Discussion: Updated information

Possum Trot XIX Weekend information updated https://docs.google.com/document/d/11PkDAGzTIfyPhQ...

Will poison ivy be likely in the Saturday or Sunday map areas?

Saturday will be on a campus + in a building/underground. There should be no poison ivy.

Sunday is forest terrain. I'm sure there is poison ivy in the terrain, but with the leaves down, most people won't have any problems.

Surely whatever grows underground in those tunnels is worse than poison ivy.

You can still get poison ivy oils from vines even without leaves. For instance, don't touch hairy vines growing up trees!

OK, thanks for the input. I'll pack a 3-oz bottle of Tecnu in my carry-on just in case... :-)

I think "Don't touch hairy vines" is good advice no matter what they are growing up, under, between, etc. Also, do not taunt happy fun ball.

I only got poison ivy rash in the winter when I carried young Zan out on my shoulders at end of a hike -- ox-bow pattern around my neck. I suspect that she'd swung on one of those "hairy vines" - she wasn't allergic.
Advice: if you pick up any kids on the course, don't put them on your shoulders!

Swing from a hairy vine, I can be your backpack while you...

(Anybody? No?...)

CDC has range maps for poison ivy and poison oak:

https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/topics/plants/geographic...

I do not recall any poison ivy -- I ran in that forest in April 1997.

In Missouri the major danger is chiggers, I was bitten badly many times,
they get thru athletic socks.

Here is an article about them in WaPo

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/capital-weathe...

jjcote that was a nice rabbit hole you just sent me down.

Glad it worked for somebody. :-)

I encountered chiggers this year, but don't think they'll be a problem at the Possum Trot:

The good news is that after a frost or freeze, chigger season is over. During late fall and winter, our region is chigger-free. Roam the woods and fields and enjoy the crisp air without the worry of chigger bites.

After the first snow, you can definitely forget about chiggers for at least another six to eight months, before the terrible chigger cycle repeats.

(From the article in WaPo)