Catskills in spring

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Above 3400' on Friday Mtn. there is about a foot of snow. On the Northeast side of Balsam Cap there is 18 inches to about 2 feet in some areas. This was as of 3-27.
 
Blackflies...

The Catskills dont have blackflies, as such. Thae Catskill variant, as I remember from a post from last year, leaves the water with its jaws atrophied. So while they may be bothersome, they don't bite. So don't let that stop you Mohamed.

Mike
 
>>>The Catskills dont have blackflies, as such.<<<

maybe not in the valleys... up on the catskill peaks they are out in june - a friend of mine wanted to do friday, balsam cap, rocky & lone one day in june, i took him, all was fine until about 3pm when they started biting - i had a bug net with me... he didn't - the next day he looked like he had chicken pocks, i only had a few on my hands - i have never experienced any black fly problems in the lowlands of the catskill area like you do in the adirondacks (i have a place at about 1000 feet and only have the annoying ones), in the ADKs they start biting around memorial day in the lowlands and end in the high peaks for the first 2 weeks of july - - - but in the higher portions of the catskills they sure do have those bloodthursty little bugs in mid june.
 
Catskill spring bugs

I was the one who posted the link last May and here it is again re:the Catskill May Flies. Although the May flies do not bite they will relentlessly swarm around your head and can drive you crazy.

I do not doubt Ken's accounts about biting black flies as I have heard similar stories. Curiously I have never encountered biting black flies in 30 years of hiking in Catskills including numerous hikes in June. I even recall hikes last June 15 and 28 to Huntersfield and Ashokan High Point when I encountered no black flies, and yet on the same days other Catskill trail reports stated they were biting on summits like Hunter - so biting black flies do exist in the Catskills. I know that I am not immune to black flies as I have been eaten alive several times in the Adirondacks. I must just be lucky in the Catskills.

Mosquitos are also often out in the Catskills by May and June. And last June I was bitten by a deer tick in the Catskills - as evidenced by the red circular bullseye Lyme disease rash. So at minimum a good dose of insect repellent is warranted in the Catskills during the spring.
 
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