Black Flies!

[Bagadeez04]

Apologies if I've missed it...but has no one started the annual spring black fly thread? If not...any updates? Thanks!

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[spiffae]

Wondering as well - we had a warm start to the season, so I was wondering if we're expecting an earlier than usual taper off, or just more flies in general

[Wldrns]

You missed at least one BF thread this season. Mosquitoes have taken over, and I saw my first few deer flies in the woods a couple of days ago. Just a few minutes ago one buzzed me while weeding my garden.

[Hoser]

In the SW corner of the park the black flies are dying out, mosquitoes showed face late May but missing now, and the wonderful Deer Flies erupted today while running and mowing. Seems a bit early for Deer but let’s get it over with before end of July like 2019 please

[Tick Magnet]

A few black flies in the Wilcox Lake Wild Forest today. Mostly mosquitos. I didn't see any deer flies. Dragonflies are out in force! I find that when the first dragonflies hatch, the black fly count goes way down.

[Wldrns]

Dragonflies are our good friends. Since they eat nasty biting bugs, when they arrive it is better than spraying the area with DEET to eliminate the unwanted critters. They literally scare them away. Watch a dragonfly catch and eat a deer fly. It literally tears it apart piece by piece and devours it.

[Crash]

I was on Lows Lake #18 last night. Horseflies were worse than the Deer flies. But right next to the campsite is a small little bog. I saw hundreds of dragonflies flying around this small area. It was mesmerizing to watch. Once, standing near the bog, I heard one of those horseflies buzzing around me and the buzz suddenly stopped and I saw a dragonfly carrying off the horsefly. At the campsite there were a few black flies. But plenty of mosquitos once you headed into the trees.

Then in the evening, often when a dragonfly dropped close to the water (I assume to drop eggs?) a fish would jump out of the water to gulp it down. I would guess I heard one fish every 10 seconds or so.

The web of life. The black flies, deer flies and horseflies eat us, dragonflies eat them, the fish eat the dragonflies, and we eat the fish!

[Cold River Bob]

I was in Coldriver last week an the deer flies were unreal. The Dragon flies were were just starting to come off

[TrailBlaser]

I was on Lows Lake #18 last night. Horseflies were worse than the Deer flies. But right next to the campsite is a small little bog. I saw hundreds of dragonflies flying around this small area. It was mesmerizing to watch. Once, standing near the bog, I heard one of those horseflies buzzing around me and the buzz suddenly stopped and I saw a dragonfly carrying off the horsefly. At the campsite there were a few black flies. But plenty of mosquitos once you headed into the trees.

Then in the evening, often when a dragonfly dropped close to the water (I assume to drop eggs?) a fish would jump out of the water to gulp it down. I would guess I heard one fish every 10 seconds or so.

The web of life. The black flies, deer flies and horseflies eat us, dragonflies eat them, the fish eat the dragonflies, and we eat the fish!

One of my favorite sites! How was the paddle in with the low water level below the upper dam?

[Dave Bourque]

The Black Flies in the Pharaoh Lake area are still bad. They have been joined by the Deer Flies.

[hikingandwildex]

Some of the highest peaks outside of the High Peaks region (Pillsbury, Snowy and Blue - not sure about Wakely) have been very buggy at the summits this past week, according to the latest AllTrails trip reports. Just a head's up to anybody planning to hike around there in the near future.

Pillsbury: https://www.alltrails.com/trail/us/n...sbury-mountain
Snowy: https://www.alltrails.com/trail/us/n...mountain-trail
Blue: https://www.alltrails.com/trail/us/n...ain-fire-tower

[Crash]

One of my favorite sites! How was the paddle in with the low water level below the upper dam?

Lows Lower Dam has lowered the water level at least a foot. If you stick to the main river channel you'd be fine. But the urge to cut corners for me was overwhelming and more often than not I'd get bogged down in mud. Once above the upper dam, the floating bog required me to climb out on semi-solid land to drag my kayak over one spot, but was not too difficult.

Here are some photos:
1) launch at the lower dam
2) the bog (looking toward the upper dam) - you can step on some parts of these logs and the semi-firm ground on the right while pulling your canoe/kayak through.
3) evening sunset over Lows Lake from the campsite

[TrailBlaser]

Yes the campsite is one of the better ones.

Lows Lower Dam has lowered the water level at least a foot. If you stick to the main river channel you'd be fine. But the urge to cut corners for me was overwhelming and more often than not I'd get bogged down in mud. Once above the upper dam, the floating bog required me to climb out on semi-solid land to drag my kayak over one spot, but was not too difficult.

Here are some photos:
1) launch at the lower dam
2) the bog (looking toward the upper dam)
3) evening sunset from the campsite

Great shot from 18! I have seen some great sunsets from there too. One summer I worked as an ASF on Lows and was able to camp on top of Gooseneck Island - they were even better from up there. The bog looks like when I went through last time. I remember when you could paddle all the way through on the other side. What was the parking situation like? Worse than normal? Thanks for sharing the photos!

[Crash]

There was plenty of parking Thursday morning but Friday midday, the lot was full. I noticed many trees around the parking lot were marked for falling. It looks to me like they are planning to expand the parking there.

[TrailBlaser]

There was plenty of parking Thursday morning but Friday midday, the lot was full. I noticed many trees around the parking lot were marked for falling. It looks to me like they are planning to expand the parking there.

My thoughts exactly. I saw the trees marked last November and thought they may do the work this spring. More parking is nreded for sure. Thanks for the reply.