Hi,
We've been taking trips in Quetico only at end of July or August and this year are thinking of an 8 day trip that first week of July. Just how bad can the bugs be? Are we talking nets all day and all night? What's the worst to plan for? What's the best to hope for?
thanks for any tips! Jeanne in Boston

Jeanne,

Welcome to QJ!

Well, you have certainly picked what CAN be a #1 bug week in the park.  However, having said that, actual conditions you experience will depend upon lots of factors.  I've been in the park many times that very week & have experienced widely varying conditions.  One time we almost went without using bug dope of any sort.  Heck, Big Ed, a rather large friend of mine - prime bug meat in any season - actually slept outside of any tent, under our tarp, EVERY night of an 8 day trip during a late June trip!  

In other years, even Big Ed might have been exsanguinated....  

Of prime importance is the question: how wet have conditions been during the previous three weeks?  IF wet, plan on heavy bugs.  Certainly bring bug dope & probably head nets, too, though you would mainly need nets during portages, in the woods, or in passage through closed-in narrow waterways & swampy areas.  Even when it has been wet, generally the skeeters are not much of a factor (except in those places mentioned) EXCEPT at the point their "dinner bell" rings.  Last year, during that very week of the season, their dinner bell was ringing at approximately 9:34pm (plus or minus 3-4 minutes).  You could hear the swarms in the distance, revving up their engines, twenty minutes in advance of their onslaught.  Then, when the bewitching hour/minute struck, we quickly donned the headnets OR headed for the tents 'cause they were ON us & THICK!  

While bug-swarming conditions may mitigate during the dark hours, you can count on them being pretty pesky for the first hour or so around dawn, too.

My remarks pertain to skeeters, not black flies, ticks, no-see-ums, or canoe flies... each of which respond to their own sets of dynamics.

Ticks, for instance, SEEM to have slackened off, somewhat, by the end of June.

As for black flies, they tend to be worse earlier in the season, too, & particularly near the moving waters where they hatch.

Canoe flies (a.k.a. "ankle biters" with the six inch teeth) can get bad by late June, but my experience has been that they get worse a few weeks later on.  Roll your socks over your trousers, rubber band them down & you've done most of what you CAN do with these beggars... though I'd be tempted to use a Machine Gun, if one was handy.

No-see-ums are rarely a problem BUT, when they are, the best remedy I have come up with is to "move camp."  

Except for ticks, you can alleviate a lot of your bug problems around camp by selecting a spot likely to catch a breeze.  Of course, THAT has its downsides, too, when fierce summer storms blow in.

My advice?  Bring the bug nets for portages, paddling where the breezes don't blow, & for the hours around dusk & dawn.  Find airy campsites.  Carry bug dope with DEET.  Also, while the park desperately needs moisture right now, you might want to stop the rain dance about a month before you head into Quetico.  The conditions you experience can be extreme depending upon your route & the recent rains.

Jimbo   8-)

Jimbo wrote on Mar 24^th, 2007 at 2:25pm:

In other years, even Big Ed might have been exsanguinated....

HOW long have you been waiting to use THAT word :-? :-?

Solotripper,

Probably since my grad school days at Duquesne University, where I wrote a paper about Dr. Benjamin Rush... 1st Surgeon General of the United States, Father of American Psychiatry, & signer of the Declaration of Independence.

This Philadelphia doctor was ALSO the biggest proponent for the school of "bleeding" folks - which was ardently believed to restore health - putting the "bodily humours into proper balance."  This was the dude who was largely responsible for the death of George Washington... weakened during illness by the practice of applying leeches to his body (ie. "bleeding").

Seems to me that I used "exsanguinated" in that graduate paper, oh so many decades ago....

Jimbo   8-)

P.S.  Dr. Benjamin Rush has got to be one of my favorite characters in American history.  This guy has his hands into EVERYTHING.  He was truly remarkable & unique figure.

I get it ;), so much more impressive to say you've been EXSANGUINATED than to say the bugs sucked you DRY ;D ;D
I'll have to remember that word when telling the guy's at work about my paddling adventures ::) ::)
THEY''LL be impressed but won't know what the hell I'm talking about ;D ;D
The good DR. must of been on to something because I watched PBS special, and bleeding is back, but in this case it's saving lives ;) ;)

What was the question? Oh yes...bugs in early July.  That was the date for the last two Jimborees if I remember correctly.  Jimbo had the time down to the minute at which the bugs would drive everyone into their tents.  Until that time of day, I do not recall the bugs being very annoying.  What did you think Jimbo?
8-)

intrepid_camper wrote on Mar 25^th, 2007 at 3:43am:

What was the question? Oh yes...bugs in early July.  That was the date for the last two Jimborees if I remember correctly.  Jimbo had the time down to the minute at which the bugs would drive everyone into their tents.  Until that time of day, I do not recall the bugs being very annoying.  What did you think Jimbo? 8-)

Wait a minute...The first Jimboree was during the 3rd week of june, since the interloper ( ;)) planned it to coincide with the Bushwhackers Jamboree.
I planned the Jamboree for the 3rd week of June, because that's when bugs are bad....and so are the voyageurs.
Now, if only I can make it to the darn thing.... :-[

By the way....just let them bite you....It's mind over matter !

3rd week of June, 1st week of July...it is all about the same for numbers of bugs.   :-X

Hey I C...
Not looking to argue with one who lives there full time.
I have seen hordes of black flies in the 3rd week of June along with mosquitoes. By July those black flies are mostly gone....more mosquitoes could be filling in the gaps though.

There are no bugs up there that time off year....they are only a figment of our vivid imaginations.

Thanks for great info on bugs and exsanguination--terrific word! We're now looking at July 13th departure, making the bug issue moot. Anyone travel from Nym to Prairie Portage? We've got 7-8 days and are not the fastest boat in the race. Tips? Two cents?

[quote author=Jeanne link=1174742510/10#10 date=1175045677] We're now looking at July 13th departure, making the bug issue moot.

moot? hmmmmmmmmmmmm. i would never consider the perspective bug situation in the Q, during the month of july decided in my favor. bring the bug dope just in case  ;).

thebutcher

"Anyone travel from Nym to Prairie Portage? We've got 7-8 days and are not the fastest boat in the race. Tips? Two cents?"

Lots of people have done that.  Used to be an annual race.

Only time I did a one-way trip was from Beaverhouse to Moose Lake landing, via PP.  Pretty much any of the Ely outfitters can do a shuttle for you and drop you off.  Cost will be about $250 to 350 or so depending on how many people and canoes.  Think it cost us something like $280 (our 2 boats, and 4 people) for that shuttle back in late eighties (used Canadian Waters, and they arranged to leave our vehicle at LaTourels on Moose L - a bit more protected parking than at the public lot).

If you go that route, plan on a late start for the day you enter.  Seems like we had to wait for them to open I-Falls/St Francis border crossing at 8am and were in a real long line - think its open 24 hrs now though.  Figure a half-day to get up to Nym.  You'll also have to get a permit for BWCA - its a special "returning from Canada" permit and I don't think there is any limit on the number of those they issue.

The quickest route is down through Agnes, but you have enough time to zig zag, or maybe loop Westwards a bit and then come back along the border.

At a moderate pace, you can figure about 2 1/2 to 3 days to get to middle of the park - an easy 6 days should make it from Nym to Moose L. so you have plenty of time.

wrote on Mar 28^th, 2007 at 1:34am:

We're now looking at July 13th departure, making the bug issue moot. Anyone travel from Nym to Prairie Portage? We've got 7-8 days and are not the fastest boat in the race. Tips? Two cents?

As TB mentioned, I wouldn't exactly call July "bugless."  It just that you'll likely miss the "clouds" of insects with a non-June trip.

While I haven't specifically done Nym to PP (have done B'house to PP), off the top of my head (i.e., without a map) I'd suggest that the quickest/easiest route would likely be Nym, Batch, Pickerel (narrows) to Pine Portage Bay, Dore, Twin, Deax Riveries, Sturgeon, Russell, Chatterton, Keats, Shelley, Kawnipi, Keewatin, Agnes, Meadows, Sunday,  (maybe Burke) and Basswood (Bayley Bay).  I've done all of this (and several alternate routes between Shelley and PP) since 2002 so much of it is relatively fresh in my mind.  So, if you have any questions, you can PM or e-mail me.  (If you are up to it, you can find trip report of these trip on my web page.  I describe each trip ad nauseum, so be prepared.)

Most of my trips are in the 10-14 day window and I typically plan in several layover days in route, so I'm not the best person to council with regard to how long something will take.  However, I'd think that MM's estimate is reasonably accurate.

... and to clarify since you seem to be a first time Q traveler, you do not need a BWCA permit if you have an outfitter pick you up at PP.

I cleared customs near mid-day (in each direction) at International Falls/Ft. Frances in May last year.  It took under 1/2 hour (getting back into the US was the longer; having to listen to a "lecture" about importing agricultural products--the guy must have be really bored to have taken so long--either that or we just look like the type to import Yak meat).  However, coming from the Boston area, I'm assuming you'll cross the border further east.

dd

I was meaning to ask about the June bugs.  I've been to Q the last two years in June.  The first week last year and the 2nd/3rd the year before.  I only experience mild instect issues.  Nothing that affected me sitting around the camp fire or much of anything else for that matter.  Is this unusual?  Did we somehow miss the window?

Last year water temps were warmer on 5/30 then they were on 6/20 the year before, so I can certainly see were there would be some varations...

Leute,

Your experience was most likely a function of recent rainfall patterns.  I'm guessing it had been dry for a few weeks before you arrived.

Jimbo   8-)