Gnat, Fly, Mosquito (err..Icehouse) Canyon

[Ellen]

Howdy All

Did a quick trip up Icehous canyon to Timber peak this morning. Left a bit after 6 AM and saw no one else on the way up. Had breakfast, then headed back down. First folks I encountered were near Icehouse saddle. As I descended, I ran into progressively more hikers.

The gnats were heinous -- flying into my nose, mouth and eyes. Towards the bottom, they were joined by biting flies and mosquitoes I suspect the sudden increase in temperature is responsible -- we didn't have any bugs when I did the three T's a few weeks ago.

I was back at my car before 10 AM and people were still heading up. Went to the REI in Rancho to pick up a few things -- very peaceful after the Monday sale/holiday commotion -- then enjoyed lunch at PF Changs.

Miles of smiles,
Ellen

[HH8]

Howdy All

The gnats were heinous -- flying into my nose, mouth and eyes. Towards the bottom, they were joined by biting flies and mosquitoes

There were none Memorial weekend

[Ellen]

Howdy HHB

Was that you on top of Baldy on Memorial Day who joked about what I do on my off days? If so, I'm sorry I didn't introduce you to my friends Perry and Cindy. I'm going to claim hypoxia if it was you

Miles of smiles,
Ellen

[HH8]

Howdy HHB

Was that you on top of Baldy on Memorial Day

No, I was over a peak or two, taking this photo on the way to Telegraph of 3T fame

2012-P5277496-503_stitch-crop, on Flickr

[Hikin_Jim]

Nice photo.

HJ

[arocknoid]

Those flies are the plague which compel me to avoid Icehouse Canyon. Two strikes in the past four weeks, and I cannot tolerate getting them in my eyes. (I've added a 10X mag mirror to my kit after one flew into my good eye two weeks ago, near Columbine Spring, and i could not flush out some bits. Fun descent after dusk, "...asabat.") Of course I also want to avoid any chance of DEET-sweat into the eyes, no DEET to the face, thanks.

Here's a video of one of the swarms, though the vimeo upload does not show the density as clearly as the raw vid. You know those tornadic clouds of flies, where you must traverse a fifteen yard vortex of gnats, like a Rainbird in a schoolyard.

Taking the Cedar Glen detour gives a bit of relief, but frankly, the best alternative involves avoidance altogether, like the Five Ts. (out and back, avoid IHC, no need for shuttle car etc.) And I've used three options to subdue the dreariness of the fire road section, and maximize time on the Real Trail.

Thanks for the trail report, and keep [strike]all your blood *inside* your skin please[/strike] those flies and skeeters at bay.

https://vimeo.com/43433963

[David W]

I got chewed up by flies for a couple hours over in the Santa Rosas Sunday, no fun.

[HH8]

You know those tornadic clouds of flies, where you must traverse a fifteen yard vortex of gnats

This was in the Sierras last year, but yeah, I can imagine icehouse now.
[flash=http://www.flickr.com/apps/video/stewart.swf?v=109786]width="400" height="300" flashvars="intl_lang=en-us&photo_secret=d859a5f890&photo_id=7348393034" bgcolor="#000000" allowFullScreen="true"[/flash]

GRRRR Jim, how do I make this work?

[Hikin_Jim]

GRRRR Jim, how do I make this work?

Shoot, what do I know, but hey I found this great video on gnats that you might be interested in.

HJ

[tinaballina]

I think the skeeters will be out early this year due to the low water levels.