We had a real Sierra experience with mosquitoes this last week in Yosemite. (TR to follow in a day or two—I’m working on it!) We had hiked cross-country to Roosevelt Lake. The first night in Conness Canyon was at about 8,000 feet, and while it was quite cold at night down in the canyon (37F) there were relatively few bugs. The next night, at Roosevelt Lake (10,200) it was warmer by a few degrees, but the bugs were fierce.

The following day we cross-countried over to Young Lake. Upper Young Lake (10,000+) was a mosquito nightmare—you couldn’t walk without inhaling them. Middle YL was a touch better, at 9,900 feet. And Lower Young Lake, at 9,800, was better still. We camped out on a dry ridge northwest of the lake, and managed to avoid using headnets for part of the evening! Temperature here was a few degrees warmer still.

Just goes to show that conditions are all local…and if you are at 10,000 feet in the Sierra this week, God help you with the bugs!

Tropical Storm "Bill" just passed over us last night. No torrential downpours here, but the a lot of the water it dumped makes it way here. The lakes are all full pool and Bull Shoals, the last in the line, is heading towards full flood pool now.

In this neck of the woods (Oregon) we are in drought, with record low snowpack that is melting out about five weeks ahead of schedule. Summer conditions that normally start about July 5 started up around June 1 instead. The mosquitos, of course, are just as early as everything else, dying off early at the lower elevations, swarming voraciously at the high elevations, but about five weeks ahead of normal.

This past winter and spring have been very weird for Oregon hikers. This summer promises to be just as weird and probably very smoky from wildfires burning everywhere. I'm getting out backpacking next week in a place I wouldn't normally consider until August or September.

Mosquitoes were swarming in the higher elevations at Yosemite last week