Gary_Yngve Posted August 15, 2005 Share Posted August 15, 2005 There's a yellow-jacket nest about 4-5 miles up the Downey Creek Trail were there's a 10-ft-high log blocking the trail and you bypass uphill. Six of my nine stings this weekend were from that nest (5 on the way in, 1 on the way out -- all on my right calf). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spicoli11 Posted August 15, 2005 Share Posted August 15, 2005 So is it wasps or yellowjackets???...........bite or sting? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary_Yngve Posted August 15, 2005 Author Share Posted August 15, 2005 A yellowjacket is a wasp. I was going for the alliteration and thought that Hymenoptera Hassle/Hell was too geeky. They were stings. One of the mofos was having some trouble withdrawing, and as a result just kept on pumping her venoms into me. I swatted and tried brushing her off multiple times before I finally succeeded. Felt like a sustained novacaine injection at the dentist, but injecting poison, not anesthetic. BRING THE NAPALM! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spicoli11 Posted August 15, 2005 Share Posted August 15, 2005 I'm sorry.........this was the 1st summer in a long time that i've been stung several times Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cobra_Commander Posted August 15, 2005 Share Posted August 15, 2005 I wouldn't call yellowjackets wasps, but they are all Vespidae Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guiran Posted August 15, 2005 Share Posted August 15, 2005 Gary - heard that the guy signed in for White Rocks Lake got stung 7 times at the same place. I'm feeling pretty good about only getting hit once. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
klenke Posted August 15, 2005 Share Posted August 15, 2005 Two out of three of us got stung coming out of that trail three years ago...but this particular wasp's nest (hornets in this case) was directly above the trailhead permit register station a few dozen yards up from the road. What a great place they chose for their hive to ambush unsuspecting hikers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattp Posted August 15, 2005 Share Posted August 15, 2005 The yellowjackets always seem to be a problem in the late summer like this. Anybody know why? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cobra_Commander Posted August 15, 2005 Share Posted August 15, 2005 Their nests approach maximum size at this time, then they start to diminish as fall approaches. New queens are produced in the next few weeks to go off and find somewhere to overwinter. The hive switches over to sweeter food sources (like coke, etc) later in the season as well, which might account for their apparent peskiness and overall increased interaction with us. They become more frantic in general as fall approaches when they all die off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gslater Posted August 16, 2005 Share Posted August 16, 2005 We found a bunch of pissed-off yellow jackets at different locations this weekend on our trips into and out of Sloan. I got 6 stings at one location on the way in, and one on the way out. Another person got 6 stings at the same place I got mine. We probably totaled 25 stings total in our party. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fairweather Posted August 17, 2005 Share Posted August 17, 2005 I know the place you are talking about on Sloan. I was stung there about two weeks ago on the way down. It's on that old stump you stand on just before you mount a large windfall, about 45min to one hour above the river crossing; right? That sucker left me with a golfball-sized welt on my calf for over a week. I managed to outrun his other 50 friends. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gslater Posted August 17, 2005 Share Posted August 17, 2005 That sounds just like the place. Little bastards... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pms Posted August 19, 2005 Share Posted August 19, 2005 I got a couple stings on the Boston Basin bushwack at two different spots on the way in, and my partner one on the way out. This was Monday. Gary sounds like the winner so far, but heard rumors of even more stings from Bear Mt. recently. Killer bees and vanishing glaciers... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MountaingirlBC Posted August 19, 2005 Share Posted August 19, 2005 The bees have been very bad up here in BC this year too. I've never seen it so bad. If you are allergic, please carry an epi pen and make sure it hasn't expired. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dru Posted August 19, 2005 Share Posted August 19, 2005 A friend of mine who was hiking thru the Stein said that she saw wasps attacking and eating horseflies and mosquitoes in mid-air. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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