Bugs? What Bugs?

It's always been fairly easy to avoid mosquitos in the Sierra:

>> Go late in the seaon, when the meadows have dried out.

>> Go very early in the season, when it still is likely to freeze at night.

But that doesn't help much in late June, does it?

So here are a few additional tips for those of us who want to get out now, and still get to the end of the trip with enough blood in our veins to make it back to the trailhead.

GEAR:

>> Headnets. The cheapest $5 you'll ever spend. They weigh nothing. They can save your trip.

>> Bug Juice: Take plenty, and use it freely.

>> Premethrin: This goes on your clothes. It works. We spray all of our shirts, hats, pants, etc.

LOCATION:

>> Camp away from water and meadows where skeeters breed.

>> Camp away from lodgepole pines, which like the same environment as bugs.

>> Camp high on granite ridges, where the breeze will blow bugs away.

>> Vary elevation. We've found bugs fierce at one elevation, so camped higher, where they were more moderate.