Discussion: HOW LATE IS TOO LATE?

I've been thinking about hosting an event in the Missouri Ozarks with a lot of open woods but I'm curious what some of you consider too late in the season to be running around off trail in the weeds, bugs and snakes. I know PTOC doesn't schedule much past mid-April. Is early May too late?

I've done a couple AR that were mid July but we didn't venture too far off trail.

Orienteers won't be worried too much about weeds, bugs or snakes!! That is part of the challenge. Mid-May is close to when our season starts up north.

As long as you have a good map, fairly runnable forested terrain, and good courses you are good to go.

Now there's a guy who's never run in Missouri summer woods.

Seriously, on the KC side I don't think you'll get many takers past early May (or if you do, they won't be back). There are some spots in eastern MO that are runnable year round (Hawn, Cuivre River, West Tyson, to name three). I imagine there are spots in the Ozarks that are perfectly fine in August, but you'll need to scope them out at that time of year - that is, you'll need to set courses a full year in advance.

Have you ever heard the term...

...as thick as Ozark mosquitoes....?

Of course up North, mid-may is when the snow starts to melt, right?

depends what you consider north? There is usually no snow on the ground in mid-may here.....but it can snow at that time.

I have never been in the missouri woods is the summer....did in the fall back in '91 when I was 14 or so....it was nice then. Sounds nasty if you steer clear of it after may.....WOW. Is it the overall thickness of vegetation or the mosquitos? The mos are bad here as well, especially May-early July.

I liked MO in March..........

I can deal with the bugs and snakes but the thick veggies make it tough for me. I just can't remember when it really starts getting thick.

Bonk Hard Racing did the Mighty Mo, a four day AR, in 2006 in Mid May. I don't recall any complaints on the veggies there.

Yeah, but that was the AR crowd - they're a bit more tolerant of the nasty stuff.

In general, Missouri woods start to "close up" in late April with the undergrowth filling in. KC goes first, then STL in mid to late May. I'm not sure when the Ozarks get choked but I know we ran into some horrible stuff at the Ozark Challenge AR in early April (granted, that was Arkansas, not Missouri).

It's not so much that it's thick (although some areas do become impenatrable), it's just really toxic - Poison Ivy, Stinging Nettle, etc. And, of course, you also have the tics, spiders, and mosquitos. You can get through it, but it's not much fun and the next few days can be really miserable. Most of us just take a few months out of the woods (or run the few areas that stay open).