[pct-l] DEET - where?

[kborski at yahoo.com (Karen Borski)]

Victor,

You will encounter mosquitoes in southern California. 
In fact, this past April, I was bitten about two miles
from the Mexican border.  They live in the creekbed
areas and come out in the early morning and evening.

However, I dislike applying DEET unless I really have
to have it.  So, my approach to southern California is
not to carry DEET, but to carry a long sleeve
lightweight shirt and pants.  Most hikers carried
eco-mesh or similar lightweight desert hiking shirts
and wore them nearly every day.  These shirts offer
great sun protection and are actually cooler than
short-sleeve shirts, because they intercept a lot of
the sun's radiation before it penetrates your skin. 
Same goes for the pants, though most people carried
convertible pants or wore shorts.  

No where prior to Kennedy Meadows were the mosquitoes
so bad that I wished I had my DEET.  I either burrowed
further into my sleeping bag (if it was at night - we
slept under the stars) or I hiked a little faster.  I
always wore my long sleeve Ecomesh shirt (see
www.railriders.com to shop for one) when hiking, so
that limited where they could bite.  

But if you are sensitive to them, you should know that
you will find them from the first day onward -- not
every day, but at least twice a week.

As for me, if I were to do it again, I would not carry
DEET until Kennedy Meadows.  You'll probably end up
carrying it until middle of Oregon, depending on when
soon you arrive up north.

Nocona 


--- victor Hanson-Smith
<victorhansonsmith@hotmail.com> wrote:
 
> Do I need to carry DEET through the SoCal sections?
> If not, where is the best location to send it? 


		
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