Story here;
http://list.uvm.edu/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind0407c&L=skivt-l&D=1&O=D&F=&S=&P=3380

Thanks Denis. That was neat. I have a brother who lives in CA. He takes 2 week hikes in the high sierra almost every summer (often summiting Mt. Whitney at start or finish). I've never joined him, but have been tempted. He never mentioned those bugs. I'll have to talk to him about that.

Yup, great story, Denis.

I've run into moderately bugs in the Sierras, always around lakes and snowfield runoff, but since I'm not interested in fishing, I usually have been able to fill my water bottles, and hike to higher / drier ground to avoid having to overnight in those areas.

My personal "Swarm From Hell" incident occurred when hiking up from the western end of Lake Chelan (WA) towards Mt. Baker. Like yours, the density of bugs was truly impressive. Timing is everything. A couple of weeks later, and in both cases, I bet things would have been much more tolerable.

BTW, unfortunately, when you first posted your article, I was busy and intended to respond when I got some time, but it slipped my mind until just now. Ck your email in a bit.

Tom