Sangre (Crestones) mosquitoes

[jdorje]

I noticed them first yesterday. The usual pattern is once they appear they'll get worse every day. With the high amount of snow and hot temperatures now, I would expect a terrible mosquito season over the next month. Be prepared.

Long sleeves (preferably two layers) and a head net are ideal. Sometimes even gloves.

[youngk2844]

Yes! They were pretty bad on the Spanish Creek trail last Saturday. And, they're getting smarter. They seemed to know when I was making a difficult stream crossing.

[kkarutis]

Staying in Crestone this past weekend and it was INSANE. They were absolutely vicious - and I'm from the east coast. One step outside and I had a swarm of a dozen attacking me, and killed multiple bugs with each hand slap. -shudder-

[pfiore1]

Staying in Crestone this past weekend and it was INSANE. They were absolutely vicious - and I'm from the east coast. One step outside and I had a swarm of a dozen attacking me, and killed multiple bugs with each hand slap. -shudder-

Just a mile or two west of Crestone is a large wetland bog area, that's where most of them come from, and it really is surprisingly bad. I lived and worked outdoors in the Everglades and throughout Florida for many years, it is actually comparable to that! Even at the South Colony lakes, both upper and lower, were insane last year, the only time where I actually welcomed a strong wind to blow them away! They were in my eyes, ears, nose and mouth. I could barely breathe without inhaling a mosquito. As soon as I got a few hundred yards away from the lake however, their numbers diminished.

[jdorje]

Up by the creeks, they are just getting started. If you think they are insane now, don't bother coming back for a month. There's a few places (around creeks when no wind) where they are swarming, but they are hardly even biting yet. Later they will get ravenous and any exposed skin will be instantly demolished. Just wearing a single long sleeve layer may be insufficient. As of earlier this week the ice on the lakes were just breaking up; I guess I don't know if the lakes themselves are big breeding grounds (they do have fish in them), but the swampy areas around and below them are big.

West of Crestone, the wetlands are actually wet for once, though strangely the "San Luis River" area is dry. There might be mosquitoes out there already, as that's all groundwater and should be quite a bit warmer than the snowmelt they breed in up high.

The willow creek trail isn't actually that bad for mosquitoes compared to most. It's up high, away from the creek, except for the first and last sections. Others like the Spanish Creek and North/South Crestone trails may be much worse. Soon.