Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Why Mosquitos?

I just completed a 16 day solo trek - Shepherd, Lake South America, Milestone, Junction Meadow, Colby, Sandy Meadow, Wright Lakes, Tyndasll area and back out Shepherd. During the first 11 of the 16 days, I became intimately familiar with the Sierra mosquito population - hereafter referred to as Annoying Little Bastards - or ALB's.

Sixteen days alone allows one to seriously contemplate selected subjects - in this case, the distribution and behavior of the ALB's.

I cannot figure it out: why they were distributed as they were, and why some were amazingly aggressive.

The Upper Kern west of Lake South America was bad, but not nearly as bad as Milestone and the Colby areas. Junction Meadow - even with warm temps and lots of standing water pools left from the receding Kern was clear. Sandy Meadow was bad, but Wright Lakes, the area between Tyndall and Shepherd, and the Shepherd Pass Trail itself were ALB free.

Does anyone really know what affects ALB distribution? The usual subjects - standing water, temperature, altitude, vegitation - seemed to be factors, but not consistently.

Been doing this for 21 years and ususally the latter part of July in the Southern Sierra is ALB-free, but not this year. Although it rained in early-mid July, this wasn't a particularly wet year.

So - does anyone have fact-based knowledge - or even educated guesses - about ALB distribution? And where do they go in August when the Southern Sierra is ALB free? Do they migrate, die off, or are somehow rounded up by the evil empire and saved til next year?

Hopefully they all go to mosquito hell where the spend eternity being squashed, being reborn, then squashed again every 60 seconds.

Did I mention that I really hate those annoying bastards?

Booger,

So glad to hear your trip went well. Did you manage to get down to Roaring River to see Ranger Cindy?

As for the ALB's I was wondering that myself. Considering we found the lost tribe on the summit of Mt. Goddard, I was wondering if there was something to the distribution patterns. Hmmm...

Congrats on another (I'm sure) fantastic 16 days!

-L

Wishful thinking.. I think they all migrate down here to entertain themselves by dive bombing me everytime I go outside around twilight(insert sounds of radio static here) "Roger Bravo One... target in sight"...although.. having experienced the red-tailed hawk size mossies that are up there... I'm beginning to think the ones down here are a smaller sub-species or soemthing.

I don't really have any scientific facts to back up any of this.. it is pure speculation on my part.. but as I'm still nursing bruises and welts from the bites I got last week I thought I'd chime in my two cents worth...

Love the acronym! I wish I knew the scientific reasoning and how to annihilate them. I suffered major ALB bites in Bridgeport and Mammoth Lakes area over the 4th, despite pratically bathing in deet.

That's good question whether it's a pattern of distribution or not. Last week I camped 3 days/nights at the pothole area of the Shepherd Pass trail. I was pleasantly surprised how few there were. They were around for sure, but not nearly as bad as last year at Cottonwood Lakes and Soldier Lake. I think moving water being nearby instead of a lake was a big part of that. Another, I treated my clothes with permethrin this year then just a touch of deet on the neck and face. I really think that was the other part of the equation. Not a single bite. Going to Meysan Canyon this weekend. Test #2

Your ALB's are in Oregon right now. I was just up there, outside of Medford and they were so bad, you couldn't stop windmilling your arms. Along with the heat, it didn't make for much fun (and okay, oregon just ain't the Sierra)

Last year on the JMT (mid-august) I did not use my bug juice, once. Not even in my one special spot, just before the bear creek crossing, where there's usually an oddly specific 20-30 yards of hungry bugs.

I'll pack the juice this august and hope for the same results.

We just completed a loop via Colby pass about when you did - and found in terms of Mosquitoes - Junction Meadow wasnt bad, Kern-Kaweah canyon was miserable up thru Gallats Lake, the meadow above Gallats lake before Colby Pass was OK as was up over the pass, Colby Lake was OK, and the meadows in Cloud Canyon were pretty bad. Perhaps the amount of wind that was blowing or other weather conditions, or the amount of DEET we had accumulated impacted the critters our perception of them.

What I want to know is - referring to Kern-Kaweah - how can so many Mosquitoes survive so long on so few people? - as best I could tell we were one of the first groups over Colby Pass (Ranger Cindy seemed to think so) - I'm sure there were earlier parties but there certainly weren't a lot of people on that trail (we went for 50 hours without seeing another soul) - so how (and how long)do the ALBs survive with no people to eat? No wonder they are so desperate they go right through your clothes!

Mosquitoes don't need blood to survive, only for the reproduction process (BTW, males only eat nectar, not blood).
I believe the vast majority of their blood meals are from animals and birds.

They have a lifespan of 4-8 weeks. I have noticed that the key thing related to hatching in the Sierra is the highest nite time temp. When it gets above around 35, consistantly, they seem to appear. For the mid-high elevations, that seems to be from Memorial Day to about Labor Day.

Hows the mosquito population at the portal currently? Im taking my daughter for a camping trip this weekend and dont want to fight them off all week.

We were there on Aug 6-7 and did not notice any mosquitos at the campsite or along the trail.

I have decided their purpose is to feed the trout and limit the number of people on the trail.

I still recall the sign from 35 or so years ago above Cloud Canyon. It was a large metal embossed/engraved sign announcing that it was an unmaintained trail. And it took someone a bit of effort to deface that sign with words deeply scratched in, to the effect:

"MOSQUITO Canyon" I think they did a great job conveying their impression of the critters.

I'm telling you guys... I found all the mosquitos... they're down here in San Diego. Took the Girl Scouts camping... my little girl and I are covered in bites...