Re: [pct-l] Mosquito's in section I mid Sept?

[Tom Rogers <tfrogers@san.rr.com>]

Mike D'Ambrogia wrote: 
> Planning a trip between Sonora Pass and Tuolomne, does anybody have any
> thoughts on how the maneaters, errrr, mosquito's *might* be come mid
> September?

I hiked the stretch from Tuolumne to Tahoe in mid September last year,
as a portion of a longer section hike.  The only mosquito area was
around Stubblefield Canyon and Grace Meadow, really just 1 buggy day and
night.  As I can recall the rest was virtually bug free.

Comparing the two sections, Section I (Tuolumne to Sonora Pass) featured
creeks and canyons; Section J (Sonora Pass to Tahoe) was lake country,
all but the first night's camp were alongside lakes, including a very
worthwhile overnight at Raymond Lake.  If you look at Craig's PCT
Planner, you will see that Section I is much more up and down, 2311 feet
per day elevation gain, vs. 1581 feet per day for Section J.  I also
carried a bear canister through Section I because of the park bears, but
sent it home from Sonora Pass and counterbalanced my food for the
northern section.  I didn't encounter any bears on the trail or in camp
in either section.  None of the creek crossings were significant in
either section.

The entire stretch was wonderful, but if I had to rank the sections for
overall enjoyment, and lack of bugs, I'd pick Section J over Section I.

Have a great hike, Tom
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