Climbing in Gunks in August

I am planning to climb in Gunks in August on Mondays and/or Tuesdays. These are my only days off. I live in Brooklyn and don't have a car. Usually I take a bus to New Paltz or share a rented car. I have a full rack and a rope. I trad up to 5.9, can do mulipitch routes.
Let me know if you are interested in any of Mondays: 8/12, 19, 26
I also thinking of going to Rumney for the Labor Day weekend 8/29-9/2, I am looking a partner(s) there or someone to share a ride from Brooklyn

e-mail: porotnikov_yura@yahoo.com
Yura

Hot, humid, flies eating you at camp Slime in the evening, all that good stuff ahead for you. Enjoy!

Bugs, for whatever reason, haven't been too bad this year (chiggers are out though). Weather has also been decent since that last heat wave. Can't wait for October though.

And you forgot about the crowds. They bite more than the mosquitos.

This summer has actually been pretty nice apart from a brief heat wave, though I was completely destroyed by chiggers last weekend. They even got me on some of the more "sensitive" areas, which I neglected to spray. I guess I was belaying while sitting down for a while, which may have been the problem.

HATE chiggers.

Yura, I'm emailing you re: 8/19-8/20

easily THE most disgusting thing about the gunks this time of year are those eff'ing CHIGGERS... DISGUSTING. I climbed there for years never knowing what was up. Then one day someone told me and aweee man... so GROSS.

I used to think they were laying eggs in your skin... at least now I know it's just their saliva breaking down your skin so they can eat it.

CaptainMo wrote:I used to think they were laying eggs in your skin... at least now I know it's just their saliva breaking down your skin so they can eat it.

Yeah, that urban myth dies hard though. They're probably my least favorite bite out of all the things to be bitten by. Horseflies hurt for a few minutes, black flies and mosquitos annoy for maybe a day or two, but those chigger bites itch for a solid day and take what seems like an eternity to disappear.

I've had total success keeping chiggers at bay by spraying my legs right up to the underpant line with DEET, which should give you some tick protection at the same time.

If you fancy wafting faint whiffs of rotten eggs, (the effect is not quite the same as Axe) you can get flowers of sulfur from a pharmacy---it's a powder---and sprinkle that liberally on your legs. It repels chiggers but not, as far as I know, ticks. It may also repel your significant other, but then DEET isn't exactly an aphrodisiac either.

I could be wrong about this, but I feel as if whenever I have gotten chigger bites I've sat in a grassy area, as opposed to bare rock. Stay away from the greenery if you can and I think your chances of going bite-free are enhanced.

I'll be back east and I am looking to head to the gunks on Aug 19/20

( I sent both Yura and RogerBenton a message)

Carebear- got your message. Always down to climb with new people, lets do it. I'm touching base with Yura this weekend, hopefully we can pull it together. If so I'll bring a friend to make it 4. Two teams leading and sharing ropes at the trapps on a weekday- we will get a ton of routes in.

Chiggers- yeah after the last experience (it was gross) I'm with rgold- heavy on the deet, all over, and i re-apply on the ground after each route.

will prolly be up 12th or 13th again bugs arnt that bad.