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Black Fly Warning


mythosgrl

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Went climbing up on Squamish on Sunday and realized that my boyfriend had driven off with the Squamish guide book. I'm too cheap to buy my own so i decided to print off any topos i could find online, because i was determined to climb in Squamish. Found some topos for Cheakamus canyon. Routes sounded fun so we went.

 

The black flies were SWARMING there. I got 15 bites in aboout 15 minutes. I had never heard of black flies before so i did not know they were biting me until i noticed blood running down my legs. We left after climbing one crappy route. Today I have very itchy swollen bumps on my legs. :tdown: Crack climbed the rest of the day in Murrin Park. Didn't see any black flies there.

 

Some of my bites:

bites_004.jpg

 

bites_001.jpg

Edited by mythosgrl
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Haha I was up in Chek last weekend and I have the same meth-head sores all over my arms. bad summer for bugs.

 

nowhere near as bad as the Yukon though!! The yukon blackflies are insane. After a week near Ross River wearing thick armour everywhere but on my hands I had 75 bites on the back of one hand and 100-120 on the other one.

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Noseeums are like blackflies but micro-scale.

 

Blackflies are the spawn of the Wendigo. When this ferocious cannibal weas burned alive by Glooscap, the ashes of its body turned into flies and mosquitoes in order to continue to eat the flesh of men and drink their blood.

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I have never thought of black flies being on the West Coast I thought that was an East Coast thing. Looks like you didn't get hit too bad. I lived out East and have experienced the wrath of black flies. My friend I went out one day, during the height of black fly season. I shit you not, I had blood running down my neck from my ears, Craig had two patches on one leg that blood was flowing from. Both of us got infections from the buggers, Craig wsa laid up in bed for about 4 day with swollen leg that he couldn't walk on, me my ear lobes puffed out and were twice size they normaly are.

 

Living out there I found out that black flies taste quite sweet. I was in a crux one time and I had a sucker biting me on my shoulder, I turned my head and bit the bastard back, not even thinking about it twice.

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"Black flies, little black flies,

always the black flies no matter where I go.

I'll die with the black flies picking my bones

in north Ontario-io, in north Ontario"

 

The NFB animated short accompanying Wade Hemsworth's "Blackfly Song" is a classic.

 

The flies themselves, on the other hand, are surely the spawn of Satan. Sort of like Devil's Club with wings.

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When I worked in the bush, we were building road, breaking new ground on afternoon shift, at dusk I would take refuge in the truck and the black flies literally blacked out the windows. I would soak my stanfields and my hardhat in diesel fuel before putting them on. It didn't keep them away they just stuck to me and every half hour or so I would shake a thick layer of them off onto the ground.

You actually pleaded with them to go away. Everything tasted of deep woods off. Great job though...

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"Black flies, little black flies,

always the black flies no matter where I go.

I'll die with the black flies picking my bones

in north Ontario-io, in north Ontario"

 

The NFB animated short accompanying Wade Hemsworth's "Blackfly Song" is a classic.

 

The flies themselves, on the other hand, are surely the spawn of Satan. Sort of like Devil's Club with wings.

 

That and the Log Drivers Waltz. Warning, these are songs that stick in your head and you will take to your grave.

 

Clips at: http://www.nfb.ca/portraits/hommage/wade/index1.html

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We got swarmed the other day taking a dip at the creek. Interesting to note that one by one, they stopped bugging us as soon as each of us would apply sun screen. My friend Ken was first to notice relief. Dustin then commented on it... I didn't believe them till I slathered up with goo then, Poof, gone like magic.

 

Wondering if it has something to do with a change in reflectivity of UV.

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the black flies on Brunswick the other day were HORRENDOUS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

this is a lousy photo which kinda shows how many black flies were around at the time they first appeared. the higher we got, the worse they got, all the way to the summit.

IMG_2854.jpg

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Black flies were bad at Static Point on Sunday. We met a couple of guys there (which almost never happens) who let us use their bug dope. It was spray-on and came in a green bottle, did not contain DEET. It worked wonders, absolutely did the trick. No meth-head look.

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