs on my hand. One slap. And more biting. I used 100% deet (Ben’s) to no effect.

Do I sound like I’m whining?! For me, they took a toll on my mental outlook. I wanted to stop to look around, wanted to spend time in the evenings listening to the wind and writing. There were times that I was so harassed by mosquitos that I failed to notice the beauty around me. (This would explain why my journal is much more negative than my actual trail experience.) We each have our own tolerance level, and the JMT mosquitos pushed me way beyond mine. I’ve never been so bothered by bugs, not even during black fly season in the Adirondacks.

Tumblina

#5

I had almost no experience with mosquito swarms before doing the JMT last July/August. The mosquitoes didn’t show up until near Donahue pass, and from then on my brother and I never zipped off our pant legs again. For the rest of the the trip we used very little DEET, relying mostly on long sleeved clothing and head nets to keep the mosquitoes away.

The only time the mosquitoes really got to me was when I woke up at Tully Hole and I though it was early and cold enough to grab my trowel and do my morning business without the mosquitoes waking up. Big mistake. My big white ass was like a searchlight calling out to them. By the time I realized this, I was unfortunately committed and couldn’t do a damn thing about it.

Eric

#6

I thru-hiked the JMT beginning the third week of 2005. There was plenty of standing water, snow, etc. and I did encounter some mosquitoes, but I didn’t find them to be a problem. I may be more tolerant than some hikers, but I treated my clothes and hat with Permithren prior to the trip and used some 100% DEET sparingly. I never wore my head net.

I agree with Snowball regarding the areas of higher concentrations and would add Evolution Valley to the list also. I passed by a number of hikers who wore head nets and seemed to be bothered more than, so I can only assume the Permithren was helpful.

As for 100% DEET. I have never found anything more effective and I have tried the other products. Just be careful, it did melt the plastic on my Swiss Army Knife once!

Idahomtman

#7

I soaked my pants and tee-shirts in Permithren before the hike, but it didn’t seem to help. Near Sunrise High Sierra Camp there were dozens of them landing on my pants. However, they didn’t try to bite through the thin fabric.

Does anyone know if Permithren is supposed to keep them off your clothing or does it just convince them that you would taste bad?

Snowball

#8

My understanding is that the chemical confuses the buggers and they can’t find your scent. I also use Permithren on my clothing and Ultrathon on my skin and have been pretty lucky with that combination. Plus long a sleeve shirt and a head net. It doesn’t keep them from swarming but has stopped the biting. I wouldn’t go into the backcountry without that combination!

shelly

#9

Pemetherin is a insecticide that “kills on contact” I used socks with this stuff in them. I spent the last two summers around Lake Superior and the bugs up there are the worst I have ever seen or heard of. I used the socks and a bandana treated with pemetherin to ward off deer ticks that can harbor Lymes disease. I know more than a few people that contracted this terminal disease last summer. Deet. A oversized bandana treated was my favorite piece of gear last summer. In the sun I kept it under my hat for a sun shade and it keeps those darned black flies off. At night I would wear it like a normal bandana but completly covering my ears. Like shelly said it keeps them from biting but they will still crawl over you looking for a “easy way in” to your blood. I hate when they bite my feet so I always carried a extra stuff sack to put my barefeet in while cooking and that made a nice barrier to keep the mosquitos off and it still allowed my feet to dry and my socks I could hang up to dry (this is extra weight for a thru hiker but if you have a pack cover this will problaby do the job too. Supplex nylon has no effect with keeping mosquitos off. I always had to wear my smartwool long underwear in combo with my nylon pants to keep them from biting even when it was 80 degrees out. By the way smartwool has a HUGE comfort range.

Ohioan