I've also found that the lightweight spandex type long johns help out against ticks.  You'd think they'd be hot on a warm day, but on Aug 27th, it was in the mid 90's and I was not uncomfortable paddling.

PhantomJug wrote on Sep 24^th, 2013 at 3:21pm:


Havin a bad day? Maybe a bad month? Like I said this may be old hat to some of you more experienced trippers but I'm a neophyte.....you know, a beginner. I'm not a big hard drinkin, bag-pipe blowin, kilt wearing tough fellow but just a tender hearted artist with delicate sensibilities (please don't hurt me).

So yea, this was a lesson learned. Maybe its not so smart to run in shorts as per my usual custom. Who knew folk have actually died as a result of Lymes? And maybe, just maybe I might not be impervious to poison Ivy? But wait there's more lessons that I learned coming!..........unless of course you would like to post a topic of conversation? Hey come to think of it I can't remember you starting much of anything, except of course "commentary" on what other people post. So what about it? Why don't we turn the tables and you can start something and subject yourself to petty snide remarks? Whadya say?

I don't get it? I have always been supportive of you PJ, invited you to Florida to fish and tried to set you and your family up with my friend in the panhandle to take you out. What gives? It's OK.......story of my life, people who really like me and people who don't. No bigey. Here is a recipe.......go make some stew. (pretty good, I'm eating some right now  )

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MT -

Typically I'm wearing long pants on portages due to foliage overgrowth & the fact that I am highly allergic to poison ivy.  Incidentally, there is one little known BENEFIT to being allergic to poison ivy.  If you happen to have planters' warts on your feet, dermatologists might suggest that you actually walk BAREFOOT down the portage path.  Yes, you will likely catch poison ivy but there is a better than 50% chance that you will also get rid of your planters' warts as your body recovers from the poison ivy.  I once had thirty of the damn things on my feet; THAT was how I got rid of them!

Re: lymes disease, I'm not sure how many cases can be attributed to time spent in the Q or the BWCA.  I'd be interested in hearing any facts or figures on that one.  I went into the Q this past August w/a good friend from NJ who caught the disease in NJ & was just recovering from the stuff.  It's very prevalent out east &, to listen to him, it's really bad news stuff.  Catch the symptoms early and deal with them or go through hell... those appear to be your choices. 

I've never had problems w/ticks in the Q beyond the middle of July.  They are particularly bad in the spring & then they seem to tail off & virtually disappear by that time.  Plucked 13 of the little beggars off of me after walking that long portage from Yeh into Lonely Lake one June.  You get a bit further north in the province, however, & they don't exist.  My understanding is that they are NOT present at all in Woodland Caribou Park.  Of course, with global warming, who knows how long THAT circumstance will last.

Most campsites I've visited in the Q have been relatively free of poison ivy so I walk about freely in shorts (sometimes in less than that).  On the other hand, I exercise a bit more care when I trot back into the woods, trowel in hand.  There are some places on your body where you simply do not want to catch poison ivy... regardless of the presence of warts.

Jimbo   

...and here's one more dealing with the life cycle of deer ticks. From something I read, September seems to the best time of year for avoiding ticks.

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A well published scientist told me that by the year 2000 a large part of Florida would be under water.  That was in 1990.  He told me all the models predicted it.  You are old enough to remember when the threat was the polar ice caps were going to melt and the oceans were going to rise.