We will be camping in Denali middle to end of June. I read somewhere that the mosquitos were terrible at the Wonder Lake campground. Are they worse there than at any other camgound in the park? Waking up to see Denali out your tent was an incredible experience, but if my kids can't leave the tent it sort of undermines the experience.

No, Wonder Lake isn't any worse than the rest of Alaska, nor is it any better. And those skeeters are BIG. And it REALLY hurts when they sting you (I'm talking from experience.)

My father was in Alaska while in the US Army. He said that the guys used to shoot the mosquitos and other flying varmints with 45's. They also were so large that they caused blips on the radar screen.

Dear Bob:
Your dad told the truth.

No kidding. Drive thru a pack of them skeeters at high speed and your windshield looks like you've been in a paintball shoot-em-up.
Badminton practice after they've had a good meal of bear blood.

Hi, David,
Buy Deet. Learn to love it. And buy calamine lotion and learn to love that, too. Unfortunately, June is about the worst time across the state, and mosquitos are a part of the picture. If you want to do serious walking in the bush, consider long sleeve shirts and jeans (and they won't always fully protect you,) use repellent on everything, and even consider a head net, stupid as it looks. Some people (my wife is one) have terrible reactions to multiple or clustered mosquito bites, and it's no laughing matter. The $%#!@ things don't like smoke, either, so take up a pipe for a couple of weeks?

For what it's worth, mosquitos aren't much of a problem in some parts of Alaska, especially the Aleutian chain, where the wind blows them all the way to Nebraska.

Thanks for the advice. I'm off to buy a gallon of DEET. Are things as bad in the Kenai peninsula?

Hi again, David,
The beasties are always worse near standing water, so it depends on where on the Kenai (or anywhere else) you happen to be relative to breeding areas. Tundra and swampy areas (such as the Moose Range on the Kenai) are the worst, as are backwaters or sloughs off rivers, etc. Salt water areas like the Homer Spit, for example, are less likely to be as bad as fresh water ones. Wind is your friend. You'll figure it out and dress and move around accordingly. Early evening's the worst. Don't let it cramp your style; you'll have a great time.

True story. We were at Denali, up early to use an outside phone. A mosquito landed on Jane---she slapped it hard enough to send it to yesterday. As it fell off her arm, it shook life back into itself and wobbled off to find another breakfast snack.