The evil tick.......

“Anyone out there have a very bad time with ticks?Well there was one time I was backpacking the two lakes loop trail in HNF in July.It was hot and humid but the one thing that stuck out the most was how many TICKS there were.It was crazy......I never saw so many of the evil things.It was so bad that if you took your arm and brushed it through the weeds you had about 5 of them on you I am not kidding.Out of all the backpacking trips that I have gone on I have never seen them that bad.So with that said anyone out there in TT land have a story to share about real bad ticks....

Mike”

“I've given up on summer hiking. I prefer the cold. No ticks then.”

“At O'leno State park in Florida sometimes they get as bad you describe but they actually fall out of the trees on you.

I was out there one spring in about '95 it seemed like it was raining ticks. I usually do a tick check at night in season or one after I get home out of season. That time I had to do it every time I had to go. Even with getting the ones you notice during the course of the day I ended up pulling off 58 of the terrors when I got home.

That was the worst for me ever.”

“Humanpackmule I know what you mean "fallen out of trees" I have that happen to me before.”

“Makes me itch just thinking about it again.”

“Agggggggggggggggg.Even now when it is cold I am still thinking about summer.......Will there ever be a day when you can go backpacking and not have to worry about ticks...........Well that day will never happen unless you do what Walkendude does go in cold weather only......But I got to have green so I guess the war goes on with the evil tick.......

Mike”

“Mike.. you wuld be surprised.. right now.. this week.. next month.. up till about April.. this IS the time to backpack.. WD is right.. fall/winter/spring..

Let summer be your pool, your yard.. your summer grilling.. or fencing.. or whatever goes on in NW IND....

Trust me.. if you CAN hike those 9 months.. you wont want to do any hiking when ticks are out. Seed Ticks for us.. TnMan knows.. he was there.. Savage Gulf.

Great hike, but the seed ticks were not gone yet. We hiked that place a little too early. I don't care how cold, how wet, how snowy.. but leave me home when I have to put up with ticks.. chiggers.. poison ivy/oak/sumac. . and for the most part.. the trails are emptier..

Which I almost hate to say it, but the TRAILS/views/etc are so much better when there are not so MANY people walking the same trails.

I like the feel of an expedition.. not a tour route. So I hope you will consider hiking the 'other' seasons..

Save summer, for summer stuff.

:)”

“Gawd I hate those things! Early summer is when they come out around here and they are always latching onto my dogs who in turn share them with me. Last bad one for me was after a June trip in the Trinity Alps this year - that sucker was in me good!”

“I'm with TD and walkingdude HIKE NOW! Geez, it was near 80 today in Florida. I like the cold. But living in Florida, summer up north doesn't phase me much. I spend summers up north or on the water.”

“Ya that sounds good.But the one thing I like is when it's all green.In the spring I guess I would get that and in the fall I get all the colors.Now in the summer when it's hot I have found that when I go up north like Manistee National Forest the ticks are not as bad but the Flys are.And man I just hate them flys they go round and round your head and I think they know it Pi**es you off ya know what I mean.I think in 2002 I am going to go alot in the spring and during the summer months I will be in the lakes alot more to avoid the heat.Becuase last summer Nordhoue Dunes Wildreness is a kick A** place to when it's hot.you can play in the sand and take a dip in the lake.I recomend backpacking there.Summer has alot of people but spring and fall don't have as many.

happy hiking......:)

Mike”

“Well hiking now does have that no bugs.Well from now on I think I will plan most of my trips in spring and fall.

mike”

“I've been in Sierras when't s cold, and northern Wisconsin when ticks should be asleep, and countless other places but they always find me and not my hiking partners. I'm a tick magnet. Thankfully, no red-rings.”

“I've gotten them twice. Once in Joshua Tree (on the socks) and once in the San Gabriel Mountains (dug in). But I've never gotten them in the Sierras.”

“I hate them very much....And I too have had no red rings......

Have a happy day......:)

Mike”

“Warm days = fishing
Cold days = backpacking

ticks don't get in the water”

“i bought some nice, light, nylon gramicci pants for tick infested places. they seem to work great.

give up hiking in summer? are you crazy? you folks actually go more than a couple of months without backpacking???”

“I'm with rad on this one. How can you not hike? You mean that's a concious decision?”

“Never said I don't hike in summer. I just don't usually do it around here.”

“I like to also go all year...Even when it's in the high 90's I still go.I know for a fact that in 2002 I am getting out alot more.....:)

I need to......:)

Mike+backpacking=happy go lucky...

later”

“nope.. that's what we bought a pool for.. :)

Sit on the deck.. drink, relax.. and plan all my fall/winter/spring hikes!”

“TD those summers up there are my early spring.”

“Well by me in manistee national forest is a place called Nordhouse dunes wilderness...And when it's 90 out that place is great for backpacking...Lay out on the beach when you get to hot just jump right into lake mich....And the sunsets are to die for.....

happy hiking....:)

Mike”

“I friggin hate ticks.
Has anybody ever tried that permamone insecticide spray or have other useful tips?”

“Ya it works but you can only put it on your clothes not your skin.

8)”

“I hope it works, Or I get double my money back.

Here a tick story...when my dog gets them and we are in the tent...he rolls onto his back and lets me pick them off him with my multitool (good use of the tool) and then I drop them on top of my candle lantern while its lit, they pop and sizzle...

Now that's entertainment...and good doggy bonding.”

“Good deal I kill them very slowly!

I think its fun.

8)”

“gimme ticks...more ticks...lots of ticks......I luv ticks.”

“....And they love you!!!

8)”

“Evil ticks, yup, that sums it all up! And I must live in the middle of frigginn tick heaven.”

“Ticks suck!!!!!!


8)”

“If hiking solo or with like minded people I have used Flowers of Sulfur liberally put around any opening leading to skin to repel ticks. Only problem is the smell - its a real devil (grin).”

“I got dehydrated chili.

PHHHHHHHHHHTTTTTTTTT....scuse me. hehehehe”

“What is that stuff?

8|”

“finely powdered sulfur (ie flour sulfur)”

“shoot try killing seed ticks! expecially when there is thousands of them all over your body! its NOT FUN!”

“Yuck that smells bad I bet.

8o”

“Dog Tick & Flea killer Shower, along w/ alot of Duck Tape!”

“I hate chiggers worse. You can't see the buggers, and by the time the welt rises they've gone on to another location. Usually around the waist or worse.”

“i had ticks where you NEVER want to have ticks after cumberland island last week. yuck.

runninggirl (i am too lazy to sign in under my name)”

“I have a permanent lump on the back of my neck resulting from a tick. WAAAAAY back when I was a kid, I remember coming home after having been in an (obviously) tick-infested area (I was raised in a VERY rural setting) with a couple ticks attached to my neck and in my hairline. My father proceeded to pull some out w a pair of tweezers, and then burn some out w a match. Unfortunately, he didn't get everything, and a head remained. Naturally, my normal body reactions to this physiologic invasion resulted in isolating the tick head, and I now have a hard "knot" where the tick head was.

It's actually ended up to be a pretty cool thing. My kids, and later the scouts in my troop, always freaked whenever I showed them the lump!”

“Yeah, I know all about those all over tick checks.”

“i had several attached ticks on my legs and belly. now i have weird, itchy, red bumps where the ticks were. is that normal? they look more like mosquito bites now-but harder. and they itch. how much longer do i have to live? runninggirl”

“Yeah, those red bumps should go away in a couple of days. If they don't or get worse you may have an infection in the bite wounds and you'll want to go to the doc. In the meanwhile, treat them like any unsanitary break in the skin...clean them, disinfect them, use antibiotic ointment on them. Good luck, death sucks.”

“Ya would say that death sucks!

8o”

“Flys that bite suck also!!!!

8|”

“and leave red marks with surrounding rings. But I don;t have any diseases.”

“Yuck!!!!!!

8o”