Avoiding Midges on Scottish Summer Hikes

Know Your Opponent

The Scottish midge is a tiny, relentless wee beastie with a taste for warm-blooded walkers. It is not a mosquito, it does not buzz in your ear, and it does not care that you have driven six hours to be here. What it does care about is still, damp air, mild temperatures and the soft skin behind your ears, wrists and ankles. Females bite to take a blood meal before laying eggs, and they will happily do so in their thousands between May and September.

Understanding this changes how you plan a Highland hike. You cannot beat midges everywhere, but you can make yourself an unattractive proposition and choose times and places where they are simply not operating. A bit of forward planning turns a miserable, slapping, flailing walk into a genuinely enjoyable one.

Time Your Walk Around Their Daily Rhythm

Midges are creatures of habit. Their activity peaks twice a day: in the two or three hours after dawn, and again from roughly an hour before sunset until dark. During the middle of a bright day, especially when the sun is high and the air is dry, they largely retreat into vegetation and wait.

This gives you an obvious strategy. If you can, walk in the middle of the day and be back at the car, the tent or the bothy before the evening shift begins. On long summer days in the Highlands, that still leaves you an enormous window of daylight. If you are desperate for a sunrise summit, accept that you will be walking through the morning peak and dress accordingly.

• Plan your longest, most exposed sections for late morning through mid-afternoon.
• Avoid lingering at damp, sheltered viewpoints at dusk for longer than you need to.
• If you are wild camping, aim to be inside the tent before the evening swarm starts, not pitching in it.

Read the Weather and Choose Your Ground

Midges are weak fliers and hate wind. Anything above roughly five miles per hour, and they struggle to stay on course. A breezy ridge, a coastal headland or an exposed col can be almost midge-free while a sheltered glen a mile away is unbearable. Wind is your single most reliable ally.

Humidity and cloud matter too. Overcast, muggy, drizzly days are their favourite; bright, dry, breezy days are not. Vegetation type is just as important. Boggy ground, damp woodland, tall grass, bracken and the edges of lochs and burns are prime habitat. Open, dry, stony ground and high-altitude terrain are much safer.

• Check the wind forecast and prefer exposed routes on still days.
• Climb a little higher than you might otherwise — midge numbers generally drop with altitude.
• Pitch your tent on open, breezy ground, well away from water and long grass.
• Eat lunch standing in the breeze rather than sitting in a sheltered hollow.

Dress to Deny Them Access

They cannot bite what they cannot reach. Loose, light-coloured, long-sleeved clothing is your first line of defence. Midges can bite through thin, tight-fitting fabric, so choose something with a bit of body to it — a lightweight windshirt or a tightly woven walking shirt works far better than a flimsy base layer. Tuck your trousers into your socks or wear gaiters, and make sure your cuffs and collar are closed.

A head net is not a fashion statement, but it is the difference between walking calmly and losing your mind. They weigh almost nothing, cost very little and take up no space. Pack one on every Highland trip from June onwards and you will never regret it.

• Long sleeves, long trousers, closed cuffs and a collar that actually fastens.
• Light colours are thought to attract fewer midges than dark ones.
• A wide-brimmed hat keeps the net off your face and stops midges getting in around your ears.
• Carry spare socks — damp feet inside boots are not the issue, but wet legs are more inviting.

Repellents, and How to Use Them Properly

Repellents work, but only if you apply them well. The two proven active ingredients are DEET and icaridin (also sold as picaridin). DEET at around 20 to 50 per cent is highly effective; icaridin at 20 per cent is similarly good and is kinder to plastics and technical fabrics, which matters on a camping trip.

Apply to exposed skin and, crucially, to the edges of your clothing — collars, cuffs, waistbands and hat brims. Reapply every few hours, and sooner if you have been sweating heavily. Sunscreen and repellent can be used together; put sunscreen on first, let it settle, then add repellent on top.

For clothing, tents and nets, a permethrin-based treatment is the real workhorse. Treating your outer layer and your midge net before a trip gives you hours of protection without constantly reapplying anything to your skin. Do this outdoors, well away from water, and let everything dry thoroughly.

Practical Habits on the Hill

Small behavioural tweaks make a big difference. Keep moving when you are in midge country — they struggle to land on a brisk walker. If you stop, stop in the wind, on open ground, away from vegetation. Avoid slapping at them; it does not help and it disturbs your rhythm on rough ground.

Plan your meals and breaks with the daily rhythm in mind. Cook and eat before the evening peak, or inside a tent porch or a bothy with the door shut. Keep your pack zipped. At camp, a small smouldering coil or a candle placed upwind can clear a pitch for an hour or two, and a treated net over your sleeping bag means you can actually sleep.

None of this is glamorous. But a little preparation means you spend your Highland summer evenings looking at the light on the hills rather than counting bites — and that is what you came for.