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After several weeks away from Happy Hash, something motivated me to go back and join the run… Can’t quite put my finger on it, but today hashing was FUN again!

The runsite was at the end of the earth – past where the canal road no longer has a canal… finally turning right at the furthest runsite known to mankind, except TMB, who carried us on around the corner and eventually to the A bucket. From there the run largely took us back towards the trails closer to the canal road!

We set off and had a bit of a scramble through shiggy meandering through some farm or other. Finally a circle check and arriving with Chuckie we both agreed that left was most likely. It was left, and I gleefully called on moments before realising I was scaring a herd of buffalo. Sadly the shouts of “On On Called” from behind was the final straw leaving a poor farmer holding the end of a stick while his cattle bolted. HRA was full of early run vigour and the farmer’s day was about to get a lot longer as he joined the hashers in chasing after the cows – not sure if he was following trail or cows…

We hit a road, and another circle check. I think Knockout and I unintentionally short cut here, but we found trail quickly enough, and managed to get some alone time in the bushes before the pack caught up. From here we hit familiar trails for a bit – nice running with Poo, KO and CW joining me at the front. There was lots of plastic rope tied to trees – some scouting preparation for a run CW is setting soon. We got to a pivotal circle check, CW and I together. He picked left, correctly and that was the last I saw of him. KO and I tried to chase him down, but as the rest of the checks were easy picks. Looking at the map now, I think his scouting helped him know for sure he was right!

Good fun run!

Behind the night safari, Piggy set a friendly Happy Hash run. He pointed us off towards the hills, and I chugged along the road parallel to the trail for a while before heading up to the first V check. I went right, and in no time Square Rooter was calling OnOn from behind me. Huh? If he didn’t confuse anyone else, he got me wondering, but of course I quickly hit an elaborately marked “FT”.

Back along the trail it was time to overtake. CW stepped out the way to let me through, but then I had to cross country to divert past lots of visiting walkers, and eventually avoided Shagless’s stabbing stick as I rejoined the FRBs. It was HRA, Cumalot and Toe Sucker putting in the work up front. I managed to get a check right and found trail heading up one of the serious hills. No choice, it is up, up, up! HRA not far behind and the trail went all the way up before descending towards the trail at the back of the Night Safari. Several V checks, and finally I got one wrong, but at the check back I couldn’t find an easy way to cross over to the real trail. I climbed down to the main trail behind the Night Safari, and jogged down the hill, turning right to rejoin the pack as they chased HRA up yet another hill. Toe Sucker short cut her way up from the right not long after I rejoined trail.

Ahead Cumalot was running behind HRA. The trail turned sharply right away from the A bucket and towards the out trail, but before we could get far HRA appeared calling “Checking”. I snaked left and found trail about the same time HRA did. We traversed the hill together to the final V check. “You are only as good as your last check” is a favourite HRA quote, and I could only chuckle to myself when he got it wrong. Short trail, but a couple of hills that kept us mixing it up.

Crappy at HTT had people nervous… He’d set part of it in powder, and with a late afternoon storm had to live hare the first section. Sadly he took off towards the waterfall…. Aaaargh! I remember setting a terrible run up there, and going on others that were also terrible – I don’t recall a successful run heading that direction before…

We discussed sitting around drinking instead… It was hot and humid… Finally we thought we ought to give it a go, and we all strolled off casually towards the inevitable. First circle check predictably at the bottom of the waterfall. Choices here are to go into the base of the waterfall, which gives you a treacherous climb up – made more deadly by the rain on the slick rocks. I picked the steeper trail up the right of the waterfall… Steeper to begin with, but in the end its a better route… NOYB spotted the hare going up the waterfall, but I was the first to find him sat waiting for us. Now that check was a gimme – I know there is nothing good to the right – to the left isn’t much good, but it certainly wasn’t going to be further up.

We hacked our way off to the left and at the next check we all went straight up to where the nicer trail was. Sure enough we started heading down. Graven was right behind me for a while, but nipped past – it wasn’t easy going with the rocks hidden under damp leaves. The down was interrupted by a check taking us back up and across before finally cutting down the the main trail. To the right and NOYB was off like a racehorse. A visitor also breezed past. I’d have to go for local knowledge. A check out onto the rice fields. Most hashers wanted to go to the village, but that made no sense – how would the hare get us back? If we went into the village we’d have to come back the way we drove in, and the hare had no time to lay that trail and the out trail, so we had to get back to the ‘main trail’. I was alone checking through the ricefields, but with such a large space, it was a long time before I found trail. Up on the main trail, I jogged in, knowing the rest of the pack would be trying to chase me down.

Not a bad trail at all… – it’s just a shame the connect off the waterfall isn’t there… I wish I could find it…. Maybe I need to go searching again? muahaha…