Current Desolation Wilderness Trip Reports?

Mosquitoes? In a word: horrid.

Just got back from a multi-day Desolation trip and it's still spring in the high basins and north-facing slopes. Runoff everywhere, still lots of snow, beautiful wildflowers and vast quantities of mosquitoes. Our destination and route were still snowed in, so it was ad hoc camping for us.

Depending on one's tolerance, it's either a great time to have large swatches of usually busy wilderness to yourself or better to wait a week or two. It's probably possible to pick a dry destination based on good southern exposure. I took a dayhike up Mt. Ralston two weeks ago and the trail was dry as a bone, which lulled me into my plan for last week. Hah!

Cheers,

Rick

Apparently where in Desolation Wilderness you go will determine how many mosquitos you will encounter. I heard another trip report from someone who just got back from Desolation Wilderness and reported "almost no mosquitos". Has anyone been to the Meeks Bay entrance of Desolation Wilderness, near Crag Lake, Lake Genivieve, Hidden Lake, and Stoney Ridge Lake?

Thank you for your comments,
Ananda

I just got back from Desolation Wilderness this weekend. We went to Meeks Bay trailhead and hiked to Stoney Ridge Lake. There were mosquitos, but they weren't overly abundant. I would say they were average = not bad. Especially in the sun, I could hike all day and barely be bothered by them, but bring bug repellent and an enclosed tent for the evening. A meal that you don't have to cook helps too.