DEET/Headnet on CT in August?

[Coffee]

Is it necessary to carry DEET and/or a headnet on the Colorado Trail with a late July start date?

The reason I ask is that I have carried both items on a number of recent hikes and they have been annoying deadweight. Granted, the combined weight is just a couple of ounces but still, ounces are ounces, and I also want to simplify my kit by reducing the number of items when possible.

Thanks.

[brian039]

Nope, early July can be buggy but you'll be fine by late July. There were swarms of biting horseflies from Kennebec Pass to Durango that made life difficult on the last day of my thru but I don't know if that is normal or not.

[Coffee]

Great. I'll probably put some deet and headnet in my bounce box just in case. Thanks.

[HeartFire]

We hiked it last August - no problem with bugs at all

[handlebar]

Hiked CT last year + 100 mile loop on CDT alternates from Copper Mtn. Didn't need either DEET (although I carried a small amount) or headnet. Skeeters weren't much of a problem. 2013 was a low snow year and fires were a threat and closed parts of the trail so, if this is a more normal snow year, YMMV.

[bearcreek]

I've done the CT six times and have always had a insect moment or two somewhere, but never enough to justify carrying anything. Biting flies are more of a problem than mosquitos. DEET does not help much with them.

[colorado_rob]

I've hiked all over CO for 35 years now, virtually every weekend and more (now that I've retired), never once felt I needed a headnet, but I do carry a small bottle of spray-deet, I think the bottle I have is at least 5 years old, meaning I only need it rarely.

[Highway Man]

I only brought a small can of DEET when I started in early August, and never used it. My method, keep moving slowly even at the camps to avoid the bugs.

[Cookerhiker]

Our 2011 thruhike started July 24. It had been a snowy winter with above-average moisture which probably meant more mosquitoes on our hke than usual. They were a bother in camp for the first 10-12 days but no problem afterwards. I wouldn't bring a headnet and I don't use Deet. In camp, I changed to long pants, wore socks under my camp shoes, and wore the windbreaker.

[Coffee]

I started on 7/28 and just finished segment 7. So far mosquitos were only a problem in the vicinity of Kenosha Pass. I see no need for DEET or a headnet so far.

[Peaks]

Bugs usually don't bother me too much, even on the AT. It's been a wet year, so the bugs are there, but it's usually when I stop. For what it's worth, I carried a small bottle of bug spray, but never used it.

[Patrickjd9]

Have never used a headnet in over 30 years of hiking and camping, except for one trip in Alaska.

[Coffee]

My CT thru was from July 28 to August 27. First several days were very rainy and perhaps the upside was that I had no bug issues. However, I had some annoying mosquito issues at a marginal stealth camp shortly after Kenosha Pass, and again on a couple of occasions south of Tennessee Pass. Nothing super bad, but they were biting through my smartwool micro weight shirt, easily remedied by wearing my rain shell. They were not super aggressive around my face, but I did retreat into my tent a couple of times to eat. The bugs were almost entirely gone after my town stop in Salida around August 15.

I'd say people who are super sensitive to bugs might want to carry some protection until mid August. Personally I hate DEET and encountered nothing that would motivate me to resort to it on this trip. However, on the night that I retreated into my tent to eat, I regretted not carrying my one ounce headnet which was sitting in my bounce box.

I do think that if I had hiked a full month earlier the bugs would have been much worse but that's speculation on my part.

[Nooga]

The mosquitos were terrible in July. I used more deet in three days than I did on the whole AT.

[Twogears]

I just completed a section from Chalk Creek TH to Durango (Aug 12-28) and didn't have to use DEET at all. Didn't particularly have to go into tent early either (although I did). Only area that had any real bugs was in the La Grita Wilderness.

[Mags]

This was a very wet year in Colorado. Could account for some of the mossie action seen.