[pct-l] Mosquito Head Net

[meghan west]

and bring DEET or repellent clothing.  The little buggers will make every
attempt at going through your clothing.

My friend and I made the mistake of camping too close to a wet meadow in the
Sierra one night.  We had our head nets on, and were DEETed up, so we didn't
notice the volume of mosquitoes right away (they can't really swarm while
you're moving around) as we busied ourselves making camp.  But as I was
tucking extras into our bear canisters I looked down at my legs, and I
realized I couldn't see my pants.  That's how thick the mosquitoes were all
around me when I wasn't moving.  And that's when I realized the haze in
front of me wasn't my bug netting, it was mosqutioes.  And with that many
mosquitoes, even the 100% DEET wasn't doing much.  We finished setting up
camp in record time and dove into our tent to get away from them for the
night.

Of course, in all my experience, mosquitoes head to bed later in the evening
just like we do.  Well, that wasn't true in this particular area either.
They never completely left all night, and were back full force in the
morning.  Both my friend and I forwent the DEET that morning and donned our
froggtoggs and head nets hasmat style and hiked that way until we were far
enough away from the meadow to be safe.

Now, you might not make the same mistake of a poorly chosen campsite.   But
there's a good chance you will, at some point in the Sierra, need a break or
to stop for something in a mosquito friendly area.  And for that experience,
even if it only happens once, you will want a bug net.
Happy bug-free hiking!

-bling

On Tue, Jun 9, 2009 at 3:34 PM, Gary Wright <gwtmp01 at mac.com> wrote:

>
> On Jun 9, 2009, at 3:20 PM, E A wrote:
>
> > Is a bug net really needed for the sierras?
>
> Yes, if you want to keep your sanity during mosquito season.
>
> Gary Wright (Radar)
>
>
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