Black Fly Season

[Roxi]

Bugs weren't bad on Garfield on Saturday, but they were slightly more numerous on South Kinsman Sunday, nothing annoying yet. I met a woman on South Kinsman, however, who said the black flies were horrendous just south of Moosilauke. They're heading north.....

 

[kerry13]

Tom, Field and Willey were bug free on sunday. What a pleasant surprise.

 

[Adk_dib]

In Catskills Today (5/28) There Were No Flies Below 3500 Feet. At The Summit They Were A Little Of A Bother But Not To Bad.

 

[Amicus]

They have been biting since at least Thurs. in the Allagash Wilderness Waterway, for anyone who may be headed way north. That's early, we were told by many natives and veteran visitors. Mosquitoes, contra, were not, through Sunday, so our evening campfires were serene, since the blackflies subsided around 6:30 pm.

 

[NewHampshire]

Carter-Moriah trail off Bangor road.....LOTS, and I mean LOTS of swarming AND biting. Both Skeeters and Black flies (and even a tick too.) Thankfuly we were smart enough to put on the Natrapel when we did or we would probably have been a lot worse looking than we are now.

Brian

 

[Toe Cozy]

Mt. Mansfield

Mt. Mansfield in VT, Saturday. Not too bad, but I'm sure that will change. If I stopped for more than about 5 minutes they found me and started to get a bit annoying. But nothing terrible. Better than I expected. No mosquitos yet.

 

[poison ivy]

I'm surprised to your Mt. Mansfield report, T.C. -- a little farther south on the Long Trail (Route 4 to Middlebury Gap) the bugs were horrible and biting like crazy. I suppose it will take another week or two before they wake up as much up north!

- Ivy

 

[lumberzac]

Both the blackflies and the mosquitoes were flying attack patterns all Memorial Day weekend long in the Indian Lake area of the Adirondacks.

 

[marty]

The black flies were minimal a bit south of Rangeley, ME. In most years, they would have been horrendous. We did three hikes and a couple of kayak trips and they were largely absent.

It made for a spectacular Memorial Day weekend.

 

[MikeM]

Just back from 3 days on the Long Trail between Route 17 and the Winooski River. Black Flies were thick and biting near Camels Hump. Had head net on while cooking dinner. Mosquitos just starting.

 

[sapblatt]

Mosquitoes were an issue at lower elevations in the Moat area. Above treeline a lot of bugs but nothing that bites.
Bug spray worked well.

 

[Mike P.]

Agree with Sapblatt, from 3:30AM to about 6:00 bugs were not an issue, on Franconia Brook Trail, mosquitos were so bad, i put on a long sleeve shirt as it was the only bug repellant I had. While a good pace was enough to keep black flies away, 3 MPH was not fast enough during the evening mosquito feast.

 

[onestep]

Greenville / Moosehead lake area - ME

Just back from 4 days camping at Lily Bay State Park... virtually bug free! Unbelievable!!

Onestep

 

[Ray]

'skeets n' flies

I found that Sawyer Controlled Release works well in repelling mosquitoes. I also picked up some White Mountain Deet Free Insect Repellent. The ingredients are ceder oil, mint oil Citror ella oil and corn oil. The claim is that black flies hate the stuff but I have yet to put it to a real test.

Ray

 

[nartreb]

Have you tried carrying one of these on your pack?

 

[Waumbek]

I met a woman on South Kinsman, however, who said the black flies were horrendous just south of Moosilauke. They're heading north.....

They've arrived. I was on a trail just northwest of Moosilauke today, and the black flies were swarming and biting late in the day. The ticks are horrendous too. They are crawling through high-proof DEET-soaked socks and pants legs. These are the big so-called dog ticks.

 

[Paradox]

Ticks are the creepiest. Lime disease is no joke.

 

[Quietman]

SW New Hampshire is still amazingly almost bug free. Umpired a baseball game near a swamp tonight and was very happy not to have black flies crawling over my glasses obstructing my view. Narry a black fly or mosquito was present. Same in Milford on my noon trail run. Usually at this time of the year, Deet is my aftershave. Not this year!!!!

 

[HighHorse]

was on the stony brook trail yesterday to moriah, and the black flies were the worst i've ever seen. they swarmed mercilessly and didn't thin out at elevation at all.