No Rest For These Travelers

            This week’s hash kicked off at Traveler’s Rest out along the western segment of Bay Street, chosen by Colin, our intrepid hare.  It was a great day for the hash with cool breezes blowing and temperatures a bit less oppressive than usual.  Colin, as far as I’m concerned, sets some quality trails so I was looking forward to a good hash and we were not disappointed. 

            No word on any pre-hash antics as I pulled in late once again, though it did teach me a lesson we can all learn: when showing up late, do not drive past the secret RA and wave to him for you will certainly be noted for tardiness and called for a down-down later.  This is difficult to avoid when the RA is secret, but consider yourself warned.  Hell, I got a beer out of it, so maybe consider yourself advised?  Either way, the hash kicked off heading east on Bay street and continued east… and continued east some more.  As we continued along, we passed a very suspicious looking unpaved road to our right that proceeded steeply uphill.  There was no change in flour though, so we continued forward and than found the back-check that took us backwards and up that very suspicious road where the trail continued. 

            At the very top, we found a box and a check-in pointing out three possible routes, each of which led us on some very rocky, very unpaved roads and over small trenches that had been dug deep into the ground – just to keep things interesting.  After this, we spent a good chunk of time tearing our way across a number of fields, through puddles big and small, and across many unpaved roads making for difficult though not impossible flour spotting.  Dave found his moment in the spotlight when he miscalled a box as a back-check and your sure-footed reporter took a trip down to the ground thanks to some clever and malicious rocks.

            After a bit maneuvering through the terrain we returned to the paved roads and followed the trail of flour until, reaching a neighborhood, we found another back-check and turned down the first road available to us.  This was not the correct way to go but nobody realized it, so we searched around for a minute or two until our hare realized we were never going to figure it out (and the sun was setting quickly), and called us back to the proper trail.  From this point on, Colin began to lend us a hand at the check-ins since it was getting dark and, well, we were going to be in trouble if we couldn’t see as the terrain was getting choppy and muddy once again.  There was one more back-check and it led us to one last box, which was where a couple people realized that Miriam had gone absent.  We walked back to the last road the pack had been on and looked around some for her, but she was nowhere to be found.  By this point we were close enough to Traveler’s Rest that there was a general presumption that if Miriam had gone off trail, she would easily be able to get back to the start.  So much for no one gets left behind.

            The sky was dark now, the sun having officially dropped beyond the horizon some time earlier, and we scaled some mountains of dirt and rock in an area being cleared for some development and it was amongst these piles of earth that the On-In call was made and the last bit of the trail descended at a gradual slope through a narrow path lined by trees whose roots stretched across the path, mixing with large slabs of rock to make the going slow and precarious.  And then, upon emerging from the path, we found ourselves back in the parking lot of Traveler’s Rest; the very definition of convenience.  Occasionally lost as a group, occasionally losing individual people, but in the end, a good trail.  Great work, Colin!