Olallie Recon 7/9/2010 (Full Mosquito Report)

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jeffstatt
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Olallie Recon 7/9/2010 (Full Mosquito Report)

Post by jeffstatt » July 10th, 2010, 7:22 pm

My son and I have a backpacking trip planned for next week in the Olallie Lakes region. Both my son and I have that bad combination of being really attractive to mosquitoes AND getting terrible reactions to them.

Recent reports are saying "mosquitoes are bad". I thought I would do a recon mission yesterday to discover just how BAD does "bad" mean!

I left Portland around 3:00 and arrived at Olallie Lake at 5:00 - intending to hike from the resort up to Upper Lake, scout out some campsites - and do it all in those evening hours where mosquitoes would be their worst.

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Here's the report:
5:00: Parked the car at the resort. Hmmm no mosquitoes? No bugs? Hey I'm not even going to put deet on! Hey maybe this backpack trip is ON! :)

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Head Lake right near the trailhead

5:45: Stopped at one of the small lakes to let the dog swim a little. Standing in one place I started to get bit. Hmmm better put on a little spray. I brought 25% and 100% deet. I used the 25% Deet and it worked great! Alright this isn't so bad. We'll spray up a little next week and we'll be ok...

6:15: As I climbed into the basin, passing by Twin Peeks. mosquitoes started to get bad. I surmised that the skeeters were more active in the area where there were pockets of snow. Still, as long as I kept moving I was ok. Maybe I'll need to buy some skeeter-resistant clothing for the boy...

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Olallie Lake and Butte from the top of Twin Peaks

7:00: I've visited a few of the lakes looking for campsites and I'm surprised I'm not finding any!!? By 7:00 I was at the beautiful Cigar Lake. There are two sites here! Yes! What a pretty spot, but I'm walking through huge black swarms of little gnats. YUK

7:05: those aren't gnats!!! UGH! mosquitoes!!!! The buzz was so loud I though I was standing under a powerline. I was quickly under full attack. I was bit about 11 times in the short time it took to pull my deet out. Another dose of 25% Deet didn't help much so I decided Cigar lake was not for us. Starting heading to Top Lake, optimistically thinking that perhaps a mosquito net could still make this paletable.

7:15 A 40 foot section of the trail toward top lake is completely flooded just south of Cigar Lake. I'm still getting swarmed and bit like crazy. The black cloud of skeeters here were as bad as any I've ever seen....and I've been in the woods all over this country!

7:16 I'm bailing out and heading back to the car.

7:30 I'm in full sprint past Twin Peaks trying to outrun the bloodsuckers who are getting more and more aggressive. I'm getting them in my nose, in my ears and eyes.

7:45 Can't run anymore. I swore I wouldn't use the 100% deet, but desperate times.... This does help alot. I'm not getting bit anymore, but the 30 or so bites I already have are itching like crazy. I'm getting these large bubbles all other my legs, arms and neck.

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8:00 I'm holding out hope that the skeeters aren't as bad near the resort, and perhaps we can still do this trip if we stay closer in. I decided the test would be: How many mosquitoes end up in the car just by my opening it long enough to throw in my backpack in jump in. The answer: EIGHT.

CONCLUSION: bringing children to this area might be considered abuse in some states! Looks like we may need to push this destination back to later in the year!

MORE RECON:
I was curious just how busy the campgrounds were around the lakes. I drove south of Olallie past the Pennisula Campground and on down to Horseshoe Lake (which had just opened that day) I was surprised to see the campsites aroung 85% full! The roads up to Horseshoe Lake are navigatable by passenger car (I followed a very slow-going Nissan Sentra) There were some patches of snow on the road still.
Past Horseshoe Lake the road gets pretty rough. My Dodge Nitro did very well on them in 4x4 mode. About a 1/2 mile it was getting dark so I decided to turn around and head back home.

11:10: Home and itching like crazy. My whole body is on fire. UGH. I had already had about 60 bites this season. I have probably 90 now. I'm looking down my arm and I can see 7 bumps on that ridge between the wrist and the elbow. I'm seriously a walking bug zapper light.

Hitch
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Re: Olallie Recon 7/9/2010 (Full Mosquito Report)

Post by Hitch » July 10th, 2010, 8:28 pm

Makes me itchy
'ImwalkintoNewOrleans'

jley
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Re: Olallie Recon 7/9/2010 (Full Mosquito Report)

Post by jley » July 10th, 2010, 10:10 pm

I feel your pain... The Skeeters love me too. But, I don't get as bad of a reaction as I used to. I think they're going to get worse before they get better out there. I'd gamble on peak skeeter season around the end of July this year in most of the ~4000ft elevation forested cascades. We had a late winter & wet spring... not a good combo for those so afflicted. They should get gradually better later in August, till they're killed by a frost in early September.

Have you ever tried a really thin breathable nylon layer? I keep one in the top of my pack in mosquito season (plus a headnet). When I take a break, the first thing I do is pull out the "bug armor" - lightweight stuff they can't bit through. When they're really bad, they'll get you while you're walking, so a bit of DEET is about all you can do - especially on the shoulders and side/flank area...

Good luck with your trip plans!

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Grannyhiker
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Re: Olallie Recon 7/9/2010 (Full Mosquito Report)

Post by Grannyhiker » July 10th, 2010, 10:54 pm

I won't go out this time of year without spraying my hiking shirt, pants, hat and tops of my socks with permethrin, and taking a headnet. That helps a lot, but in a place like the Olallie Lake area or Indian Heaven, basically plateaus with a lot of meltwater lakes, the mosquitoes will be awful (and probably bite through the permethrin) until at least mid-August. The best time for a trip there is when the blueberries are ripe!

Note that Indian Heaven has been nicknamed Mosquito Heaven, and a similar area along the PCT just north of White Pass is officially named Mosquito Valley.

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Koda
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Re: Olallie Recon 7/9/2010 (Full Mosquito Report)

Post by Koda » July 11th, 2010, 5:47 pm

I just returned today from an overnighter camp out at Ollalie Lake. We used Off (25% DEET) and did just Ok, the skeeters were out in force but the breeze off the lake kept them away in camp. I got about 10 bites all weekend, but I was constantly swatting the air.... again, there was a good breeze coming off the lake all weekend. We camped at the Paul Dennis campground, sat evening we took a walk lakeshore past the resort store where we suffered a major skeeter attack that left us in full retreat. tolerable at the campground, but I would wait a bit longer for touring some of the backcountry lakes.
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baker9903
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Re: Olallie Recon 7/9/2010 (Full Mosquito Report)

Post by baker9903 » July 12th, 2010, 8:00 am

That sounds awful!! and we almost drove down there on saturday for some canoeing. so glad we didn't! I've always had a "normal" attracting factor, but for some reason, this year they target me like never before. We went to Hagg Lake on Saturday, chris didn't get a single bite, but I ended up with ten. They are even targeting me in my backyard in Gladstone. it's going to be a long skeeter year!

I hope you guys don't have to bag your trip completely and are able to find another destination.

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jeffstatt
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Re: Olallie Recon 7/9/2010 (Full Mosquito Report)

Post by jeffstatt » July 12th, 2010, 8:35 am

Seems like around the large lakes (Olallie and Manon) the bugs weren't nearly as bad as in the interior. In fact, before dusk they were non-existent. So I think you could still easily do day-hikes and paddling in the area and do pretty well. I think the worst of it was in the interior lakes (Top, Cigar, etc). Keep in mind I purposely timed the trip to find the worst-case scenario :)

I hear you on getting them in the backyard! Putting mulch on the gardens this weekend I got several bites mid day! YIKE! In the seven years I've lived in the PNW I'd never seen a single mosquito in my yard.

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