mosquitos and other annoying bugs

[R Jay]

I'm wondering how necessary it will be to carry bug spray and/or a bug net for my head? I hate to add any more weight to my pack with something that may use very infrequently, if at all. However, I would hate to lose my marbles on such a beautiful trail because of obnoxious insects. Typically, I find that bug spray comes off very quickly from sweating, and isn't worth carrying. Coming from the east coast, I really don't know what to expect in the Sierras... advice?

[DaFireMedic]

I'm wondering how necessary it will be to carry bug spray and/or a bug net for my head? I hate to add any more weight to my pack with something that may use very infrequently, if at all. However, I would hate to lose my marbles on such a beautiful trail because of obnoxious insects. Typically, I find that bug spray comes off very quickly from sweating, and isn't worth carrying. Coming from the east coast, I really don't know what to expect in the Sierras... advice?

Depends on when you go. This year, the mosquito problem should be relatively light due to the low snowfall, and should get even lighter as you get into late August and September. No one knows yet for next year, depends a lot on the rain/snowfall in the area over the winter.

Last year, we had very little problem with mosquitos between July 28th and August 18th. I brought a headnet, but never used it, and I wore a long sleeve shirt. My headnet was .3 oz and worth carrying just in case. I'm not a fan of bug repellents, but my sons used some a few times. We brought one small bottle and put another in our resupply, but ended up leaving one in the hiker barrels. If you wear shorts or a short sleeve shirt, you should consider bringing some.

People do hike the trail without any bug protection and most have no problems if the mosquitos are light. But if its a bad mosquito year, your trip will be miserable at best without some protection.

[Wise Old Owl]

Every year people older people, and the very young die of flu like symptoms of West Nile Virus... it happens most in late August and September, when the majority of birds fly south and the female mosquitoes cannot find a bird to get a blood meal to reproduce with. Most mosquitoes are actually in the canopy of trees avoiding the sun where birds like to be too. When a female wants to reproduce around the home the bug hides in the bushes around the home or dark places under the decks up to three days waiting for a "brown" object to pass by that gives off carbon dioxide. Hense there is some truth to wearing a long sleeve white shirt.

Every year regardless of rain can be a bad year if you get sick.


Deet 14% or better
Spray lasts 2 hours
cream lasts 4 hours
wipes or liquid lasts 6 hours

[Wise Old Owl]

Why do mosquitoes bite some people more than others? - asks Allison from Austin

Every summer, they come. They sneak through the windows and ravage your ankles; they find the one spot on your left shoulder that didn’t get drenched in a layer of DEET (God bless you, Deep Woods Off!) and gnaw, chomp, and suck away.


From May to September, many of us – covered in scars and bloody scabs, the remnants of these bites now gone bad – live side-by-side with people who, despite living in the same house and even sleeping in the same bed, are seemingly less vulnerable to the vicious six-legged predators. It turns out, a mosquito’s snacking preference for one person over another is not just a curious annoyance, it’s also a medical concern (http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvbid/westnile/prevention_info.htm): Since malaria and other diseases are transmitted by bites, people who get bitten a lot are more likely to become ill. Because of this, researchers are working to find the mechanisms in mosquitoes that cause them to sniff out you, and not your neighbor.
Scientists have identified (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?Db=pubmed&Cmd=ShowDetailView&TermToSearch=15717318&ordinalpos=3&itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsP anel.Pubmed_RVDocSum) several proteins found in mosquitoes’ antennae and heads that latch on to chemical markers, or odorants, emitted from our skin. These markers are produced by the natural processes of our bodies and, like neon signs, they let the mosquitoes’ smell center know you’re around (though the process that then guides them to you is not well understood). Flies and mosquitoes share a number of the same genes that dictate production of these odorant-binding proteins, which have specific sites that will catch or bind with certain chemicals in the air. Some scientists suggest that certain characteristics attract mosquitoes, thereby leading us to have more bites than others. Some of the top candidates: the amount of carbon dioxide in the breath, pregnancy, body temperature, alcohol and odorant markers based on blood type.
Blood-type markers are chemicals released by people of a specific blood type – so if someone with AB blood emitted a marker, it would be different than that released by B. One study (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?Db=pubmed&Cmd=ShowDetailView&TermToSearch=15311477&ordinalpos=3&itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsP anel.Pubmed_RVDocSum) found persons with Type O blood suffered more mosquito landings because of the odorant markers they emit than any other blood type, making their juices a hot commodity for blood banks, as well as Asian Tiger Mosquitoes, which carry West Nile Virus. Not only were Type O’s more likely to be landed on, but the study found that for any blood type, people who secreted a chemical marker about their blood type through their skin (both blood type and secretor status (http://www.dadamo.com/wiki/wiki.pl?action=browse;oldid=Secretors;id=Secretor_ Status) are determined by genes) were bitten much more than non-secretors; 24 percent in the case of the Type O’s. Other researchers estimate about 15 percent of the population, based on their genes, don’t emit chemical markers of their blood type through their skin and saliva, so something else has to be calling the mosquitoes to them.
Pregnancy (http://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0140673600023345) seems to be a big winner for mosquito attraction, probably because mothers-to-be exhale 21 percent more carbon dioxide (quite a turn-on to the six-legged species) and are on average 1.26 degrees Fahrenheit warmer around the belly than their non-pregnant counterparts, due to the temperature of amniotic fluid. Also, having just 12 ounces of beer (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?Db=pubmed&Cmd=ShowDetailView&TermToSearch=12083361&ordinalpos=3&itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsP anel.Pubmed_RVDocSum) increases your mosquito appeal, possibly because of the increase in body temperature it causes or because skin markers change when metabolizing cocktails – unfortunate since outdoor drinking is a highlight of summer anywhere.
One researcher (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?Db=pubmed&Cmd=ShowDetailView&TermToSearch=11756041&ordinalpos=9&itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsP anel.Pubmed_RVDocSum) suggested smell is unimportant, and what really matters to the mosquito currently chomping on your toe is not the smells you’re giving off, rather it’s finishing her meal without being swatted away. Because of this, she’s better off attacking “less defensive” animals, rather than more defensive, and so is evolutionarily predisposed to biting lazy or incapacitated prey (reference drinking above).
Infectious disease experts are anxious to solve the mosquito preference puzzle so they can design repellants tailored to vulnerable people, which would either block an individual’s smell signatures or disarm a mosquito’s scent receptors. Unfortunately, a specific answer to your skin-piercing question continues to itch away at scientists, and I suggest stocking up on bug repellant in the meantime.

[BlueWaterHue]

When is your trip? I've read recently on the facebook PCT/JMT boards that there was a fairly rampant mosquito problem within the last week in the sierra. I am planning on being in the Yosemite area later this week so I will try to post a 'state of the trail' thread. I for one am definitely bringing the DEET and a head net.

[R Jay]

I'll most likely be leaving happy isles on Thursday...

[Dogwood]

I'm wondering how necessary it will be to carry bug spray and/or a bug net for my head? I hate to add any more weight to my pack with something that may use very infrequently, if at all. However, I would hate to lose my marbles on such a beautiful trail because of obnoxious insects. Typically, I find that bug spray comes off very quickly from sweating, and isn't worth carrying. Coming from the east coast, I really don't know what to expect in the Sierras... advice? I thought I saw the most ridiculous things on my first JMT thru-hike - 90* and a man and woman wearing long sleeved shirts, gloves, and pants tucked into their shoes with hats on over head nets and another woman wearing a full Nanoseeum body suit THEN I hit a spot on the trail where I was literally ATTACKED by vampires. I then understood. Bring a 1 /2 oz Sea To Summit or equivalent head net if hiking the Sierras in July/Aug. BTW, those scents that WOO just mentioned skeeters are attracted to, ammonia in sweat and carbon dioxide in your breathe, are adressed without harsh chemicals such as DEET by the aloe and Vitamin B1 in the Don't Bite Me transdermal patches that mask those scents. They work decently well for skeeters or at the least can be part of a less harsh skeeter deterent.

[Dogwood]

The skeeters on the JMT and in OR on the PCT are the worst I've experienced on any hike in the lower 48. Bring some skeeter protection unless you're hiking the JMT in late Aug -Oct.

[kidchill]

Ummm...my bugnet with the compression cover thingy weighs 1 oz, and I'm sure you could find like a 3-5oz bottle of bug spray. I hate putting chemicals like that on my body, but doing a SOBO AT hike, I gave in pretty quickly! There were days I did DEET, headnet, hat, and headphones (so I didn't have to hear them!). For 4-6oz, it might be worth it to keep your sanity! I'm not sure what the bug situation would be like out there, but the cost in weight is pretty negligible.

[Snowleopard]

Repackage DEET into a smaller container if you're concerned with weight; just check that it doesn't leak and doesn't dissolve in DEET. Ultrathon or other encapsulated versions of DEET last longest.

My head net weighs less than 1 oz.

[Drybones]

Whenever I use mosquito deterent it's normally SSS, Skin So Soft, does a good job keeping bugs off and softens and beautifies my skin to give me that beautiful glo...at least it keeps the mosquitos off, and I believe the ticks also but can't really quantify that.

[1Greywolf]

I agree with most of the recommendations especially with DalFireMedic on the weight. On the ATM I used 100% Deet and I was covered in Mosquitoes especially in New Jersey.
On the trail a Amish young man suggested I try rubbing Eucalyptus plant growing around the trail, it worked as well as Deet, it's much safer and smells great.
Mosquitos seem to know where you can't reach them and the spots you have mist.

For my JMT hike this July I'm bringing a bug head net and a small bottle of Eucalyptus extract. Will post the results.
Happy trail's you all.

[Dogwood]

Kidchill, although like Snowleopard says, there are head nets that weigh less than 1 oz my quoted wt for the STS headnet I was reffering to was incoorectly posted. The wt is 1.2 - 1.5 ozs. Meant to type 1 1/2 ozs. Here's another thing I would do at camp on the JMT if I was doing it in July - bring along some stick or cone incense. The smoke deters flying insects such as skeeters and noseeums. Even though I don't smoke when I'm working outside in the early morn doing landscaping I'll light up a small blunt stogie just to keep the incessant flying and buzzing around me from driving me insane.

[1Greywolf]

Kidchill, although like Snowleopard says, there are head nets that weigh less than 1 oz my quoted wt for the STS headnet I was reffering to was incoorectly posted. The wt is 1.2 - 1.5 ozs. Meant to type 1 1/2 ozs. Here's another thing I would do at camp on the JMT if I was doing it in July - bring along some stick or cone incense. The smoke deters flying insects such as skeeters and noseeums. Even though I don't smoke when I'm working outside in the early morn doing landscaping I'll light up a small blunt stogie just to keep the incessant flying and buzzing around me from driving me insane.


"...small blunt stogie..." it reminds me of the "Guinea sticks" that were smoked by my uncles and neighbors. It kept away more than flying insects. Lol
Four more days and Yosemite here I come. All the reports I'm reading suggest that the UFO's, due to the moderate snow fall, are not bad this year.
Will see. If they don't carry me off, I will see you all in August.

Ciao!!

[JRushman]

Did a section of the New Jersey AT over the past three days. The mosquitos in the Pochuck Swamp and Vernie Swamp were fierce. I stopped into a store in Unionville - another hike and bought up all the Deet! I saw a number of hikers wearing mosquito netting for the head. I'm checking it out too. I just wonder how hot it must get.

JR