Tick list!

[dbb]

After having a fun time this weekend with the little buggars we all call ticks, I was wanting to hear some other people's stories of hair raiseing discoveries on your body. Here are a few of mine to get you going!

A few years ago at Smith I was climbing the West Face varriation on the monkey face. After missing the obvious rap-bolt anchor startion (damn natural colored hangers!) I ended up setting an anchor on a comfy grassy ledge. My partner started following, and about 5 minutes later I looked down from the scenery to see that I had tons of "little spiders" crawling all over me! Freaking out with my left hand and belaying with my right, I managed to knock them off. Unfortunetly one sneaked around behind me, and I pulled it out of my scalp that night in the tent. We burned it proper!

This last weekend after climbing over in the Royal Columns area, I had brushed a few buggars off during the day, but felt pretty safe for I hadn't been sitting in any grass. About the time Phil and I rolled into Yakima I was looking around a turn and Phil spied a tick on my head above my ear. We proceeded to pull over and jump out of the car, looking like monkeys searching for tasty treats. And we thought the drunken locals looked wierd! The found tick was also sacrificed on a funeral pyre.

anyone ever had one crawl into your pack? I'm a bit worried about unpacking now.

[dan_e]

I wonder what ticks are attracted to? I have never had a tick on me in WA state and I've been to areas that are supposed to be crawling with them. I am I lucky or do I smell funny to them, I hope it's the later.

[OCK]

In 1979 I was doing the outerspace route on snow creek wall. It was spring. I lost count of the little buggers after 28 sightings on my body. They were crawling out of the handcrack up my arms, on my eyebrow's, rim of my helmet etc.No escape.

We looked like a pair of monkey's grooming each other on each ledge after that.

We get them on us all year long in the icicle, especially if it is a mild winter. This sunday we were up at Condor Buttress and we took 6 ticks off of us,the ticks were on our legs, necks, hair etc.

They were all over the walls.

The week before we counted about 14 of the little devils.

A couple of friends who climbed near the same spot as us in the icicle had them all over them as well, one of them had ticks burned into the back of his head.

I have not checked my dog yet from sundays foray,she wanted to get on the bed last night and I just had to say no way!

She usually is a tick magnet. Currently, all of my gear & clothes are in tied up plastic bags waiting to be de loused tonight.

It looks like a bad tick season around here because it never got too cold this winter.

Its all part of the outside game this early in the season. have a good time out there!

ock

[DPS]

I found a tick in my daughter's hair at Castle Rock, Leavenworth. Ever since she has called the place 'Tickworth'.

I did have one embedded in my belly. It was running around in circles, around its own head which was in my skin, almost like it was afraid. I think it was just a nervous tick.

[OCK]

we just checked my dog, and we struck pay dirt! we just sent one of the little devils to tick heaven. I hope the rest of its buddies are not crawling around my house..,

[the_last_boyscout]

couldn't resist, nasty little suckers eh?

[dan_e]

I can't believe it! I must have some sort of shielding against them. I've been to Snow Creek Wall numerous times, and considering the nasty bushwack down last time, I am amazed I've never even seen one! I am also possibly immune to Giardia, since I have been drinking untreated water for over ten years with no sickness. I was told you can carry it and not feel any ill effects. I am not sure how true that is though.

[Paul_Warner]

The tick capitol of the world has to be the Bitterroot valley in Montana. There is even a Govt. research lab in Hamilton that was set up originally to figure out what caused Rocky Mountain spotted fever. Anyway, a buddy and I climbed My Mom's Muscle Shirt (AKA South Face) on Flathead Buttress, up Blodgett Canyon, in 1994. After humping up to the base, we threw our packs and ropes down, and I noticed black spots on the bright ropes. The ropes were COVERED in ticks! Looking around, we saw thousands of ticks on the rocks and vegetation, many of them filled with blood from a recent deer buffet. We stomped hundreds of them, delighting in the visceral "pop!" each one made when pressured. Needless to say, we were careful to check ourselves carefully before we got into the truck, and after we drove back home. I found a couple of hitchhikers in my pack, but my partner got the worst of it: five days after we got back to Spokane, he was hospitalized with a high fever and blood count indicative of leukemia. He didn't connect the ticks to his illness, but after I heard he was in the hospital, I told his girlfriend it was probably tick fever. She told the docs, and sure enough, they confirmed a diagnosis of Colorado tick fever, gave him some antibiotics, and he was fine two days later. Good thing, they were getting set to give him a bone marrow transplant! He is TOTALLY paranoid about ticks, now, and it's difficult not to have fun with him by yelling "Tick!" every time we go bushwhacking.

[Retrosaurus]

dbb,

About 20 years ago on my first forray onto Snow Creek Wall, we climbed a route called White Slabs. On the route there is a bush at one of the belays. My partner, Darin led this pitch and when I arrived at the belay, he says "Look at this." He gave the bush a shake and ticks rained off of it like morning dew. After the climb I found ticks in all the usual places: scalp (especially the nape of the neck), armpits, waistline, socks, as well as a couple of places where we don't go in public.

I have often found ticks in my gear after climbing in "Tick Country". If I were you I would unpack the gear on a slab outside and give each piece a thorough once-over.

Have fun,

Mitch

[rayborbon]

Having heard of this tick problem as well as bees, biting black flies and spiders I have to chuckle a bit. Any more funnies?

[Dru]

One time at Skaha I was stripping down for the night, went to unbutton my fly and here comes one of those little bastard ticks crawling UP out of my pubes where he has been "at the bar" for the last several hours.

at least it wasn't the crabs!

at skaha though, what uyou really need to look out for is snakes (rattler) crawling into your packs and or/rope tarps while you are climbing. then getting it out nicely (hey - an endangered species!) is the problem without getting bit. maybe if you had one of those religious snake handler guys as a belay slave!

[dharmabum]

I got home from three days at Smith last Monday. As I was drying off after my shower, I found a tick stuck to my leg. I found two more in, uhm, somewhere different. I think we got them up in Sherwood Canyon or whatever it's calleed, because I have never gotten them in the other parts of the park.

When I was in high school, I took my (then) girlfriend out to Horsetheif. As we got out of the car, I gave her the usual warning about ticks, and got this cold, blank, stare. I said "We are in the WORLD, there are other living things, don't be so shocked." We came home covered with them, and her parents freaked. They were convinced that all their daughters and horses and pets would contract Lyme Disease because of me.

[Alasdair]

Ok, great. Now that we know we are all going to get ticks in our pubes at some point in our life, does anyone have any info on the existance of Lyme disease in Washington or Oregon. How common is it? I also had encounters with ticks two weekends ago at Tieton River.

[Jens]

My brother currently has lyme disease. The tick that gave it to him was found in the canyon that goes from Ellensburg to Yakima.

He was pretty sick for a couple of days but has been OK ever since. The medical community still knows very little about the disease, but they know enough to know that he has it.

Cragging at the tieton can get pretty bad as far as ticks go. Does anyone know anything about a vaccine?

[Zenolith]

I once contracted Lymes Disease from a tick. It feels like the flu. If you get it you'll see a small red ring around the bite. It looks like someone drew a neat circle around the bite w/ a red felt pen. I went to the doc and was told not to worry about it. I know it can kill people but it didn't kill me ...I don't think.

[Dru]

An ex-professor of mine contracted Lyme disease and spent a year confined to bed. It seems to affect a lot of people quite variably. Better not to get it I think, than hope that it won't affect you.

[thelawgoddess]

You guys are freakin' me out! I've heard about ticks falling off trees and hitchin' rides out of the brush ... but climbing out of cracks on walls??? That's not a very encouraging thought to a new climber who now has one more thing to worry about when she sticks her fingers in a hole somewhere!

[Ruprechkt]

I've lived in WA my whole life and spent much time crawling around different parts of the state, but had never got ticks in Western Washington until the last couple years. Makes me wonder why. I've noticed a couple things: every time I've got ticks in Western WA, its been on south or west facing exposures that have been clearcut, which creates an unusually sunny, hot, dry and brushy microclimate. Specifically, I've got many ticks on the clearcut ridges near Port Angeles on the Olympic Peninsula, the open logged areas near Fossil Rock (the place is infested), and more naturally hot, dry places like Mt. Erie near Anacortes. I'm wondering if the long term moderation of the NW climate, combined with heavy logging which creates more open, dry hot slopes has created better tick habitat in Western WA...Anyone else notice this correlation?

[Jens]

Same story with me. Ticks seemed be a thing associated with eastern WA climbing areas only until recently. The two ticks I have had in me from Western Washington have been from south facing exsposures either in or near vast clearcuts. Somebody looking for a master's biology thesis?

[Dru]

I don't know about clearcuts but on the coast I have had the worst problems with ticks on bluffy areas with lots of arbutus (madrona) and salal bushes. In the Interior of BC the little bloodsuckers seem to be everywhere. It's funny how knowing there are ticks around makes every trivial itch into a tick bite...

The best option (aside from showering in DEET every morning) is to wear long pants and shirt and then check yourself frequently. remember primates (=us) like to groom socially! although, whether that's enough when swarms of them crawl out of cracks at you, I don't know.... scary! Run away!