Stranger, Coldfingers is right that those suckers are out in force as we speak. They seem really bad in Girdwood this spring. They typically will make a nuisance of themselves till just after the first snow. However, I've been mugged by them on the Copper River when there was 6 feet of snow on the ground in December!!!
The worst I have ever experienced was in the Copper River Basin south of Glenallen. I found a neat little hidden lake near the mud volcanoes that was just filled with trophy Rainbow trout. The moosequitoes were so bad I couldn't fish. In your eyes, down your collar, in your ears, up your nose, not one inch of me didn't have 100 or more mosquitoes on it. I was doused head to toe in 100% Deet, and they didn't care. Didn't hurt their feelings one bit. I put a head net and net gloves on and couldn't see because of all the mosquitoes on it. Well, I packed up my gear and left the best fishing spot for trout I have ever seen and haven't been back. I've been thinking if I'm ever on that side of the ridge again and the wind is blowing a bit, I might just try to get a few Rainbows out of there, but no way I'll step foot on that plateau again without the wind blowing.
"It is very probable that many of Alaska's mosquitoes could whip a wolf. They are the embodiment of bravery. I have seen a single mosquito attack a full grown dog. It has been said that the Alaska mosquitoes differ from others by having a white spot between their eyes about the size of a man's hand. I know a Colonel who asserts that he met one on the trail, and fortunately for him, the monster was eating a squirrel at the time."
from Trailing and Camping in Alaska by Addison Powell 1909.
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