I don’t know, maybe I’m just turning into the stereotypical grumpy old man. Or maybe I’m just at a stage in life where I’m going to do whatever I want and not give a damn what anyone else does. More precisely, I’m going to NOT do what I don’t want to do without apology.

Take yesterday’s Hash for example. The Hare was Vienna Sausage (Günter) so I had every expectation it was going to be a fucked up trail. Günter is all about the steeper and higher the better. I called him out on it once and he responded: “This is nothing like the Alps”. I, therefore, determined going in that I’d decide which part, if any, of his trail I’d hike. To me, if it ain’t fun then what’s the point?

So it turned out being even worse than I feared. He was starting the trail in Olongapo City and taking the “stairway to heaven” to the top of the mountain. That’s 555 stairsteps if you are counting. Okay, I’ve climbed them before and it was miserable. But what I really couldn’t countenance was the long-ass ride out there in the overcrowded Hashmobile. And once you are in Olongapo, there is no shortcut back to our “on-home” at Johan’s on Baloy Beach. So, I just shook my head and said “nope” and went off to do my own trail.

I’ve decided to Hare more frequently, maybe as much as once a month. I figure that way I will at least have the kind of trail that I enjoy more frequently. If the die-hards and masochists don’t like it, too fuckin’ bad. So I have my next trail in mind already and took advantage of my freedom yesterday to do some scouting. I know where I want to go up (yeah, I don’t mind a reasonable climb) but wasn’t sure how to get there. Instead, I went from the back, figuring it would be easier to find a way down. And it worked!

So, now I’ve got the beginning and middle of my trail pretty much figured out. Need to scout where I’m bringing it down and see how much more distance I may need to add, but I’ve got some ideas for that as well.

Anyway, I got back to our on-home around 5:00 and was really surprised that none of the runners doing the Hare’s trail had arrived yet. That’s pretty unusual, given that it had been an hour and a half since departure. Plus, Hash ethos doesn’t allow anyone to partake in the free beer until the first runner has returned. It was a good 20 more minutes before someone finally made it back. And then I enjoyed my ice-cold Zeros and watched my fellow Hashers straggle in.

By most accounts, the trail was a disaster which made me feel vindicated in my decision not to participate. Some of the guys actually jumped out of the truck on the way because traffic was so heavy. Others who did the stairs had no desire to stay on trail afterward and came back down the mountain into Barretto at the first opportunity. I don’t know if anyone actually did the whole trail, but once again we had people getting back after sundown. That’s a big fail in my book.

Günter asked me later if I had done any of his trail. I told him honestly that while I respect the Hare’s prerogative, I had no desire to take a long truck ride in heavy traffic. I also pointed out that the short days this time of year should be factored into how long the trail is. He looked a little snake bit, so I’m guessing he had gotten similar feedback from others. Anyway, we’ll see if he learned anything come next month I suppose.

And that’s how I roll these days. Get off my lawn, whippersnapper!