[pct-l] peak mosquito season in Oregon

[wayneskraft at comcast.net (Wayne Kraft)]

I've spent a lot of time over the last thirty years in and around  
Three Sisters Wilderness and Odell Lake.  Lonetrail's advice is  
good.  Mosquitoes get active with the snow melt and persist well into  
August.  They like low, cool, wet and calm conditions, so you need to  
camp high, hot, dry and windy.  I only drink lake water as a last  
resort.  I took some water out of South Matthieu Lake when I was  
there three years ago and treated it.  Yuck.  Creeks and springs are  
very tasty, though.


On Dec 3, 2005, at 4:01 PM, Lonetrail@aol.com wrote:

> long-time lurker
>
> I  reverse my hiking pattern in OR I usually climb high and camp  
> low. I
> camped  high even in snow fields melted snow for cooking and water,  
> but no
> mosquitoes. Melted snow water taste better then OR Lakes.
> Lonetrail
>
>
>
> Greetings from a long-time lurker and section hiker.
>
> All  this recent talk about mosquito resistance prompts me to ask  
> a  related
> question or three that pertain to my 750-mile walk next year   
> (Willamette
> Pass to Manning):
>
> 1) I have no choice but to begin  walking at Willamette Pass on  
> July 15. (I
> have a set date to cross the  border, Sept. 4, which has some personal
> significance.) So that's right  around the time Oregon's fabled  
> bloodsuckers
> should be at their most  intense. For those of you who have been  
> there and
> done that in mid-July,  did it make any appreciable difference  
> whatsoever if
> you camped away from  water sources? Or were the hordes just as bad  
> if you
> threw down in dry  areas? I'd be willing to water up and put a few  
> miles
> between me and the  nearest lake in the Three Sisters area if it  
> meant some
> respite from the  little buggers.
>
> 2) Even with arms and legs fully covered, I'm expecting  to give my  
> share of
> blood. I'll have the tarptent to retreat into at night.  But as for  
> the
> daytime hours, there will probably be no respite, no relief  except  
> perhaps
> the headnet, which is a real drag to wear when moving  around. My  
> Deet of
> choice will be REI Jungle Juice unless someone can  suggest a more
> concentrated formulation. Does anyone have firsthand  experience using
> pyrethrin on clothing? The Backpacking Light list had a  small  
> thread on
> this a few months back and it sounded as if I need to find  the
> garden-strength pesticide formula  -- a 2.5 percent solution --   
> and soak my
> clothes in it. Between that and the Deet, I'll be a walking,  talking
> Superfund toxic cleanup candidate. Anyone have any experience with   
> this?
> I'm guessing it'll only be good for one washing, which would cover   
> Odell
> Lake through Sisters or maybe Timberline.
>
> 3) Finally, for  those of you who have done this section in July,  
> when did
> the mosquito  situation finally abate? Were they a plague through Warm
> Springs and  Jefferson Park or points north?
>
> Thanks for your  consideration,
>
> DP
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