Ticks on mountains

Colorado peak questions, condition requests and other info.
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Tornadoman
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Ticks on mountains

Post by Tornadoman »

On Saturday my wife and I hiked UN 13,626 (right next to Mt. Princeton) from the Alpine Cemetery and then up into Grouse Canyon. Around 11,000 feet on the ascent we each noticed a couple/few ticks on us. Other ticks apparently picked up on the descent led the total to a good 20 ticks between us. I have never encountered a tick hiking in Colorado (although there was one in my car once- I do know they are here) so finding this number was a bit surprising. We spoke to several people about this afterward and although some people had encountered an occasional tick, it didn't seem to be a large number like we experienced. Has anyone else experienced a large number of ticks when doing a high peak?

I am also wondering what caused it? Evil spirits lurking near the Alpine Cemetery? Unique climate conditions/and perfect (or not so perfect) time of year? There were a lot of open meadows between 10,500' and treeline. Maybe we happened to hike through a tick orgy?
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jibler
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Re: Ticks on mountains

Post by jibler »

I've heard it said on here that the ticks follow melting snow pack line up the mountains?


thankfully I have not had one tick in CO - or out west really
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daway8
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Re: Ticks on mountains

Post by daway8 »

I once picked up a tick in the Flatirons but so far never on a high peak.

I somewhat suspect this may change as I go after increasingly obscure 13ers with less well defined trails. We'll see...
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ekalina
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Re: Ticks on mountains

Post by ekalina »

My personal observation is that it's not so easy to predict where ticks live outdoors in Colorado, unfortunately.

I've had two tick experiences. One was along a creek in tall grass near Allenspark. This is exactly where I would expect to find ticks. In fact, as I was walking, I thought to myself, "uh oh, this feels like a mistake," and sure enough, there were two crawling up my pants when I looked down, and I swatted away a few more as I jetted out of there.

But the other encounter didn't seem like tick habitat. A buddy and I ran into about a dozen ticks on the approach to the east ridge of Yale back in April 2017. It was below treeline, probably between 10,500–11,000. I don't really recall any bushwhacking, and the ground was completely covered in snow. This led to a lot of head scratching about where all of these ticks came from. It sounds like what tornadoman described.

On the other hand, I have done a fair amount of bushwhacking in the foothills, some in dense forest, and have not encountered any ticks on those hikes (except for the aforementioned incident near Allenspark). I am often expecting ticks in this environment, nervously glancing down at frequent intervals to check.

I wish I could carry around a tick radar to help me avoid the buggers. Or maybe I'd never hike again, if I knew how prevalent they really are.
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Scott P
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Re: Ticks on mountains

Post by Scott P »

Tornadoman wrote: Mon Jun 07, 2021 3:38 pmHas anyone else experienced a large number of ticks when doing a high peak?
Not on a high peak, but I have gotten covered with ticks several times in the Book Cliffs and twice in Colorado National Monument.
I have gotten ticks several other times too, but only a few rather than dozens like I did in the other mentioned places .

April through June seems to be ticks season, depending on the elevation. Ticks seem to love sagebrush, grass, and aspens, so watch those areas. They seem to really like areas populated by wild horses.

This year I have only gotten one tick on me. Perhaps the reason is that I've learned to avoid certain areas (such as the Little Book Cliffs Wildhorse Area) this time of year.
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Re: Ticks on mountains

Post by WildWanderer »

Last time I hiked 13626 I came back with 3 ticks, but I can't remember another time I've gotten ticks while hiking in Colorado, although most of my hiking is above treeline. I think it's just the area that's prone to them. There is a lot of bushwhacking there through the scrub.
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nyker
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Re: Ticks on mountains

Post by nyker »

I've actually had a few on me this Spring in the northern Adirondacks, which is the first time I've seen them here.
Ticks are one of those creatures that just shouldn't exist. :guns:
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Re: Ticks on mountains

Post by Carl_Healy »

nyker wrote: Mon Jun 07, 2021 9:05 pm I've actually had a few on me this Spring in the northern Adirondacks, which is the first time I've seen them here.
Ticks are one of those creatures that just shouldn't exist. :guns:
Ugh, I know Lyme disease isn't prevalent in Colorado ticks, but in the NE it's a different story no?
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drewski
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Re: Ticks on mountains

Post by drewski »

I've only encountered ticks in Colorado while hiking with my wife on her birthday, 4/29. More often than not we'd see them that day. The time that they were most abundant, we find them repeatedly all day, from 7,000' up to 10,700'.
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Scott P
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Re: Ticks on mountains

Post by Scott P »

Carl_Healy wrote: Mon Jun 07, 2021 9:26 pm
nyker wrote: Mon Jun 07, 2021 9:05 pm I've actually had a few on me this Spring in the northern Adirondacks, which is the first time I've seen them here.
Ticks are one of those creatures that just shouldn't exist. :guns:
Ugh, I know Lyme disease isn't prevalent in Colorado ticks, but in the NE it's a different story no?
I didn't think we had any Lyme disease here at all, but apparently some cases have been reported:

https://coloradoticks.org/colorado-repo ... -diseases/

In Colorado, here are the tick diseases that have been reported:

Colorado Tick Fever
Lyme disease
Powassan virus disease
Q-Fever
Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever (Spotted fever rickettsiosis)
Tick-Borne Relapsing Fever (Borellia hermsii)
Tularemia

On the plus side, Colorado does seem to have the second lowest incidences of Lyme disease in the country (only Hawaii had fewer cases):

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Re: Ticks on mountains

Post by mcmanusj »

Sat down to rest in a field of grass at about 11,200 feet in the eastern San Juans (near Wheeler Geologic Area). Looked down on my legs and found about 3-6 of them crawling all over my legs - utterly disgusting. Spent the rest of the trip freaked out that they were everywhere.
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Re: Ticks on mountains

Post by IntrepidXJ »

I've never seen a tick before until I found one on me last month. I've heard a lot of people talking about finding/seeing ticks for the first time this spring (this is at least the second thread here on the 14ers forum this year about ticks). I wonder if there are more out there this spring for some reason?
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