Nice route with a number of good options. It will be really nice to be able to hike through instead of returning to the same roadhead. That is some spectacular country you will be hiking through.

We'll be going back in about two weeks with Japanese friends on their first trip to the US and their first backpacking trip!

The winds are notorious for mozzies and the bugs are typical for this time of year. Just goes with the territory. They usually start to thin out a bit in August as things dry out a bit. Take your headnet and try to spend a lot of time above treeline so the breeze and cooler temperature keep them down. I also always take tightly woven wind pants, jacket and gaiters so they can't bite through. We have been trying a variety of alternative repellents to DEET over the last couple years. Picardin is essentially mozzie bait. Seriously, it was worse with this stuff than no repellent. Repel Lemon eucalyptus worked OK for short time periods but has a very pungent and annoying scent. The best we have used so far is Homs bite blocker http://www.homs.com/insect-repellent/ It has a kind of weird scent, but not so strong, and there are no contraindications on the label about applying often. Got it at Walmart.