What bugbites did I get covered in a T-Wall this weekend?

Climbed at T-Wall this weekend and came home with my legs covered in bug bites. I haven't found any ticks but they looks like tick bites. It was something crawling not flying as they're all over my legs and I was wearing pants. Anyone know what's out there?

Chiggers.

https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/23267-chigger-bites

Chigger season has begun. If you've got little itchy red welt-ish bights, especially in warm places like the back of your knees and ankles, it's chiggers. Mercy on your soul if you sit on a log or directly on the ground, because that's when you've punched your ticket to chiggerville and they'll wreak havoc on your apple bag, bum cakes, and all around nether regions. 

Slather your drumsticks with this stuff. Chiggers suck, but they still don't hold a candle to the devil's real insect (ticks). 

Stephen Lwrote:

Chiggers suck, but they still don't hold a candle to the devil's real insect (ticks). 

Ticks aren't insects - they are the devil's arachnids.  There is still room for a devil's insect - maybe the malaria-carrying mosquito?

Tuck it or tick it bro 

Oh man. I knew the answer to this question before I clicked the link and read your description. I got 50 bites on one foot last year. Get yourself some benadryl cream and do absolutely everything you can to not scratch. If you break the skin you're gonna have a bad time.

Stephen Lwrote:

Chigger season has begun. If you've got little itchy red welt-ish bights, especially in warm places like the back of your knees and ankles, it's chiggers. Mercy on your soul if you sit on a log or directly on the ground, because that's when you've punched your ticket to chiggerville and they'll wreak havoc on your apple bag, bum cakes, and all around nether regions. 

Slather your drumsticks with this stuff. Chiggers suck, but they still don't hold a candle to the devil's real insect (ticks). 

Post is right on except that ticks are arachnids, not insects.

Chiggers are the larval stage of a mite.

I'm knowledgeable on these matters as I have been a victim of both of these scourges.

Ben Fwrote:

Chiggers are the larval stage of a mite.

Interesting.  I have always lived in the west and never dealt with chiggers.  But, our backyard in CA is full of mites and we get nasty bites sometimes that we can't figure out.  Maybe more research in the mite direction is in order...

Sitting on a log is a sure way to get them, but second worst time I got them was from setting my pack in tall grass

They hang out on the rock too. Bug spray helps a little bit, but this is a good indicator you are climbing some where it is too hot to be climbing at. TWall is a winter climbing area, check out Sunset in the mornings.

The real question: why were you at T-Wall this weekend?

So Chiggers take a while to dig in. If you shower every evening, scrubbing vigorously, you will reduce the number of itchy spots. 

Aloe vera does a very good job of healing the itch of chiggers.

Nymph stage tick bites seem to itch no matter how quickly you find them.

Tristan Pwrote:

The real question: why were you at T-Wall this weekend?

It was 70 and partly cloudy. Perfect day climbing moderate rock.

timothy fisherwrote:

So Chiggers take a while to dig in. If you shower every evening, scrubbing vigorously, you will reduce the number of itchy spots. 

Not true, they do not dig in. They use an enzyme to disolve your skin so they can consume it. By the time you are itchy the chigger has fed and is long gone.

powdered sulfur.....apply it lightly as you would talcum powder......particularly in skin creases, at clothing contact areas such as sock lines, waist band area, etc.  Its an old fashioned preventative but it works.  Showering soon after suspected exposure helps too.  After experiencing 50+ bites per leg and more elsewhere, you learn.  Once on you, they seem to migrate to dark, moist areas of your body......folds of skin.....where clothing is close to skin.  They also seem to become active during certain seasonal temperature ranges.  Once day and night temps are consistently warm, they are active.  The bites can be persistent too......many not fully manifesting themselves for a day or two after exposure.....but then lasting for a week or two.  Its a miserable experience.  Keeping a small bottle of powdered sulfur in your kit for southeastern climbing is handy.

Jay Andersonwrote:

Interesting.  I have always lived in the west and never dealt with chiggers.  But, our backyard in CA is full of mites and we get nasty bites sometimes that we can't figure out.  Maybe more research in the mite direction is in order...

I think it's a certain type of mite that doesn't bite people or animals in its adult stage. I'm going off of memory, so let us know what you find in your research.

Man, that chigger itch will make you lose your mind. Clothing against your skin will exacerbate the itch, which makes cinching down a harness after a chigger infestation absolutely miserable. I’m still scarred from my experience many decades ago.

Tristan Pwrote:

The real question: why were you at T-Wall this weekend?

If I had to guess I'd imagine rock climbing would have something to do with it.