6/14/03

4.4 Miles 1900' Elevation gain

Kevin, Judy and Emma

We camped at Moosebrook State Park again, one of our all time favorites. We were unable to get the shelter where we like to camp, but we camped in the picnic area sites and had them pretty much to ourselves except for the blackflies. It's a tough decision to camp in June because the woods are at their full glory with Bunchberry, Lady Slippers, Lilacs, Trillium and more in bloom, but the blackflies can tip the scales to making you want to avoid the woods at this time of year. When you're hiking and moving, they're usually not so bad, but as soon as you stop they're on you like white on rice. They are merciless, they fly in your eyes, in your ears and up your nose. Mosquitos are bad at this time, too, making it a double whammy. Nothing I have used is very effective against them. They treat 100% Deet like marinade. Even worse than blackflies and mosquitos are midges, or "No see 'ums". They can get through the screen in our camper and bite all night long. The tents we own have "no see'um" mesh, but the camper doesn't. The biting insects can ruin a camping trip fast. The only real relief is to get above treeline in a stiff breeze. We didn't get above treeline at all on this trip, though we did climb Mount Randolph. It was a wicked hot day. The humidity was awful and the flies much more than annoying. There was some relief at Lookout Ledge where there was a little breeze and an awesome view into King Ravine, but the rest of the trip was hot and buggy. We had intended a much longer hike by continuing along the Crescent Ridge Trail to Mount Crescent, but gave up when we reached Carleton Notch Trail and looped back along that and the Pasture Path from there. It was a nice hike, but we would have liked to do it under better conditions, hopefully we will soon.