Bugs at Pawtuckaway

Every year we get this topic started around Mid-July, figured I would be the first one to propose the question this year. For those of you that call Pawtuckaway home, how are the bugs down there currently? I am assuming Boulder natural will be still be fairly buggy for a while, but Round Pond and Blair normally get better a little faster, also how is the Fire Tower area?

They really haven't been that bad this year provided you apply a generous coating of your preferred high-strength bugspray. I haven't been out in about a week, but even earlier in the season it was doable. I imagine things can only get better.

I've heard plenty of warnings about Pway in the summer and the bugs. I've always just assumed you should avoid it until September. Interesting to hear its not all that bad, is it just this year?

If the black flies are swarming and biting it's absolutely horrendously unclimbable. You may think "Hey if i spray enough deet they can't possibly get through it all" and drive out there but then you have thousands of pterodactyl-sized unkillable black flies ready to eat you and your entire family and then you're left as a bloodless corpse for conspiracy theorists to ponder your cause of death.

Having said that, this year is a down year and the pterodactyls are not out, and as far as I know we're in the decline for bug season. I've been out there at least every other weekend and have been perfectly fine after a generous coating of deep woods OFF.

tldr: bugs are manageable, conditions are suboptimal.

It didn't come close to being unbearable until after dark yesterday.

As long as you wear bug spray you're totally fine

Hasn't been that bad this year. Around sunset it gets bad but other than that it has been tolerable. Devils den was where I found it to be the worst.