I bring my phone as my camera and I’m getting a signal. So I thought I would share. Bugs are bad. Worst I’ve experienced in I don’t even remember. And the fire ban is a downer. No relief. I’ve got 3 teens with me and they are none too happy. Might be cutting this trip short.

Edit: forgot my question. Has anyone tried switching sites on the same lake for something more open in the hopes the bug won’t be as bad? Any success or just wishful thinking.

Also, someone’s car horn alarm is going off and we can hear it in camp. Must be at the sawbill campground. Too funny. Car horns in the b-dub.

thatguyjeff: "I bring my phone as my camera and I’m getting a signal. So I thought I would share. Bugs are bad. Worst I’ve experienced in I don’t even remember. And the fire ban is a downer. No relief. I’ve got 3 teens with me and they are none too happy. Might be cutting this trip short. "

What bug fighting measures are you using? Using a thermacell? Been curious how well or not they work up there. Def not excited about not having fires next week when we’re up there that’s for sure, hopefully fishing is decent to make up for it haha.

25% deet. 20% picaridin. Permethrin on all clothes. Hats. Headnets. Eureka no bug zone screen house. I would say everything but a thermacell. It’s fine in the screen house. But the moment you step out they swarm. I don’t put repellant on my face so it constant headnet when “outside.”

We found that rocky, open sites facing the wind could be considerably better than more enclosed, forested and/or low-lying sites. That said, it did not solve the problem, just lessened it.

Gixxerjoe04:


What bug fighting measures are you using? Using a thermacell? Been curious how well or not they work up there. "

Tried a thermacell for the first time the last couple of weeks, I was/am not impressed in the least.

Now that the sun is high in the sky and there’s a 8-9 mph breeze the bugs have lessened considerably. The weather is stellar right now so we have that going at least.

We got one (Thermacell) with high hopes as well. Tried it in the backyard before going on a trip, total waste of money. It couldn't even handle the small amount of mosquitoes in the back yard, no way was it going to do anything in the BWCA.

I’m a bit confused why the mosquitos are so bad when it’s been so bone dry the last few weeks, I appreciate the updates.

Jaywalker: "I’m a bit confused why the mosquitos are so bad when it’s been so bone dry the last few weeks, I appreciate the updates. "

That's a great question. There must have been a bumper hatch when it warmed up and the spring was so wet. The question is how long will this current crop last, given that all the little pools of water must be dried up. You used to always hear that mosquitoes lived for two weeks. But clearly it's longer than that.

It's cruel to have horrendous mosquitoes AND a fire ban.

marsonite: "

Jaywalker: "I’m a bit confused why the mosquitos are so bad when it’s been so bone dry the last few weeks, I appreciate the updates. "

That's a great question. There must have been a bumper hatch when it warmed up and the spring was so wet. The question is how long will this current crop last, given that all the little pools of water must be dried up. You used to always hear that mosquitoes lived for two weeks. But clearly it's longer than that.


It's cruel to have horrendous mosquitoes AND a fire ban. "

It's the water level in the swamps and the small spurts of rain. The water level in the swamps hit peak levels that have not been seen in years, so all those mosquito eggs that we laid in the last 7 years or so are all hatching this spring. The short spurts of rain don't help either. They provide enough moisture to hatch some eggs but not enough to reduce the fire risk.

The bugs were back out in force at about 6 PM and were intolerable all night and this AM. Hoping a breeze kicks up a bit again. Seems like between 10 AM - 6 PM are the golden hours of minimal annoyance. Same upside with the weather - couldn’t be better.

Makes me sad to hear this...we go in pretty much peak bug season every year, but it's only ever been really bad right before/during/after sunset, for a total of maybe 90 minutes. Outside of that, no big deal at all. I'm hearing from a lot of very hearty campers though, that it's brutal nearly all day this year. Stinks!

Appreciate the live update!

Entering EP33 on Friday morning. June has always been a relatively bug-free month for us as far as the northwoods go. The usual times of 7-9 am and then 8-10 pm, but always tolerable. Have never had to wear my head net in 13 years. The worst I have experienced was last July on Namakan in Voyageurs, no amount of DEET would keep the mosquitoes at bay...had to retire to the tent around 8 pm every night. It sucked.

I'm hoping things get better by end of this week!

Tuesday evening - 730 pm and the bugs are just starting to ramp up which is later than yesterday. Stronger winds today made it pleasant all day from 11 am on. BTW bugs = mosquitoes. No black flies. A few horse/deer flies in sunny spots. It’s all about the mosquitoes.

anthonylane: "Appreciate the live update!

Entering EP33 on Friday morning. June has always been a relatively bug-free month for us as far as the northwoods go. The usual times of 7-9 am and then 8-10 pm, but always tolerable. Have never had to wear my head net in 13 years. The worst I have experienced was last July on Namakan in Voyageurs, no amount of DEET would keep the mosquitoes at bay...had to retire to the tent around 8 pm every night. It sucked.


I'm hoping things get better by end of this week!"

I'm with ya on the hope. We go in as a big fam next Monday. Say hi to the bearded Sawbill crewmember from me if you see him. That's my kid. He's taking a little break and coming with us - can't wait.
Jeff - if you could kill a bunch of skeeters for anthonylane and I we'd appreciate it. Way to stick with it!

Jeff - if you could kill a bunch of skeeters for anthonylane and I we'd appreciate it. Way to stick with it! "

It looks like they are dying on their own. There are hundreds of dead skeeters on the tarp top of the screen hut this AM. Maybe a good sign?

There’s a definite pattern. They get cleared out in the AM as the wind kicks up for the day. The rest of the day isn’t too bad in the more open areas. And when the wind dies in the evening they’re back. Last night we made it past 8 without having to seek cover.

Right now (915 AM) I’m just having coffee under the screen waiting for the wind to pick up.

thatguyjeff: "

Jeff - if you could kill a bunch of skeeters for anthonylane and I we'd appreciate it. Way to stick with it! "

It looks like they are dying on their own. There are hundreds of dead skeeters on the tarp top of the screen hut this AM. Maybe a good sign?


There’s a definite pattern. They get cleared out in the AM as the wind kicks up for the day. The rest of the day isn’t too bad in the more open areas. And when the wind dies in the evening they’re back. Last night we made it past 8 without having to seek cover.


Right now (915 AM) I’m just having coffee under the screen waiting for the wind to pick up.
"

Just curious as to which site you are on on Alton? I'm hearing others talk about how quiet and low-traffic it's been up on the Gunflint, wondered if that was the case in the Sawbill area too or not. Looks like things will cool down, maybe some precip and winds shifting to coming from the north next week. Seems like finding a site that gets good wind would be key to happiness.

There’s a 9 on the latrine if that means anything. Straight west from the portage between sawbill and Alton, there’s 2 sites on a peninsula or point. We have the north site of those 2.

The site doesn’t have much clear space and has wind cover on all sides. We considered moving after the first night but decided to stay put. Coming in about half the sites were occupied including the three prime sites so we settled for this one. Fair amount of canoe traffic and some noise from the site to our south. They must have small kids with. We have been hearing some little voices yelling and crying from time to time.

We plan to head home tomorrow.

scotttimm: " I'm hearing others talk about how quiet and low-traffic it's been up on the Gunflint..."

On 6/15 & 6/16 I was the only person I saw camped on Long Island Lake, all 11 sites I traveled by both days were empty. I thought it was a busy lake, not the case last week.

At 830 this AM the bugs have already calmed down and the wind hasn’t picked up yet. Perhaps they are dying off? Don’t really know. But this is an improvement over the past days for sure.

We are packing up and heading home today. This is the last live update.

All the mud puddles and high water swamps and bogs from the large snow melt are starting to get dry due to the lack of rain. As a result the bugs now have fewer spots to hatch. Let’s hope that’s the case anyways.