FW: [at-l] Way behind, and loving it (Adirondacks)

[saunterer@jimbullard.org (saunterer@jimbullard.org)]

At 04:49 PM 2/26/02 -0500, Bryan Kramer wrote:

>I saw that mention of the NPT ( Northville-Placid trail) and have been
>thinking about it for our summer expedition. That's one section of the
>country that I have never made it to. But just how bad are those black
>flies. We have yellow flies and horse flies down here but 'neer a black
>fly. I saw mention on the web that the locals have been using BT to try
>to knock down the Black Fly population, is that working? Our time frame
>probably would be late June or early July. I understand June is supposed
>to be black fly hell month.

It can be.  Actually it varies depending on the weather in late May and 
early June.  I did a hike in June 2001 that was hell.  I was in my Clark 
hammock by 6 PM because it was the only way to escape the black flies.  My 
ears were a mass of dried blood from all the bites.  It isn't usually that 
bad but late May/early June are the time to expect black flies.  I would 
plan more toward July if possible.  As for BT, well, the spraying helps 
where it's done but that's around populated areas.  The NPT is not a 
populated area and I doubt they are spraying the length of the trail.

sAunTerer