It’s been a while since I’ve made it to a hash, but the planets aligned and I managed to get out to my backyard in Maejo to see what Krappy Pigs had put together. Excellent signage on the way in – a good start! It was good to catch up with everyone – but I didn’t have much time to get changed and set off following the smallest bits of paper I can ever remember being used to mark trail! WTF?! I’m not sure they could have been cut smaller or thinner!
I set off chatting with CW, and we past the first V while most seemed to want to check off to the right. Somehow we were out in front at the 2nd check, and so broke into a bit of a jog for some checking – I was wrong, CW was right, and I was back catching people up as we headed into the forest trails. Luckily I managed to nail a few checks and spent a bit of time at the front as I started to get a feel for where the trail was headed. It seemed to be breaking right, and we’d gone ‘far enough’, so I started checking off to the right and twice got it very wrong. Twice I was very tempted to keep going as I was sure I would hit trail again soon – luckily I turned back both times as the hares had a twist in store.
Instead of turning right, we turned back left and went up to the ridgeline. I was way back, and had to just set a steady pace up the hill gradually catching those ahead. We made our way up and along the ridge, and eventually broke off to the left for the long decent. I’d conserved enough energy so that I could take off after the FRBs (CW, Cartoon, Strangely Anal, Graven)… But they were all still ahead of me all the way down the hill to a check as we came out of the forest. They all were focused on heading home, and followed each other straight down the hill to the left. I called RU, and they were all checking. They were headed straight towards the out trail, so I turned right and was re-energised when I found the paper. Turning left at the next trail.
Did I have enough left? I could hear them chasing me down behind – I needed to get everything right and hold them off. Beautiful trail out through the field, and no trees to put paper on, so I assumed the paper was there somewhere. I’d somehow stepped off trail and Cartoon was beasting along to my right. I got to a check steps behind him, but that gave me second choice, and the wrong choice. Legs were spent, so I walked in. Great set guys, that forest is a hash heaven!