EL JEBEL — I haven’t been much of a runner until recently, and that’s out of necessity.

My dog cannot function for the day if I don’t take her on a morning stroll when I return from The Gym in Basalt. We have a routine: I return, prepare breakfast, then sit and eat. She stares at me, waiting for the magic words, “Let’s go.”

We’re fortunate to live by Crown Mountain Park in El Jebel, so we enter the park then divert down to the Roaring Fork River. Leaving the wide open space of the park for the thick woods along the river has become akin to entering the jungle. Creatures lurk — in this case, swarms of pesky mosquitos. They are prepared for an ambush the second we cross an irrigation ditch and approach the river.

It was so bad Wednesday morning that I didn’t have time to make Ginger sit and catch her treat. I just flipped the biscuit on the ground and bolted. She took delight in gobbling and chasing. I didn’t stop jogging until I was out of the woods.

Roaring Fork Valley residents are now paying the price for such a snowy winter. Even though it hasn’t rained much until recently, the bounty of snow during the winter created perfect wet conditions for ungodly hordes of insects, with big hatches coming in the last few weeks. The Hay Park/Thomas Lakes Trail on the shoulder of Mt. Sopris was essentially bug-free three weeks ago. But last week another hiker reported that the mosquitos made it torture.

I was thinking of backpacking this week to one of the lakes up the Fryingpan Valley. Instead, I think I’ll hit the Carbondale Mountain Fair. Better to get stung by a mojito than a mosquito.

scondon@aspentimes.com