Dumbbell Lake — Friday, Jul. 10, 2020

We did this hike with a group of 5 people and a dog. We had originally planned to do a 3 day loop up to Twin Sisters Lake but make the decision to convert it into a 1 day hike going north on the PCT to Dumbell Lake and then back south towards Duck Lake after being swarmed by more mosquitoes than I'd ever seen in one place. If you do plan to do this hike, bring a full can of bug repellent for each person and consider treating your clothes with permethrin. We brought what we thought was two cans, but the first ran out within the first 20 minutes and by the time we returned to the parking lot we had almost finished the second. 

The hike itself was beautiful, but had many snow patches which started off relatively small but got larger as we gained elevation. Everyone in our party fell at least once, but no one was seriously injured (one person sprained their ankle going downhill on a rocky slope). As we passed by Dumbell Lake we saw several sites which would have been excellent to set up camp, but the literal clouds of mosquitoes thoroughly discouraged that. We were barely even able stop to eat or go to the bathroom without being swarmed and bitten. I'm not sure when exactly mosquito season ends, but whenever that is, what till then to do this hike.