[pct-l] Mojitos

[Sean 'Miner' Nordeen]

>>I have been debating with my hiking buddy about mosquitos.

>>I have the black diamond beta light shelter but after using it last June
>>around Desolation Wilderness and sleeping with 500+ tiny annoying uninvited
>>guests in the shelter for a week, I am curious what others do with these
>>guys. Ignore them? Use Bivys?

>>What are the mosquitos like all along the trail?  Where is the worst of the
>>mosquitos?

I normally cowboy camp or use a tarp when I head for the Sierra and I did so this past year when I hiked the PCT.  What did I do?  I hiked until it gets dark and then go to bed.  They usually leave shortly after its dark so I may need to wear a head net or sleep inside my bivy for a short period of time until they are gone.  And then I get up at first light when I hear the 1st mosquito buzzing my ear.  That works as my alarm clock as if I don't get up soon, that one will be joined by many.  So its good motivation to get moving early as sleeping in isn't an option.

This works with the hiking style of hiking from dawn until dusk.  If you like to stop early and lounge around in camp, then this will not likely work for you.  For me, if I want to stop and smell the roses, then I'll do it during the day and take a long break somewhere.  I don't look for beautiful campspots since it will be dark and I won't be able to see or enjoy it anyway.

The only really bad days that I had mosquitos was in the Rae Lakes area (just north of Glen Pass) and in Northern Yosemite.  I wore long pants/sleeves in the Sierra and treated my clothing with Permithrin at Kennedy Meadows which worked pretty well.  I only needed to use DEET 2 days on the trail in N.Yosemite..

There can be some other bad spots in NoCal and Oregon, but unless you are very early in the season, by the time most thru-hikers get there, they are mostly gone.  Though I remember the ones in the Sisters Wilderness of Oregon as being really aggressive; fortunately, there weren't very many of them.

-Sean "Miner" Nordeen

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Check my 2009 PCT Journal out at www.postholer.com/Miner