View Full Version : Yellow Jacket nest on trail about .2 past Cody Gap
This is just a WARNING to anyone hiking between Stechoa Gap and Fontana Dam. My son and I hiked this section this weekend, and we encountered a CRAZY situation with yellow jackets. At around 8pm we had just passed a FULL (8) hiker party at Cody Gap where we intended to tent for the night. We decided to move head on the trail and seek out a more private area to camp. About .2 north from Cody Gap there's a large rock sitting right on the trail. It looks like a perfect place to sit down and take a break, like the many others you see on the AT, so we did. I put both of our packs on the rock, and we sat down to rest and study our map.
We found out quickly that there's a LARGE yellow jacket nest under these rocks! We had to run down the trail leaving our gear behind. We each were stung a few times, and luckily walked away with no issues. When I returned to get our gear it was swarmed and crawling with yellow jackets. I'm not talking a few either.. it was INSANE. A cloud of yellow jackets were surrounding this rock and our packs were covered with them. It was getting dark fast, so I had to act quickly. I had to use a LONG (10-12ft) dead tree limb to fish our packs and trekking poles off the rock and drag them down the trail several yards. I also had to destroy all the stragglers stuck in the nooks and crannies of our packs. By now it's dark and we had to night hike about a mile up the trail before we found a nice tent site and setup camp.
The next day we met a few other hikers that were stung in the same area just walking past the rock, so please be careful on this section of the trail. You WILL get attacked if you go anywhere near that rock, and you cannot avoid it without bushwhacking around it up the side of the mountain.
Takeaways:
1. A long dead limb can be used to successfully manipulate items in/near an agitated nest.
2. Essentials and medical supplies are best carried in a pouch or pocket that never leaves your body.
3. It could have gone bad quickly if either of us had a negative reaction to the stings since our medical supplies were in the packs.
4. Hiking in the forest during late summer sucks for several reasons. Find something else to do during these months.
Glad it worked out well for you guys. We had a similar instance not far from that very spot many years ago. My young son thought it was a good idea to stuff the end of his hiking stick into a hole in the ground...we too ran away without our packs. Yellow Jackets are nasty creatures!
MuddyWaters
08-07-2016, 10:22
In all the times Ive come across a note laying on trail, (at least half dozen) about yellow jackets, bees, etc ahead on trail, theyve never been there when I passed. Glad you are OK. These insects usually dont bother you unless they get stirred up first. Sitting on top of their hole would probably do that. They also go back in hole after dark and dont fly in dark, then you can easily retrieve anything. Thats when we destroy nests around hunting camp. Ive been chased off my 4wheeler in the woods before when stopped over a nest. Fortunately they dont chase far either. Some insects like deerfly will chase you miles, and wait on you to come out if you go inside vehicle, camper, etc.
JLorenzo77
08-07-2016, 10:34
Glad you guys were okay. I had an experience with these suckers a few weeks ago, not on the trail though. They built a hive in one of our planters and when I went to remove some dead plants, they got me good. Stung me three times on my hand and wrist. I had to go to the ER because it swelled up and I had some other symptoms. Fortunately it was just a large local reaction. They don't mess around!
Hate those ×÷=%$@\&£€¥₩'s
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They also go back in hole after dark and dont fly in dark, then you can easily retrieve anything. Thats when we destroy nests around hunting camp. Ive been chased off my 4wheeler in the woods before when stopped over a nest. Fortunately they dont chase far either. Some insects like deerfly will chase you miles, and wait on you to come out if you go inside vehicle, camper, etc.
Thanks for the tips. It would have been nice to know I had a chance to get the gear after dark, but even so, my headlamp was in the hipbelt pocket! I usually have an emergency flashlight in my pants/shorts pocket too, but for some reason I also had that in the hipbelt pocket. Live and learn!
saltysack
08-07-2016, 13:51
Another reason to carry a few Benadryl.....
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Definitely a bad yellow jacket season here in GA. My wife has been stung three times this week between Woody Gap and Justus Creek. The little buggers are all over the place. Haven't seen it this bad in about 7 years. If you are hiking GA and are sensitive bring some benadryl or whatever you use.
saltysack
08-07-2016, 14:31
Definitely a bad yellow jacket season here in GA. My wife has been stung three times this week between Woody Gap and Justus Creek. The little buggers are all over the place. Haven't seen it this bad in about 7 years. If you are hiking GA and are sensitive bring some benadryl or whatever you use.
My pup got stung in the face a few years back...jack Russell looked like a shar pei his face was so swollen....the Benadryl saved his arse....
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saltysack
08-07-2016, 18:33
It must be pretty bad up there now...my aunt just got back from their house outside Waynesville, NC.....she also got multiple wasp stings while on day hikes around western NC..
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CamelMan
08-07-2016, 21:11
That really sucks! I would hate to be in a situation like that. The most stings I've had at one time was six.
You have no idea.
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Five Tango
08-10-2016, 08:43
Delivering wood to a campsite in my truck once when I noticed what appeared to be a LARGE floating beachball come up out of the ground about 50 feet away-a mass of yellow jackets!Nobody had to tell me to jump in truck and close the doors and windows btw!
Gambit McCrae
08-10-2016, 09:18
Man I got hit by a giant hornet in the ankle, and 5 miles down trail got hit again 3 inches away from the first one! Must have been carrying a pheromone from the first one as I have never been stung. I kept an eye on my breathing and swelling and however it did burn all the way up to my groin for about 4 hours I suffered no reaction. This however took place just north of Keffer Oak in Virginia Heading up Sinking Creek Mountain, and then on top of Sinking Creek Mountain
My experience is that yellow jackets become even more aggressive in the fall.
cneill13
08-10-2016, 11:42
I got hit by a hornet last summer and this girl I was with took a handful of Georgia mud and smoothed it over the sting. Quickest relief I have ever felt.
Carl
Nooga I have a 3 day planned for mid September and you are definitely not helping me😨.
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Puddlefish
08-11-2016, 08:33
I was sailing in the middle of a lake last weekend. Someone on the boat pointed out that there was a wasp on the collar of my shirt. I let it climb onto my finger, said it would be my new little wasp friend and then gently flicked it downwind. I haven't been bitten/stung by a wasp/hornet/bee/yellow jacket in 40 years or so.
My daughter completely panics when she sees them, and has been stung quite a few time. They tend to sting the most active people, and the smell of a dead wasp riles up the rest of the wasps. Pretty much say calm and it's far less likely you'll be stung.
illabelle
08-11-2016, 08:50
I was sailing in the middle of a lake last weekend. Someone on the boat pointed out that there was a wasp on the collar of my shirt. I let it climb onto my finger, said it would be my new little wasp friend and then gently flicked it downwind. I haven't been bitten/stung by a wasp/hornet/bee/yellow jacket in 40 years or so.
My daughter completely panics when she sees them, and has been stung quite a few time. They tend to sting the most active people, and the smell of a dead wasp riles up the rest of the wasps. Pretty much say calm and it's far less likely you'll be stung.
Reminds me of one time there was a wasp treading water in a 5-gallon bucket in the back yard. I happened to pass by and took pity on the poor thing. So I reached my finger under it and lifted it out to safety. Little booger lit my finger on fire!
I've learned to use a blade of grass for rescue operations.
Puddlefish
08-11-2016, 09:04
Reminds me of one time there was a wasp treading water in a 5-gallon bucket in the back yard. I happened to pass by and took pity on the poor thing. So I reached my finger under it and lifted it out to safety. Little booger lit my finger on fire!
I've learned to use a blade of grass for rescue operations.
Ouch. Once they're already stressed, it's best to just avoid them.
Peacefully puppy that I am, for wasps and fire ants I make an exception. "Obliterate him!", the First Secretary said.
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Secondmouse
08-11-2016, 12:32
better yellow jackets than ground hornets. but not by much...
gpburdelljr
08-11-2016, 13:04
better yellow jackets than ground hornets. but not by much...
I thought ground hornets (aka cicada killers) are not aggressive.
eabyrd1506
08-11-2016, 17:01
Reminds me of one time there was a wasp treading water in a 5-gallon bucket in the back yard. I happened to pass by and took pity on the poor thing. So I reached my finger under it and lifted it out to safety. Little booger lit my finger on fire!
I've learned to use a blade of grass for rescue operations.
Always remember the tale of the scorpion and the frog
gpburdelljr
08-12-2016, 01:14
My experience is that yellow jackets become even more aggressive in the fall.
Especially if you're a Bulldog. Go Yellow Jackets!
George P. Burdell Jr.
Especially if you're a Bulldog. Go Yellow Jackets!
George P. Burdell Jr.
+1 I miss hanging at ye ol' alma mater from time to time.
Secondmouse
08-15-2016, 11:40
I thought ground hornets (aka cicada killers) are not aggressive.
I may not have the correct one. I have been terrorized by what we call a bald-faced hornet and I thought it was a ground dweller...
Another Kevin
08-15-2016, 13:05
Last summer there was a colony of polyester bees [1] right across the treadway near the southern end of the Northville-Placid Trail. Hikers were warning each other of it, and joking about having to bee-ware and make a bee-tour, and would that put them bee-hind schedule, and how the place must be bee-witched, et cetera ad nauseam.
[1] Colletes inaequalis. 'Colony' isn't actually the right term, because that describes a social structure like honeybees. Polyester bees are solitary - each female makes her own nest. But they're gregarious, and you sometimes see thousands of individual nests clustered together in a very small area. The proper word would be 'aggregation.'
gpburdelljr
08-15-2016, 13:33
I may not have the correct one. I have been terrorized by what we call a bald-faced hornet and I thought it was a ground dweller...
Bald-faced hornets build large, typically football shaped, nests in trees.
Sarcasm the elf
08-15-2016, 13:43
Last summer there was a colony of polyester bees [1] right across the treadway near the southern end of the Northville-Placid Trail. Hikers were warning each other of it, and joking about having to bee-ware and make a bee-tour, and would that put them bee-hind schedule, and how the place must be bee-witched, et cetera ad nauseam.
[1] Colletes inaequalis. 'Colony' isn't actually the right term, because that describes a social structure like honeybees. Polyester bees are solitary - each female makes her own nest. But they're gregarious, and you sometimes see thousands of individual nests clustered together in a very small area. The proper word would be 'aggregation.'
Those are very likely the species that invade my neighborhood. They move in by the hundreds, alternating between my yard and my neighbor's every other year. It's a wierd feeling walking through a lawn swarming with those things while hoping that they really are non-aggressive.
Sarcasm the elf
08-15-2016, 13:45
I thought ground hornets (aka cicada killers) are not aggressive.
Cicada killers are non aggressive unless you really give them no other choice. I haven't heard of them referred to as ground hornets though. I always assumed ground hornetd were something else.
blue indian
08-15-2016, 15:54
Just got back from a trip in the Cohutta Wilderness in N. Georgia.
Between me and my friend, from the 5 or 6 miles from Betty gap to Bray Field (on the Conasagua River trail) he got stung 9 times. I got stung twice.
There were 3 different species of flying wasp or hornet that stung us.
The first attack game from bald faced hornets. Got my buddy 8 times. He got stung by another yellow jacket looking thing a quarter mile later.
I got tagged by one of the bald face hornets and again at Bray Field by some monstrous half yellow half black thing that made a thud when it landed on my back.
johnnybgood
08-15-2016, 16:38
Yellow jackets are especially aggressive during the late summer as their job of defending the colony and searching for food for the young are no longer needed.
They now are on their own to defend themselves and eat what they want as mature wasps.
I didn't mention this, but before I tried to fetch our gear off the rock I covered the exposed areas of my skin with 3M Ultrathon which I luckily had in my pocket. I got stung a few more times through my shirt, but never on the exposed areas (arms, legs, neck, face) I had covered.
Sarcasm the elf
08-15-2016, 21:06
I didn't mention this, but before I tried to fetch our gear off the rock I covered the exposed areas of my skin with 3M Ultrathon which I luckily had in my pocket. I got stung a few more times through my shirt, but never on the exposed areas (arms, legs, neck, face) I had covered.
I mentioned your story to someone last week and their response was "Tell him at least it wasn't copperheads under the rock." I still can't decide if that was optimistic or pessimistic...
I mentioned your story to someone last week and their response was "Tell him at least it wasn't copperheads under the rock." I still can't decide if that was optimistic or pessimistic...
Having done many a day hike out west, I've usually got my eyes on the terrain before my foot hits it. This particular rock was was LARGE and right ON the trail. Kinda like those old logs you come across that are just the right height to lift your pack off your back and allow you to relax for a minute. I was disarmed by its apparent need to service a tired hiker by being so close to the trail that I didn't even think to check it first. Stupid me.. lesson learned. In my case, both copperheads and yellow jackets could have posed DIRE consequences. I just got lucky this time.
Sarcasm the elf
08-15-2016, 21:39
Having done many a day hike out west, I've usually got my eyes on the terrain before my foot hits it. This particular rock was was LARGE and right ON the trail. Kinda like those old logs you come across that are just the right height to lift your pack off your back and allow you to relax for a minute. I was disarmed by its apparent need to service a tired hiker by being so close to the trail that I didn't even think to check it first. Stupid me.. lesson learned. In my case, both copperheads and yellow jackets could have posed DIRE consequences. I just got lucky this time.
I've lucked out in similiar situations. On my very first week long hike I was wearing a 50lb pack:eek: and hiking downhill behind my buddy. He stepped on a field stone which tipped when he put his weight on it and released a flurry of black paper wasps. He was walking fast enough that they didn't have a chance to follow him and instead swarmed around the rock ten feet in front of me. I tried to back away quickly and quietly, but the weight of my pack caused me to trip about 15-20 feet away from the nest, where I landed on my back and flailed around like an upside down turtle as the weight of my pack made it unable for me to get up. I ended up having to sit their quietly for a little while until the wasps started to calm and then slowly rolled myself over in order to stand back up and carefully pick my way around the trail.
Cicada killers are non aggressive unless you really give them no other choice. I haven't heard of them referred to as ground hornets though. I always assumed ground hornetd were something else.
I just introduced a dozen cicada killers to ammonia this evening. They are out in full force in PA but they are not aggressive.