Day 69: Benson Pass & Mosquito Hell Hole #3

Date: Mon 6/25

PCT Start Mile: 948.3

PCT End Mile: 971.2

PCT Mileage for Day: 22.9

Total PCT Mileage: 971.2

The Highlights: alpine swimming, Benson Pass, and more mosquitos

When you wake up to the sound of a waterfall, one of your first thoughts is “I need to pee…”. I put that thought on hold temporarily while I packed my stuff. A lone mosquito whizzed by… off to get his friends. The tent door is open… the perimeter is down. Send the army! I hurried to finish packing while more mosquitos slowly started to fill the airspace. It wasn’t even 6am yet.

Hiking out of Glen Aulin required fording the river back to the trail once again. Nothing like starting morning with wet feet, first thing. Not that they weren’t already wet, since our socks and shoes were still soaked from last night’s crossing.

Today’s hike trounced us up and down over a roller coaster of mountains, through gorgeous meadows (albeit infested with mosquitos). The climbs were steep, as were the descents.

About an hour before we took our lunch break, we took a short break at Miller Lake, which had been noted to be good for a dip. We hadn’t swam in any lakes along the trail yet, and it was on my trail bucket list to take a dip in at least one alpine lake.

We posted up on the lakeshore next to Four Eyes and Dingo, the latter of whom we had met just this morning. He had just finished taking a dip of his own. With plenty of mosquitos along the shore, Shawn and I made quick work of getting in the water, but the dip was very short. Plunging into the lake, the coldness of the water took my breath away and I hurried back out to put my shirts and pants back on over my wet shorts and sports bra. Everything dried very quickly.

As we dried and put our shoes back on, another hiker named Chuckwagon stripped down to his shorts to take a dip of his own. Chuckwagon looked like he needed a chuck roast. He was tall and lanky – all skin and bone, no fat to spare, his ribs on their way to visible. The skinny guys suffer for calories on these hikes, eating ridiculous amounts of food but continuously losing weight.

About an hour after our lake excursion, we found a spot for our lunch break with no mosquitos. Miracle of miracles. We took a long lunch to enjoy this anomaly.

Following lunch, we continued on the descent we were on before beginning the 3.3 mile climb to Benson Pass, a climb that topped out at 10,107 ft after undulating sections of steep and gradual climbing. Patches of snow were visible both on and off the trail around the pass, though no snow travel was required. Shawn waited at the top of the pass in the wind, a nice respite after the hot climb, though even the wind could not deter the mosquitos. They must do special flight training out here.

From the pass, we still had five miles of steep uphill and downhill before we would set up camp. After descending along our last long steep downhill of the day, we passed up the first tent site option, a cesspool of mosquitos. Two other hikers were camped there, wearing their head nets as they set up and cooked dinner. We decided to continue on.

Hiking a little over a half mile, we found a spot on a rock prominence along the trail side. There was a slight breeze and few mosquitos. Finally, a campsite that wasn’t infested with mosquitos! Or so we thought.

Starting to set up camp, it took the swarms no time at all to sniff us out and soon we were in yet another mosquito hell. Three nights so far since we’ve left Mammoth Lakes, and all three campsites complete swarms of mosquitos. It was like this everywhere though, it wasn’t as if we were just choosing bad spots.

Too annoyed to deal with them while cooking, I threw all of my stuff in the tent once again and cold soaked my food so I could eat in peace without constantly swatting and slapping at them. Squishy and Shawn braved the swarms as usual before retiring to the tents.

After eating, I packed everything up in my bear canister and quickly dashed out of the tent, zipping the door quickly behind me. I stashed the canister a ways from the tent, took one last wee, and again hurried back in the tent, shaking myself like a crazy person to avoid bringing mosquitos in with me and zipping up the door as quickly as possible. We do this crazy dance and shake the tent before we get in and zip up quickly, but at least a few always get in and we make quick work of killing those we let in the tent, slapping and clapping around the tent like madmen until they are destroyed and we can lie back in peace.

I have lost hope for this section as far as the mosquitos go and can only hope that the next section gets better after we leave Yosemite. We are covered in bites from head to toe, really tired of camping in massive swarms, and a bit at our wits end with them. We ponder questions like, just how badly would it upset the food chain if humankind was able to get rid of all mosquitos? We can only dream…

Again, mosquitos aside, it’s a beautiful night. We are surrounded by mountains and can hear a river rushing far below. The moon is nearly full and casting a dull glow across the sky. Life is good. Except for the mosquitos. Those we can do without. Otherwise, life is good.

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