Black fly season White Mountains in NH

[JoshandBaron]

Picaridin and permethrin were effective in the 100 Mile this past weekend.

 

[Frodo]

I only wear a head net when I am doing trail work because I can usually out run them. The worst thing about wearing a head net is when you forget it is on and you spit...

 

[peakbagger]

No black flies out today at the Osceola's today. I was quite surprised.

 

[Dr. Dasypodidae]

They were out big time in afternoon in Gorham today (Sunday) and last Friday.

Ditto while doing yard work in Thornton on Sunday, and some even got inside my headnet. ☹️

Escaped the black flies while skiing Hillman’s Highway in Tuckerman’s today, but they were waiting for us in the Pinkham parking lot on our return late this afternoon.

 

[Dr. Dasypodidae]

I only wear a head net when I am doing trail work because I can usually out run them. The worst thing about wearing a head net is when you forget it is on and you spit...

Who said the following, and when, and where? “I wish some day to make a route and from the summit let fall my spit, and this is where my route will have gone.” Probably also the origin of the “direttissima” concept.

 

[maineguy]

Emilio Comici (one of many great Italian mountaineers)

He probably said it somewhere in the Dolomites, no idea when

By his definition, the Direttissma near Pinkham Notch fails miserably...a trail paralleling a highway climbs hundreds of feet for no apparent reason.

 

[Dr. Dasypodidae]

Emilio Comici (one of many great Italian mountaineers)

He probably said it somewhere in the Dolomites, no idea when

By his definition, the Direttissma near Pinkham Notch fails miserably...a trail paralleling a highway climbs hundreds of feet for no apparent reason.

Excellent. There is a Mats Roing thread buried somewhere on this site about his several attempts and at least one completion of the 48 NH4s Direttissima, which also miserably fails Comici’s original concept.

 

[Andrew]

And overlapping the season is the arrival of deer flies and horse flies, not to mention punkies (noseeums) on warm humid nights. For a long time I regularly used a high percentage Deet product along with maintaining near constant daytiem travel movement and a net being necessary only when stopped for rest or at camp.

Several years ago I had an interesting comparison experience when solo paddling along with a friend on an Adirondack lake one time. I was using, probably something with a modern mix of Deet, and was suffering getting eaten alive. But when I paddled over next to my friend it was as if a protective bubble shield surrounded his canoe with no black flies near him at all. He was using "Ole Tyme Woodsman", the original formula, which I remember my father used decades ago. It has a very unique odor to it that permeats the user's environment. Probably similar to what Nessmuk described in his book. I hoarded a bottle of his for years until it was gone. Turns out the original OTW manufacturer sold the company, and the new owner changed the formula due to some environmental concern, resulting in a product that did not work nearly as well. So it went into disfavor and not many people used it or learned of the original value. Later I heard the original formula returned, so I bought some. It does seem to work noticeably better than Deet or other newer products.

All I can say is Thank You! In all my years why have I never discovered this stuff, life may be different now. I don't like smearing stuff on my skin, this is exactly what type of application I have always sought. Current testing very effective.