[pct-l] Mojitos

[Paul Mitchell]

> What are the mosquitos like all along the trail?  Where is the worst of
the
mosquitos?

There's lots of nice long mosquitoes free stretches, but when they're bad
they're really bad!  Through the Sierras and Yosemite in particular they can
be fierce.  Oregon is famous for being nasty for mosquitoes as well. 

You can bring a fully enclosed light weight tarp tent such as:

http://www.tarptent.com/products.html (the rainbows is VERY comfy
http://www.gossamergear.com/cgi-bin/gossamergear/The_One.html I found it not
as easy to get a tight pitch as advertised, but I had an early model and
it's been revised since.
http://www.zpacks.com/shelter/hexamid.shtml - 8.9 ounces!
http://www.sixmoondesigns.com/shop/Shopexd.asp?id=36 - no experience with
these

Or of course a tarp with separate mesh combo.

Long sleeves and pants & a head net for sure.  It's not just the mosquitoes
that will bother you. Frequently in California there are hordes of little
gnats, tiny little "face flies" that are attracted to your breath and will
bounce off your face, fly up your nose, in your mouth, stick to your eyes.
It's not a constant bother, but when you're going through a stretch where
they're bad it can be pretty maddening.  

Unfortunately we're reportedly starting to have an impact on the PH balance
of lakes in the Sierras (and presumably elsewhere on the trail) and it's
been at least partially blamed on all the products we wear and deposit in
the waters - including of course deet.  If we could avoid using it, that
would be ideal, but maybe not realistic.  I used citronella based repellent
my first time through the Sierras & did find it effective, but it wore off a
little faster.  Had to reapply more frequently.  I don't know if it's any
better environmentally speaking, but if you spill it in your pack it won't
melt all the plastic off your MP3 player, so that's something.  ;-)

P178