The outer edge of the typhoon passing to the north did wind up hitting us pretty hard last night, but it was too late to impact the Hash. In fact, the overcast skies and breezy conditions during the day kept it much cooler than normal and made hiking the trail all the more pleasant. It was a Leech My Nuggets trail, so it did feature a couple of climbs but they weren’t outrageous and I managed just fine. In fact, our “sane” group, notorious for shortcutting, wound up doing the entire trail. That’s very rare for me. I was also surprised at how strong I felt while hiking–no shortness of breath or other fatigue issues. All I can attribute that to was my day off on Sunday. Perhaps I do need to give it a rest a little more often.

Here are some photos from the hike, taken from several sources:

And that’s the way it went down.

We got it done. Not to perfection or even to my complete satisfaction. I guess you might say that goes with the territory when laying a Hash trail. Sometimes it gets a little Hare-y. Okay, I’ll stop.

It happens that things get lost between what you intend to do as a Hare and what actually happens. We scouted the front half of the trail last Wednesday and had a pretty good idea of where we were going to go. Our efforts on Friday to walk from the endpoint to a logical rendezvous with the front part of the trail were not as successful as we hoped. That meant we were winging it more than I like on Monday morning. We made a wrong turn once and had marked that trail with powder and paper before realizing our error. Did our best to erase the mistake, but I heard from a couple of Hashers they had followed the faux trail. I hate when that happens, but at least they were able to recover and retreat back to the true trail.

The descent we wound up doing was not at all to my liking. Very steep and very slick, and worse yet, it ended up in a creek bed. I hate walking through creek beds. Especially in rainy season. The rocks were covered in algae and slippery as hell. I told my fellow Hares I wasn’t happy with putting the Hashers through what we had done, but it was too late to do anything about it. I was expecting some negative feedback at the Hash circle but I was surprised again. The gung-ho die-hards like Guenter really liked the trail. Leech My Nuggets said he thought it was the best trail of the year. I told him I didn’t think so, how about that going down to the creekbed? He laughed and said, “I was surprised to find that on one of YOUR trails, but I rather it enjoyed it.” I confessed that I had been overruled by my fellow Hares about that route, so the praise belonged to them.

Anyway, all’s well that ends well. No one got hurt and no one was irrevocably lost. Those are my goals as a Hare and they were achieved. Here are some photos to enjoy:

Alright, those are the photos taken while we were laying trail. Here are a few taken by the Hashers later while hiking the trail:

And a few shots from our On-Home venue at Hunter’s Jo Inn in Calapadayan.

Hope you enjoyed the trail.

I’ll be one of the Hares for Monday’s Hash, along with Scott and Jim. So we took the Wednesday Walkers along on a little trail scouting expedition yesterday. We are starting out from the Waltermart on the far side of Subic town, climbing a mountain, then working our way back down to the On-Home venue in Calapadayan. Going to be around 6K once it is done. Of course, one of the aspects of scouting is finding the best way to go and we had a couple of detours and dead ends along the way. Jim is going back out on Friday to work out the kinks and then we will mark the Hash trail on Monday morning.

What I especially like about this trail is that we rarely Hash this far out, so the experience will be new for most of the Hashers. I know I enjoyed seeing some different views as we worked our way up and over the mountain. Here’s what the area looks like:

Another good day on trail. Should be a good Hash on Monday.

That’s how it felt on yesterday’s Hash. What started out as a few sprinkles turned into a deluge that went on and on and on. The hardest rainfall I can recall hiking in. The downpour lasted for the first half of the trail we took, and it was a steady, but lighter rain, the rest of the way. It did stop prior to the after Hash On-Home activities, so there is that at least.

My “sane” group of Hashers actually took a longcut at the beginning–walking the 2K or so to the trail start rather than ride in the back of the Hashmobile. We had a map of what the Hare had prepared, and we planned to do one or two of the hill climbs he had laid out. Of course, the rain washed those plans away. Along with nearly all of the trail markings. Chalk and powder just don’t stand up to torrential rain. When we reached the designated start point you could barely make out a faint chalk arrow. The Hare, Leech My Nuggets, is one of the best at marking a trail. So we knew then there was no trail left to follow. We were already soaked to the skin anyway, so we just continued on and found our own path. Wound up doing 6K which was a challenge given the conditions. All the Hashers who rode out in the truck pretty much just turned around and walked back when they couldn’t find the intended trail. Oh well, just one of those days.

Given the wet weather, I had to keep my phone bagged up in plastic as did the other photo takers. Pubic Head got a few at least:

And that’s the way it was. I guess I should just count my blessings.

More to come tomorrow.

Monday’s Hash was a real throwback for me. I actually enjoyed the trail and didn’t even find it necessary to shortcut. The best thing was not dragging ass, breathless and light-headed, during the hike. Maybe taking the day off on Sunday was not such a bad thing after all. The trail was only 6K, but it had two climbs of moderate difficulty. What I liked best though was a good portion of the trail was first-time territory for me. It’s good to see something new for a change. Let’s do the photos, shall we?

A chance to Relive the hike if you’d like:

It was a good day for feeling good on trail. I was the last one back (again) but I don’t care. I was too busy enjoying myself to be in a hurry.

And that’s the skinny on this week’s Hash post.

Today is once again Hash Monday. I’m not going to do the trail though. Not even going to try. I have my reasons.

Three strikes and I’m out. I’ll be doing my own hike this afternoon and will attend the On-Home activities afterward at Queen Victoria.

Not sure where I’ll hike today, but yesterday I took a Jeepney to Subic town and did a 9K walk back home from there.

You can Relive the hike here:

I’ll probably go in the opposite direction today and see what there is to see.

A hard truth about dating, although I guess it cuts both ways.

Of course, the woman currently professing her love for me is NOT single. Should I change my luck?

I’m sure there will be new and better adventures to come. Or should I say train wrecks?

Welp, yesterday got away from me, that’s for sure. What is normally my “lazy Tuesday” was so full I didn’t have time for a nap or a post here. Sorry about that. I’ll do a post later this afternoon about what was keeping me so busy.

I did want to slap up the photos from Monday’s Hash for those of you who enjoy the scenery in these parts. It was actually a very nice trail, at least the part I did. Familiar territory, but an area I enjoy hiking. Here you go:

I’ll be back with more after my Wednesday Walkers hike. See you then!

Hashing during rainy season is always hit and miss. I mean, our motto includes “rain or shine”, but sometimes that means doing a pub crawl rather than a trail. It wasn’t that extreme yesterday, but because it had been raining on and off all day long, our “sick, lame, and sane” group decided to forgo the Hare’s trail which included a mountain climb. We stuck to the pavement but did a hike almost as long as the actual route laid by Leech My Nuggets.

On-Home was at Derelict’s place on Rizal Extension. His health hasn’t been the best lately, and he wasn’t looking good yesterday. Just before the circle started someone took him to the hospital in Angeles City. Hope they can cure what ails him there.

Derelict has a one-bedroom unit on his property that he rents out. His tenant was there yesterday and wanted to join in with the Hash activities. So, he met the only requirement for doing so–the 350 peso entry fee–and that was that. It is rare that I meet a person that just strikes me as not all there, and even worse, not all there in a bad way. This guy was obnoxious, argumentative, creepy, and honestly, he struck me as potentially dangerous. I kept my distance but overheard some of the shit he was saying and it left me with an uneasy feeling.

After the Hash was over, one of the Hashers discovered her phone was missing. Hmm. I wonder who is the most likely suspect? No evidence, just a suspicion. The victim is also my part-time employee and lives in my basement maid’s quarters. I took her shopping today and bought her a new phone.

Here are a few photos for your enjoyment:

Anyway, the rain and the theft put a damper on the evening. It will be better next week. I’m one of the Hares and we’ll have a trail suitable for hiking when wet.

A somewhat unusual Hash experience yesterday. Leech My Nuggets was the Hare and he laid a trail that was relatively easy compared to what he normally puts us through. It was long though, coming in at 10K. Of course, I’m in the “sane” group and we shortcut when and where we please. Our version of the trail was a comfortable 6K. What made it different was that through a misunderstanding or bad assumptions, we did the trail in reverse. We started in Alta Vista because our intel told us the trail passed through the neighborhood shortly after leaving the starting point at the VFW. Nope, turns out Alta Vista was near the end of the trail. Oops! It made following the marks much more difficult, especially the chalk arrows that were all pointing in the wrong direction and were usually out of sight unless we turned and looked behind us. Anyway, we overcame the challenge and made a nice hike of it.

But wait, there’s more! At the conclusion of the Hash circle, I caught a trike for home. Except his machine wasn’t powerful enough to make it up the last hill to my place. No big deal, I paid him and got out to walk the rest of the way. But when I looked up I saw this:

I’m looking forward to a Joyous afternoon. I’ll write about that tomorrow. See you then!

Girl.

I had the pleasant experience of receiving my first massage under the hands of Judy, the gal I a couple of weeks ago. She rode her scooter to my place this afternoon, although she wasn’t able to follow the simple directions I provided and got turned around here in the subdivision. Oh well. She’s not a great conversationalist either, but let’s just say she has other talents that left me completely satisfied. When she departed she told me she was heading to the store to buy food for her kids, so I guess it worked out well for both of us. I’m sure I’ll be inclined to help her out again in the future.

I got up and off of another mountain during yesterday’s Hash. It didn’t compare with today’s adventure, but it was still quite pleasant. I had gotten a preview of the trail on Wednesday’s hike, which is a good thing because the earlier rain had obliterated many of the powder markings making parts of the intended path hard to follow.

With the advantage of foresight, I also made the decision to shortcut one of the downs and ups. I figured the mud in both directions would take the fun out of that part of the hike. Otherwise, it was not a bad trail at all, coming in at right under 6K, just the way I like it!

And so ended the one thousand four hundred and fifty-second running of the Subic Bay Hash.

I didn’t do yesterday’s Hash trail. I wasn’t alone in deciding to go my own way. Seven others joined me for a pleasant hike in the rain, clocking in with a mostly flat 7K walkabout. It was the right call. By the Hare’s own admission, out of 60 Hashers, only five chose to do the entire trail. Granted, twenty+ others did the first hill, then rode the Hashmobile back to our On-Home. Still, you might say that people voted with their feet in making the rational decision that prudence precludes doing insane shit at the behest of the Hare.

I’ve seen the pictures and I definitely made the right call. To begin, the Hashmobile was jammed packed. If my group had shown up there wouldn’t have been room for everyone. I hate riding in the back of that truck anyway, but a long haul out to the trailhead over rough roads was a non-starter for me, notwithstanding the difficulty of the trail itself. The pictures showed some tough rock scaling and wading through water. No thank you!

Some people give me shit about being a wuss and say it is disrespectful to the Hare to take out a group of Hashers on my own trail. Bullshit! I Hash to have fun, not to prove how manly I am by risking life and limb by putting myself in unsafe situations. Been there, done that, and I ain’t doing it no more. I honestly don’t begrudge a Hare like Guenter doing the kind of trail he personally prefers. I just expect the same consideration when I choose to do things my way.

Anyway, no hard feelings really on my part. Last night I was awarded a new Hash patch:

Not many pictures this week since I was not on the official trail, but here’s a few for your perusal:

San Miguel Zero beer was not available, so I was downing San Mig Light (5% alcohol versus my usual 3%). I neglected to moderate my intake accordingly and wound up a little more inebriated than normal. Laid down on the floor for a bit when I got back home and woke up feeling just dandy this morning.

My afternoon today had a bit of twist. I’ll share that story tomorrow.

The first climb on yesterday’s Hash trail was insane. Hands and knees crazy. Pulling myself up by grabbing hold of the grass in front of me nuts. Definitely a once-in-a-lifetime experience–I’d have to be a lunatic to attempt that ascent again, and I’m just not that bonkers.

It didn’t have to be that way. Pubic Head, the putative leader of our “sane” Hash group, tried to warn us. But the rest of our group had already gone forward and from where I stood it looked steep but doable. Pubic Head wound up breaking his trekking pole, so turned back before the real beserk shit started. It’s good that he did. His first words when I saw him at our On-Home venue was “I told you so.” Yes, you did. I’ll listen to you next time for sure.

So, having survived that climb, the trail (or at least the part I did) wasn’t bad. A lot of it was the familiar “My Bitch” terrain, although the down was new to me. Once back on the flat ground I made the determination that I’d had enough, and we shortcut our way back to Da’Kudo’s for the Hash circle festivities. I probably completed a little over 5K of a 9K trail. No regrets about not doing more.

Here are some photos:

I’ll tell you about my Joy full day today, tomorrow.

Stay tuned!

I survived another Hash yesterday. Barely. I exaggerate, but damn, at the start, it was as hot as I remember it ever being. Later in the day some clouds rolled in and thunder rumbled, but no raindrops fell on my sweaty head. If the weather forecasts are to be believed, we’ll be seeing some monsoon-like rains here by next week. Can hardly wait!

The trail itself was on the short side, around 5K. It featured two moderate climbs, a lot of which consisted of steps. The biggest challenge was the portions that were covered in bamboo leaves, making the path treacherously slippery. Despite my best efforts to be prudent, I did take a fall. It could have been worse, but as I was sliding down the steep side of the mountain on my ass, I managed to reach out and grab a tree trunk. It was tough enough getting back up on the trail from where I wound up–not sure what I would have done had I slid all the way down to the bottom. And to think that just the other day I was complaining about the lack of excitement in my life. Yesterday’s adventure ought to hold me over in that regard for a while, I reckon.

Let’s go to the photos, shall we?

The On-Home was at the Alta Vista community center. Once again, my chili sold out; that’s the best review possible. Hmm, it just occurred to me the review could also mean, “I was so damn hungry I actually ate that shit!”. Well, there were other choices available:

All in all, it was a pretty good day. Got some exercise, didn’t die falling down a mountain, and drank lots of beers. Does it get any better than that?

Three straight days of Hashing has resulted in three consecutive posts here about Hashing. I’m not sure which is harder to endure. This is the last one until next week, I promise!

Perhaps the most interesting thing to happen took place at our sign-up venue, the VFW. A youngish guy (comparatively speaking, probably in his 40s) came in and was asking about joining the Hash. I let the Grandmaster do the explaining, but later as the guy was leaving he said, “you’re McCrarey, aren’t you?” I nodded and asked how he knew my name, he responded “I’ve read your blog.” I asked him how he happened upon my humble ramblings and he told me he just did a Google search for pictures of Barretto. It’s a little scary being reminded that I’m not quite as anonymous as I think I am. Oh, well. From day one of blogging I believed if you didn’t put your name on what you wrote, it didn’t deserve to be read. Back then I was more political, having your name publically associated with what is essentially a diary is a little more uncomfortable. I’m not going to censor myself, although I might try to be a bit more discrete discreet on some topics so people other than me are not identifiable. It’s a small town and in some ways it’s small-minded.

The Hash trail itself was nothing to complain about. Familiar territory, but some new paths. That’s always a nice touch. Our shortcutting efforts backfired and we wound up adding a couple of extra kilometers in an effort to avoid a hot climb. That’s the way it goes sometimes. Here are some photos for your enjoyment:

And now a quick break in the action to meet the girls:

Alright then, now where were we?

Things went awry for my group a short time later. We missed a right turn and took a left. So we made our own way back, but it wasn’t as pleasant as what the Hares had prepared for us.

And there you have it. Still taking a break from darts, I might go back to that next week. Tonight I hear It Doesn’t Matter calling to me.