Bugs.

[Neil]

Last spring I got the idea that bugs would be very bad in the ADK's starting about June. In fact bad enough not to go hiking. Well, it never happened. I was never bothered by bugs and I hiked once or twice a week right up to early August. (It was a lucky break I know and was a special arrangement just for me because I was still a newbie).

Just how bad can they get? Will I be OK if I keep moving all day (sounds like winter hiking) or will they plague me. Do any of you wear mosquitoe netting hats? I was planning on getting a tarp tent with removeable netting but no floor. Maybe a removable floor aint such a bad idea. Has anyone ever put netting across a LT opening?

[ADKatie]

The black flies do have a "grace period" for the newbies if you are good and prove yourself worthy of such a thing. Glad you were able to work out a deal to get your first season fly-free.

We have mostly avoided the area when the black flies are in town, but we have experienced them a few times. I found that, yes, as long as you keep moving, you are okay. They're swarmy and obnoxious, but it's not like they'll actually take you down and eat you alive.

When they're around, it does make for a quick summit sit which is a bummer. I hate being rushed out of my summit time. They really do flock to you in droves and swarm around.

Also, they have a one-day lifespan, so if you start REAL early, like even pre-dawn, you should be good for a nice long stint before they hatch and go on their "shock and awe" rampage. If you're real lucky, you'll hit the summit when they're still in the lower elevations and you won't even encounter them until you're walking out. Enjoy the thought that they WILL die by sunset, unless you kill them first. You can live guilt-free with that thought.

I find the deer flies the worst, and I'm not sure what their season is, other than summer (duh). If it's more a narrow window I'd be curious about that. Those nasty things pursue you. I mean, they hunt you down and stalk you. Don't think that rinsing the sweat off in a babbling brook will help, they LOVE it when you do that! And their bite is maddening. OUCH :(

We have the mesh masks but rarely use them. Mostly because, as stated above, we aren't usually up there during black fly season. When we have used them, they can feel kind of confining and hot. It's a trade off.

I like your idea of putting a screen across a lean-to opening, that's a cool idea!

[pete_hickey]

Some years are worse than other years. Also, some locations are worse than other places. Also, different kinds of bugs are worse at different times of years.

For example, one of the worst places for blackflies seems to be the elk lake trailhead. When I did the NP trail a couple years ago, in early July, the deerflys were insane most of the way.

Did you ever see what the blackflies did to my face in '92?

http://mudhead.uottawa.ca/~pete/blackf.html

That was a bad year.

[mike1889]

I agree that the weather on the particular day that you are hiking is the important factor regarding how bad bugs will be, not the time of year. Sure, June will be worse than August for black flies in general, but I have done plenty of hikes in May and June and had no problem with bugs at all. The days were cool, dry, and breezy in general. There are a lot of cool, breezy days in the Adirondacks, especially the High Peaks. I do remember one day hike to Macomb, Grace and Carson on a humid, dead calm day in May, and the black flies were brutal. On one July day hike to Allen, I must have killed hundreds of deer flies on the back of my neck. But those days are the exception rather than the norm. Even on those days, I load up with DEET and try to outrun them. I don't own a bug net and don't think I would want to look through netting all day.

[Dick]

I agree with others that there are many variables (wind, weather, time of day, location, etc.). Last year they weren't too bad in general. Either that, or the days were just right. I remember being on Allen last June and they weren't too bad, although I have a picture of me lighting a stove with a bug net on, so I guess it was bad enough for that. One June trip I'll never forget was a 90-degree day on Marshall (1st time). The bugs and heat were so bad we turned around about 3/4 of the way up the mountain. They like to get into dark places: under a hat band, under your hip belt, and so forth. Pumping a quart of water takes a minute or so, and during that time I must have received dozens of bites. Bug nets are not really good for hiking - they dull your vision of the trail, at least for me. For camping we also own bug jackets, which we've used on canoe trips, and they work very well, but are too hot to hike in. DEET is about all I know of that works, and even that not always. Has anyone used permethrin (sp?)? It goes on your clothes, not skin, and is supposed to be effective.

[ADKatie]

Did you ever see what the blackflies did to my face in '92?


Pete, how do you know for sure that was from black flies? It looks like a classic case of overnight spider attack to me. Anytime I've had spider bites upon awakening, it was around my eyes just like that. Looks like you had a bad attack, whatever it was!

[pete_hickey]

Oh I know it was blackflies. The day before we had hiked the sewards. They were biting me like crazy the whole time. My head was dripping with blood from them. When I went to sleep, in teh Blueberry lean-to that night, I knew I had been bitten by blackflies worse than I ever had before.

That reminds me. I think I have a picture traken that night. Head not swolen, but I still look kind of messed up.

[pete_hickey]

.... Bug nets are.....

You just reminded me of something from when I did the NP trail. Wearing a bug net at supper time. They work fine while cooking, but remember to remove it before eating. I can't remember HOW many times I forgot before putting a spoonful of rice, soup, etc into my mouth.

[Neil]

Sounds like a case of "ya pays yer money and ya takes yer chances". Humid calm days in June seem to be about the worst though. I would wear a baseball cap of some sort, and long pants. A mesh hat/mask might be good if you became immobilized. And of course, DEET. DEET gaitor ade, DEET candies, DEET cigars etc. etc.

[lumberzac]

Bugs! No big deal. Neil the great thing about bug season is that you just go light and fast. You don't even need to bring food, just a toothpick! MMMM! :shock:

Why carry the extra weight of a toothpick. Just hike with your mouth wide open and catch the flies like a Basking Shark catches plankton. :lol:

[AlpineSummit]

Bugs? There are no bugs here.

[Everest NBD]

The Black Fly season is from around early May peaks around Memorial day and fades down to almost nothing by mid July.

I went to Oswegatchie a few years ago with my Boy Scout Troop and the black flies swarmed and they were mean clouds of biting fury.

[AlpineSummit]

" fades down to almost nothing by mid July"

Ah yes, but they do stay and thrive, up high for much longer. They like the summits too. The little *&%#(%$'s

[adk-46r]

Sounds like a case of "ya pays yer money and ya takes yer chances". Humid calm days in June seem to be about the worst though. I would wear a baseball cap of some sort, and long pants. A mesh hat/mask might be good if you became immobilized. And of course, DEET. DEET gaitor ade, DEET candies, DEET cigars etc. etc.

Don't forget to add raw garlic to deet, deet, gaitor ade, deet ect.. It will also repel fellow hikers. :shock:

[Hikerdad]

We hiked Big Slide once over Memorial Day and hardly even saw a bug...on the way home though we stopped at Elk Lake (I had never been there yet) and we parked and walked to the lodge and then the bugs hit and we literally ran back to the car in a cloud of them.

I try to do a backpacking trip each year with the kids in late June when school gets out....some years we aren't bothered by bugs, other years they can be pretty bad...

So I've decided bugs are like the weather...just go for it...it you wait for perfect conditions you'll never get out.......

[Gandalf]

I did quite a bit of hiking last May and June and was hardly bothered by bugs of any variety at all. July was somewhat worse, given the humidity...the Calamity Trail from UW to the turnoff for Marshall was hideously infested by mosquitos one morning! Also that month I fought a 10-minute battle with a deer fly (at least, I think it was a deer fly...huge, persistant sucker! :shock: ) in the Lake Colden area after descending from Iroquois.

I often encounter black flies on the blue Dix trail from Rt. 73 (particularly between the lean-to and the base of the north slide), but it may just be that I use that approach more frequently than I do the Elk Lake trailhead.