Frog Lake - Crab Creek - Marsh Loop Trails

We had intended to do a quick overnighter from Crab Creek over to Sand Hallow Lake, but were woefully unprepared for all of the mosquitos that we'd encounter. In all of my years of hiking, I've never been turned back because of a swarm, but that's what we found waiting for us. We gave up the ghost after only 1.5 miles in, nearly running back to the car to escape the bugs. Piling into the car, we drove the 30 minutes or so to Potholes for some car camping and the kind of relief only 2 cases of beer can provide.

Really, the trail as it reads in the Best Desert hikes of Washington says "Crab Creek" - no where does it say "marsh". In fact, no where is the word "marsh" mentioned until one selects the trail to enter it into the WTA trip reports. Hindsight being 20/20, even I'm pretty confident I would not have willingly hiked a marsh in June. Even after hiking past the marsh and getting into scrub land, the mozzy's were unrelenting, swarming and feasting. We looked like Pigpen from peanuts going in and Chunk from Goonies by the time we gave up. Poor J stopped counting the bites after 100, including some nasties on her fivehead (so many bites, it became too big to be a forehead) and lips. The wind was still and the allergies were so bad, I gave up wiping the tears and snot from my nose.

I would not recommend this hike past April 1.

Still, when we were back at the confines of a state park camp, scratching wounds by a roaring fire with a cold beer in hand, the laughs came fast enough. We all had plenty of fun laughing at each other's swollen, deformed faces...but God, that hike sucked.

More photos and details at http://www.thehostelwitness.com