The Tale of the Trail
The Chicago Full Moon Hash 1 Mar 2010 by Horn-E
Lower Wackoff laid his annual winter madness trail from The Gladstone Lounge as usual. And with mild weather, it was great. If you were a DFL of course. Gas Stop Bob was often the front runner tonight, or walker, as he continually braved the Checks and found the true trail. Then the front runners had to brave all of that gas in trying to follow trail. We started out with four hounds and finished with four hounds and two ducks. Fuck a bunch of ducks.
At the first Triple Split, Or G and Gas Stop Bob were off to the west and down an alley. EZ On The Ass headed straight south and we almost lost him. Horn-E headed south on Milwaukee and returned to find no one at the Split and fuzzy marks in the alley. This led to a big loop to the north and across Milwaukee. The hare was seen in the distance and Horn-E was playing catch-up. Two blocks later we had a Check. Gas Stop Bob headed east and eventually was ON. EZ On The Ass finally caught up and Horn-E and Or G were sniffing out False trails. We were soon at Elston and still not able to catch the power walking Gas Stop Bob. He was finally caught at a Split and Horn-E led us through a gangway and up an alley. Here we found the picture. Or G decided the hash needed some class at the beer stop, so he brought the picture. Imagine that. The Chicago Full Moon Hash getting culture. Next they will want us to stop singing dirty songs. NOT. We ran on until we finally came to this small ball park next to the golf course and a Check. Horn-E went south heading for the woods and golf course. NOT. EZ On The Ass headed straight and towards the golf course. Gas Stop Bob headed north and was On again. Running through the clouds of gas we eventually ran along Indian Rd to Devon. Daring the traffic to hit us, we charged across and entered into the woods. We ran along a driveway to a parking lot and another Check. Horn-E headed straight and was On one, On two, and On down to the rivers edge and no more marks. But the river looked great in the dark with all of that snow on the ground. Coming back out he passed Gas Stop Bob who didn't believe it was a False trail and went back along the river. EZ On The Ass headed for the woods to the right and On one, On two, and into the woods following footprints. That bastard hare got him good on that one. If it wasn't for the eventual On call he would still be following those footprints. Meanwhile Or G was contemplating the nearby, closed for the season, twisting water slide at a pool. He was thinking about sending our hare down it on a skeleton sled and hopefully into a pole at 93 meters/minute. Did you ever hear a hare say something about the trail can pick up in any of 369 degrees of a Check? Horn-E finally went back on trail and into the woods and their was a mark. Barely. The trail was laid the day before and with the near melting temperature of the day, the marks, red flour was sinking into the snow. But there was one. On two. On three???? Or was that. In the dark it looked like deer piss next to a tree. Sure as hell wasn't going to go down and smell it. Had to find On four before Horn-E blew the horn and headed out. A short distance later was a bridge. No marks were there so Horn-E went back to a Split and kept blowing the horn until he saw dark shadows coming through the woods. The night runnere were coming and he took off through the woods until he saw some guy with a bicycle, drinking beer. Weird. Was he part of a beer stop? He distracted Horn-E just enough to miss a turn mark. But EZ On The Ass soon came up last, saw the turn mark and one more mark and he was at B. And there was this duck with her little duckling guarding the beer. Now, EZ On The Ass could smell the beer, but he couldn't see the beer. Finally Lower Wackoff got it away from those damn ducks.
And there we were, drinking beer in the woods. Peaceful and tranquil, surrounded by trees and logs and snow everywhere. We had a picture of this Irish Cottage hanging from a tree nand farm animals. Culture and creatures. And Or G writing his name in the snow on one side and Horn-E on the other. It wasn't cold, out of the wind, and just a great spot to just stand and hang for a beer spot. One of the best of the year.
After several beers, we followed the twisting trail back to Gladstone. Four weary hounds and one bastard hare. Lower Wackoff ordered beer and we had $5 pictures of Leine Bock and MGD. Held a casual circle and enjoyed the poetry of Gas Stop Bob. Lower Wackoff took the ducks home and Horn-E forgot the picture in the bar. There goes our culture.
The Tale of the Trail
The Thirstday Hash, 18 Feb 2010 by Horn-E
Damn, but I barely made it there in time. One El and two buses and one hour and thirty minutes. I could have walked there in a half that time. But I just made it before the chalk talk. Rhotan showed up just as we were about to leave. So we had two hares and a pack of eleven. Then he went into the bar to change clothes and sit down with his Windy City Times in the men's room. By the time he emerged from Mamey's we were long gone. Our hares were Lifa and Pokehisanus and in some respects, Pokehisanus laid a better trail. His marks were bigger, brighter, and better placed. But the trail ended up with some long straights which tend to string out the pack and with a bunch of speedsters like we had, the back of the pack fell way behind. So far that Chippendale left the beer stop before we even got there.
But what of the trail? We anticipated a lot of Humboldt Park but headed straight into city streets to the north of North Ave. And mostly stayed there. A quick loop in an alley and back north had Horn-E and Corn Star falling behind early. We ran along some tracks and in some weeds for a block and a Check. Just as we were thinking we were already lost, some of the pack was returning from False trails. Trail went another hundred feet along the tracks and south in an alley to a Split. Sperm Diversion was returning from the south so Slippery Box headed for a gangway and Happy Ass Grabber unlocked the gate and suddenly we were near the front. That didn't last long as the pack streaked ahead, finally going north in an alley. At the next street the pack continued north. Just as he was about to enter the alley, Horn-E spotted Genesis looping back on the street to the west. Shortcut. And Corn Star and Horn-E were suddenly 2 and 3 as we followed Genesis. Several short blocks later Genesis got caught in a short loop and the pack was back together. We stayed together until we hit Humboldt and a Triple Split. Trail went north and then west and the pack really started to stretch out here. Horn-E was dead last and even behind the sweep hare, Pokehisanus. A series of alleys and he finally passed Corn Star and Just Joe, our virgin of the day. We headed further west and south of the tracks again and Horn-E finally caught a glimpse of Happy Ass Grabber and turbo dog in the distance. Bye. Heading on a long, yes another long straight away along the tracks he managed to spot somebody in the distance going back under the tracks. Horn-E kept turning back to look for Corn Star and Just Joe and blow his horn for them. Under the track was a broken pipe and a flood of water all over the street. After finally crossing the street, Dark Side Of The Poon showed up. He couldn't find marks. Between them, they found marks up to track level and back to the east along a stalled freight train. Calling out directions to the trailing Corn Star and Just Joe, they continued along the tracks following a steady stream of foot prints. Now the hare Lifa says we missed a section where we were supposed to get to the other side of the train and go all of the way to the end of the train before circling back, we never saw it and the footprint stream was steady. Even marks and red arrows. Finally the marks went left, north and under a fence. Yeah, sliding under, on our backs, in the snow. Back to street level Horn-E and Dark Side Of The Poon headed west and eventually back south under the tracks we just ran down. The DFLs were out of sight and so were the FRBs. Finally we saw someone running behind us. We crossed North Ave and it was Rhotan who was finally catching us. As we entered an alley, Dark Side Of The Poon demonstrated why he will never be an Olymprick Skater and he couldn't even stand on ice in shoes. Bam, and down he went. But now it was the three of us, heading west and south. Finally a Split and Rhotan went south. So Horn-E went east. No one called so at the end of the long block Horn-E headed south to parallel the others. Didn't see them, but did find an arrow and it was a short half mile into the beer stop on top of a hill in Humblodt Park. What happened to the others? Apparently Horn-E missed a Check with that little loop and several minutes later they finally arrived at the beer stop. Horn-E got the last good beer and they got shit beer. Here we had a spectacular view of down town Chicago while we drank our beer and waited for the DFLs. Then it was about a half mile walk On In.
Back at the bar we found Tinkle Trotskie waiting for us. We had cans of PBR and Genesis called the circle together in the back room. Free VD managed to yet again get FRB. The hares got more then their share. We were officially introduced to Just Joe, our virgin. Hi Joe. We even had a nice long song for once as we really worked our way through the Dickie Die Do song. Some new good verses. Then the pack settled into watching the Olympics on a small screen TV. Just like the old days of friendlier bars and before wall size TVs imposing themselves on every aspect of the place. Nice. Good time.