Denali National Park: Mosquito trouble?
 

I heard from someone that the mosquito is big trouble there. In June, without a headlight, you can't even get off the bus. This sounds scary.

I am heading there in late July (20+). Is mosquito still big trouble? What would a proper repller?

We were there in mid-July last year. We took the tour to Wonder Lake and when we got off the bus there, the bugs were terrible. We just got back on the bus to avoid them --- good luck.

My understanding is that mosquito season starts in early June and continues well into late July/early August, although late June is supposed to be the worst. I was at Wonder Lake in early June about 5 years ago and they were bad.

The best repellent will have heavy concentrations of DEET. We were able to get a repellent that was around 90% DEET. It worked very well. People with repellents that had only 20-30% DEET had problems. We brought our repellent with us; don't count on being able to get high concentrate DEET in Denali area. A mosquito head net also comes in handy.

The mosquitos are worse than bad up there. Some of them think DEET is a premeal cocktail -- and you are the appetizer.

They are huge and blood thirsty. During the Cold War, they often triggered radar alerts until the wave lengths were adjusted to compensate for them. Even then, a large enough swarm would cause a flood of blips.

My father, who was the CO of a field batallion of troops, gave orders on how to handle them: Shoot to kill! The fear, however, was wounding one with the last round in the magazine. It would keep charging while you reloaded. Some of the larger guys would beat them with baseball bats if some got inside their tents at night. Smaller guys had to be careful because the bigger bugs would take the bats away.

I did not believe his descriptions until later, thinking they were just war stories. But I learned better when
I was eating lunch one day and one of the varmints took my sandwich. That was not so bad, but when 3 of them almost flew off with my young son, I got a little irritated.

So yes they are bad. Go prepared.

We are not camping guys. Where could we buy the head net?

We were there in mid July 2002 and had NO problems with mosquitoes. We camped two nights and were outside all the time.

Two ideas for a head net:
1. Look in your local yellow pages for camping equipment stores and call to see what they have.
2. Try searching the Internet. I'm sure you can order these on-line somewhere.

Honestly, a head net? You have got to be kidding. I was in Alaska for two weeks , four days in Denali and never had an encounter with mosquitos. Not once did I see anyone walking around with a head net. This was in July. Just get some mosquito repellent from a store to have around if you need it.I think the stuff they have there is called dope. I remember this tour guy asking me if I wanted some dope, of course he was referring to the mosquito repellent but, was trying to make a joke out of it.

Wonder Lake is a very bad bug area, but Eielson - 20 miles away is a whole different story. I would never consider Wonder Lake again before the end of August.

It really depends where you go in the Park and when you go. As others have noted, the Wonder Lake area seems particularly bad. If you get off the road and into the woods, particularly deeper in the park, it is much worse. We spent three days deep in the park. In open areas around the lodge we stayed at, it was OK and no headnet was needed. Off the road and into the woods, you needed a headnet and DEET.

Again, I believe as you get into later July and into August, the mosquito problem declines. If you don't plan any deep wood adventures and stick near the road or on the bus, you don't need a headnet.

We were in alaska July 1-9, 2002. Rented an RV and went Anchorage to Fairbanks and back. THe first place we stayed outside ANchorage was thick with mosquitos.

Took a hike in Denali and had lots of mosquitos in the wooded area.

Back at the end of our trip, we stayed in the same campground we had a week earlier. There were almost no mosquitos - the dragonflys were out in force eating them

Bugbaffler.com for head nets, etc

The BEST mosquito repellent is a slight breeze. The second best mosquito repellent is a bit of rain. If you're lucky enough to have one or the other or both, you won't have to smell like bug dope at all. Of course, if it is raining, you'll probably not see "the mountain." I guess you've got to just take whatever the gods toss at you and smile. Well, unless you have a mosquito in your teeth.

Does one usually have trouble with mosquitos on the coast or in Anchorage?

lila, anywhere where there are marshes, lakes, bogs, etc. you'll run into them. So, it is pretty much statewide. Also, "mosquito" is sort of a generic term and includes white socks, noseeums, and other small biting flyers.

The best thing to hope for is a slight breeze.

Alaska had a unusually low amount of snow which should help.

Went to Denali on June 9. No problems with mosquito. Weather was beautiful, with mountain fully visible. Did not go as far as Wonder Lake, so I don't know how the mosquito were there.