I've heard stories about the mosquitos and other bugs in the North. The worst I've seen was on the south side of Yellowstone Lake. It got dark an hour early, but at least they didn't try to carry me off. I was on a crew working down there and I'll admit I tried to kill them with the Pulaskis and shovels.

One day, they sent me to survey trail users on Slough Creek. There was no wind and my repellent bottle ran dry, so I ended up walking maybe 5 miles in little circles to keep ahead of the blood suckers. By the end of the day I was kind of staggering around with my clipboard, babbling to myself. People stopped coming down the trail.