Aloha H3 Haring Guide

1. Important Timeline Goals

Our goals are to encourage hares to sign up for a trail date with plenty of time to plan out an interesting trail, include newer hashers as co-hares from start to finish, and enable everyone to plan out their weekend by having the information posted as early as possible.

As soon as you sign up for a trail date:

  • Inform the hare raiser if you have a starting location in mind
  • Begin recruiting co-hares with the intent to include newer hashers and teach them the finer points of scouting and setting trail
  • Sketch out your plans to pre-scout, scout, pre-mark, and mark the trail

30 Days Out Goal (at least): 

  • Provide the Hare Raiser with the start/end location of your trail and any theme you are considering

Friday one week prior to your trail:

  • At 8 days out, the goal is to send the Hare Raiser your completed trail write-up following the current template located here. This is so it can be announced at circle one week before your trail, and be posted to the calendar on Sundays
  • The absolute latest we would like to be posting the write-up is by Monday night.

Saturday the week prior to your trail: 

  • At 7 days out, announce at circle the exact starting point, your co-hares, and the On-Afters location

2. Signing Up for a Trail Date

Check the Receding Hareline for a schedule of available run dates.  Contact the Hare Raiser and who will officially sign you up.  Be sure you receive confirmation and see your name updated on the calendar.  Sign up for a run well in advance of the run date—you can use the time.

3. Selecting Your Co-Hares

As soon as you select your hare date, start to solicit for your co-hares so you can include them in the entire process from start to finish. You will get to know this person fairly well by the time the run is over, so choose your Co-Hare wisely!

If you are the more experienced one, deliberately seek out those who have not hared before or have a low hare count so you can show them the ropes.  Teach them everything you know about haring trails, this guide, and throw in some hash history here and there too.  After all, we’re trying to grow the kennel… not to mention it is a pre-requisite for getting named.

If you are less experienced, seek a co-hare with lots of experience… the less experience you have, the more experience they should have.

4. Pre-Scouting

Once signed up for a run, immediately start looking for trail.  Do not underestimate the amount of effort you should put in.  A good tool to use before scouting live is called GMAP Pedometer, where you can trace a route on top of the google satellite map to get exact-enough distance estimates before you start in person.

Some people find it helpful to extensively map trail – marking down on a map where every split, check, and false on trail will be. This method is helpful because it helps ensure that you won’t get lost while sweeping your own trail, but it also helps prevent shortcutting, since you’ll be trying to think where the pack will go in each instance and you’re less likely to have splits and checks to close to other parts of trail. Google Earth is a particularly useful tool for doing this.

5. Scouting the Trail

This may be the most important part of your success as a Hare, and a good run. The one factor that has been proven time and time again is that to produce a good run, the amount of effort involved in the beginning is crucial.  As a rule of thumb, the more time you spend scouting and thinking about your trail, the better the Run will be.  Also, it is typically true that the better the Run, the better the Circle.

Scout the trail with your co-hares!  It is advisable never to scout a trail alone for safety reasons, and take plenty of water with you as well.

Every hare should scout the entire trail from start to finish.  Assigning one hare to the eagle and another hare to the turkey trails is fine as long as one person has done the entire portion from start to finish.  You should not attempt to divide the length of a trail… i.e. one hare does the first half of trail and the other hare does the second half.  It is too easy for mistakes since you don’t know how long it ends up taking to do the trail, and we have ended up with trails where the two halves don’t even connect.

Most Aloha H3 trails are set as a “dead” trail using prelaid marks.  See a very experienced hare if you would like to set a live trail.  A best practice is to walk the entire trail before marking it to make sure it takes no more than two hours.

A special note on private property:  Be extra certain that you and the pack will not trespass on private property.  Significant problems already can arise from people merely thinking something is their property when it isn’t… so if there’s any chance we’ll end up on private property, find another way before getting too far along.

6. General Guidelines

Overall, the best advice that can ever be given to a hare is simply to “own” the day.  You can’t go wrong by doing your best to ensure everyone has a fun experience from start to finish on your selected Saturday.  Hopefully you have planned well in advance and by the time trail day comes, you’re prepared and can button up the final small details.  Get there early, and relax.

These guidelines are compiled for your use as you plan your trail to help avoiding common mistakes. Please take this compilation of lessons learned from many kennels around the world seriously. Many mistakes are easily avoided and having a good fun trail is a fundamental to keeping the hash vibrant, growing, and fun.

However, while you should put in the effort to make as fun of a trail experience as you can, don’t worry about trying to lay the perfect trail – there really isn’t such thing. Something unforeseen will normally, generally, usually go wrong. Just try your best and your hash will be a success.  Accept your down-down with humility, learn the lesson from it, and teach it to your next co-hares.  Maybe we’ll update this guide too, let us know.

Keeping the pack together is Key:

  • If a hasher falls in the forest, can anyone laugh at them?  Trail is a lot more fun when the pack stays together so this has to be a primary focus. It enables fun stories, tails from the trail, and accusations at circle
  • Avoid long, straight stretches if possible, or compensate with a check, fish hooks, or other trail marks
  • Try to never start trail off immediately with a check.  Doing so almost always results in a split pack that never regroups for the rest of trail
  • Think of the relationship between walkers and runners as a rubber band.  Once you think they’re going to be spread out, like after a long stretch or a choke point, throw down a check or something to cause a regroup
  • If setting an urban trail, dealing with traffic lights can be challenging.  Placing your checks after crossing a crosswalk instead of right upon coming up on it will at least ensure everyone is through the crosswalk when true trail is called
  • At every Check you place, think through the most logical thought an FRB may have as to where trail may go and mark your False Trails and YBFs accordingly

Trail Length and Difficulty:

  • Trail length for haring purposes is always truly measured in time, not distance, since there are a lot of factors that can make a short trail take a long time.  Tough terrain, shiggy level, and elevation changes can double the time you need to cover a mile
  • Your goal should be to have everyone complete at about 2 hours, and runners and walkers to finish within about 20 minutes of each other
  • Generally speaking, a good starting point is to plan 4 to 6 miles true to be appropriate for Eagles (runners) and about 3 to 4 miles for Turkey (walkers); see above about trail being primarily measured in time, not distance, so adjust your plan accordingly
  • The trail should be mentally challenging as much as it is a physical activity
  • It is definitely possible to have your runners and walkers on the same exact trail… just add more checks or other marks that slow down the fastest runners and regroup the pack
  • Hares should be honest regarding trail difficulty when there are harder than “normal” conditions. Hares should provide experience-based descriptions of their trails (i.e., swimming required, rope climbing, tunnels, etc.)
  • Turkey trails are supposed to be easy, not just easier
  • Definitely consider adding a “Chicken” trail option of some kind that is family friendly and Strollerable, and advertise this well in advance to also encourage more attendance by our friends with recent crotch fruit

Choosing a Starting/Meeting Location: 

  • Parking is a primary consideration.  If your trail does not have sufficient parking to support 30 vehicles within a 5 minute walk, then you will need to arrange for transportation from parking to the start
  • Avoid long stretches from the starting/meeting location to the “real” start of trail.  The added distance of usually uninteresting pavement or dirt never does any good
  • Aloha trails can be any combination of A and B.  A to B or B to A trails are fun but it is your responsibility to provide/solicit transportation for the pack to get back to their cars
  • Find a place to set up your chalk talk for the GM to go over your trail marks with the visitors and virgins

Chalk Talk:

  • Chalk Talk is the primary way we introduce new hashers (and visitors) to the whole concept of hashing, why we do it, and what marks we follow.
  • Always include the core set of hash marks listed in the last section, even if they are not used on your trail
  • Draw it out like the example image below to help “tell the story” of what it’s like following and checking for trail
  • Be sure to include any new or unique marks you are using
  • Include all materials and colors used, including an actual piece of bio tape in your color(s) wrapped around a stick or something
  • Don’t forget to let the GM know what exactly all your marks mean so they are briefed appropriately

Trail Marking Materials:

  • The Aloha Hash House Harriers has a tradition of using biodegradable materials to mark trail; examples of allowable materials are flour, shredded paper, chalk, biodegradable flag tape
  • The use of plastic tape (or any other non-biodegradable material) is prohibited for marking trail.  If you use plastic tape to mark your trail, you WILL be required to return later on and take all your marks down
  • Toilet paper is also discouraged, since it actually takes a long time to biodegrade without the presence of piss and shit
  • If you want to dye your flour a certain color, only use tempera paint powder… do not use industrial chalk line marking powder since some of it is toxic
  • See the haberdasher for free biodegradable trail tape.  Chalk and flour are at the hare’s own expense, but chunks of drywall are a great replacement for chalk in a pinch

Marking Your Trail:

  • Use lots of flour.  Use lots of flour.  Use lots of flour
  • Don’t screw with the pack by making the trail marks difficult to find; screw with the pack by using the trail marks as intended and making it tricky to find true trail
  • Chalk is a great idea unless it’s raining.  Use lots of flour
  • Have enough Checks.  Checks keep the pack together and Front Running Bastards (FRBs) confused as to where trail goes
  • Avoid immediately starting out with a Check, since Checks are designed to regroup the pack. Starting out with a check immediately can actually separate the pack for the entire run
  • Use a Check or similar shortly after a choke point, like crawling under a fence or climbing a waterfall. The pack will typically spread way out right after choke points
  • If the slower hashers say the hash was a cake-walk while the FRB’s ran their ass off, you’ve done a great job
  • You should almost always be able to see the next mark from the one you’re standing on, unless it’s the third on on and you’ve got it behind a log or something
  • When bushwhacking, make your marks really really close together
  • Any turns should be marked with a clear arrow or a check
  • All marks should be made no more than 12 inches or so off the ground unless it’s bio tape and you clearly communicate it will be in the air… don’t mark telephone poles at eye level and expect them to be seen when the rest of the trail has been marked on the ground
  • FRB Loops are another great idea to regroup the pack. This is where the FRBs will run a longer route in a loop that enables the slower hashers to safely shortcut and catch up, like around a baseball field
  • Use lots of flour.  Use lots of flour.  Use lots of flour

Beer Checks:

  • The hares should provide one or more refreshment stops (aka beer checks) on a normal trail
  • A single beer check is usually placed at about the midway point of the trail. Both the Eagle and Turkey trails should be offered a beer check
  • There is usually also water provided at the beer check.

Sweeping the trail:

  • Hares need to account for wankers who go on trail as best as they can, and are responsible for the initial search in case a hasher gets lost on trail
  • However, hares should NOT put themselves (nor others) at serious risk for the sake of finding “lost” hashers who have deliberately chosen not to follow trail marks
  • Sweeping the trail can and probably should be done in real time… a good tactic is to have the hare wait at the last beer check until the rear running bastard (RRB) arrives, then walk with everyone to the end of trail

Circle Location:

  • Choose a location to conduct circle that is as out of the public eyes and ears as possible… many neighbors will call the police if we’re loud close to their house
  • Communicate the exact spot to the mismanagement team, especially the Beer Meister, Chip Monk, and Soda Jerk so they can have things set up for the FRBs when they arrive

On Afters or The On On On:

  • Determine the location for the party to continue after the circle adjourns well in advance
  • It should usually be fairly nearby the On Home to facilitate attendance
  • The location should be announced in your trail writeup as well as discussed during announcements at the previous week’s circle, so have your trail writeup submitted in time so we can brief it on your behalf if needed
  • Find a place with enough space for about 20-25 of us and make sure you inform them in advance that we are coming
  • Usually finding space for our group on a Saturday night means either reserving a patio somewhere or choosing somewhere you know doesn’t get very busy
  • It doesn’t hurt to try and negotiate special pricing, such as happy hour prices outside the normal window

Considerations for A to B Trails:

  • You must provide a vehicle (fondly referred to as the “B-van”) to carry hasher’s bags and a driver for the beer wagon if it is an A to B trail
  • The B should be no further than a mile from the A in order to facilitate car runs (to be initiated by the hares)
  • If circle is at the B, decide in advance whether you will bring hashers back to their cars before or after circle
  • Most times it is best to bring hashers back to their cars before circle, so your B area must have enough parking also
  • Pre-position a few cars at the B, even if it means telling a few Hashers (sworn to secrecy) where the B is

Considerations Saturday Pub Crawl Trails:

  • Organizing a legit pub crawl on a busy Saturday afternoon for 50+ hashers is fucking hard… put in the effort and plan it as early as possible
  • Scout your bars at least 30 days in advance and have conversations with the staff
  • Trail usually start 1-2 hours early depending on how many bars and how much actual trail there is… check with the GM
  • Business hours, space requirements, and how fast orders can be taken and delivered are huge constraints
  • Consider that some bars may technically be open, but their large seating area may not open for several hours later. Sometimes they will open a section early if you speak with a manager who will be there on that day
  • Generally front-load any tricky trail finding towards the beginning of trail; pub crawl trails are often cut short and end up with a direct route to the On Home as the pack’s vision gets blurrier and blurrier
  • Plan for roughly 30-40 minutes per each bar and coordinate exact arrival times with each location. Build in plenty of slop and you can maybe throw in an extra jello shot check along the way if needed
  • Coordinate final details both one week out and on the morning of the event. Yes, this may mean skipping the previous week’s trail, especially if you’re expecting a huge turnout. This is when you need to coordinate directly with a manager or person of authority. Do not rely on the word of the bar tenders alone… seriously, talk to a manager Karen
  • Hares should be well in advance of the pack to be able to deal with unforeseen circumstances… like when a bar tells you’re they’re good to go but acts like you never even talked to them when the pack shows up. Consider pre-laying the trail in the morning, and having hares leapfrog from bar to bar during the run to give plenty of time for contingencies
  • At least one hare should stay completely sober, and all hares should stay coherent enough to speak with bar managers

Reimbursements and Such:

  • Upon presentation of receipt(s), the hares will be reimbursed up to a predetermined amount for any beer checks they provide on trail… check with hash cash or hare raiser in advance for the current allowance, which may be increased for special cases such as World Peace Through Beer
  • The hares get to hash free as long as there are no more than 3 of them
  • If more than 3 hares are needed to set a trail then it is probably too complicated anyway

7. Standard AH3 Trail Marks

Here is a convenient example of what the Chalk Talk layout before trail should look like, with all the standard marks in an order that enables the GMs to teach people how to hash yours and all future trails. Please include these as a minimum, and don’t forget to add whatever special or new marks you might be trying on your trail.

Chalk Talk Template

The ON ON. The Hare uses a normal arrow or a dollop of flour to indicate you are on trail. You are on a trail, however, this trail may not necessarily be the TRUE trail…

Check (also called Intersection). The main purpose of a check is to slow down the FRBs (Front Running Bitches/Bastards) and allow the slower hashers a chance to catch up. Checks, as indicated by a circle of flour with an X inside, are usually placed at a point along the route where there are intersecting trails or roads. At this point your trail of On Ons will cease to exist and it’s the job of the Hashers to spread out and find the new route, otherwise known as checking.  Traditionally for the AH3, only one direction can have 3 or more On Ons in a row (except for a YBF which can have many On Ons before you reach it).  We do not do “two and outs” since it can and has led to lost hashers at worst and a split-up pack that doesn’t regroup at best.  You may see one or two On Ons followed by a False Trail, in which case you should return to the check.  If you see three or more On Ons in a row, you are now ON. The Check is also considered to be a true trail mark, so you can be assured that you have been on the true trail up to the Check.

False Trail. False Trails (or Bad Trails) are marked with three parallel lines ||| blocking your path and should normally be used in place of a third On On when coming off a check/intersection.  If you come across one of these, you need to return to the last Check and look for another trail. Hashers should not proceed beyond a False Trail mark… turn around and go back the way you came until you are back at the check.

You’ve Been Fucked (YBF). In contrast to the normal False Trail mark that is usually placed where the third On On would be located off a check, the YBF may have any number of On Ons leading into it. It is to trick into thinking you are on trail, and make you go a lot further back to the last check. This is a really good way to regroup the pack if you have to have a long stretch without a check.

True Trail. The Hare periodically uses an arrow with three lines through it to indicate the True Trail. This truly means that you are on the correct path. Only the Hare can use this mark. If you find a True Trail mark off of a Check, you can be assured that you are on the correct path.

Back Check (checkmark#).  The back check will always have a number next to it, which indicates you go back that number of dollops or arrows, and that number becomes a check/intersection. Make sure to tell the pack to mark this in some way if they encounter it.

Singapore Back Check (SBC). A Singapore Back Check is pretty complicated and frustrating so use it wisely. It is similar to the Back Check, except that any of the On Ons between the SBC mark and the last Check or True Trail can possibly be a new Check.

Turkey/Eagle Split & Rejoin.  When the walkers and runners share portions of the same trail, mark a splitting arrow with a clear T and E written.

Fish Hook.  Fish Hooks will send the first hasher to reach the mark to the back of the pack on the current trail.  You can set your own conditions, such as you have to tell the RRB a joke.  A good one is leaving a full unopened beer can on the Fish Hook for the FRB to go back and share with the RRB before taking off again.  Fish Hooks are a tool that can be used especially on longer straightaways where a check is not practical, and more than one could be used in quick succession for a good time :-)

No Blow Zone (NBZ). Sometimes there will be areas on trail where it’s either not polite (such as a Hospital Zone) or not prudent (such as a field where there’s a bull nearby) to blow one’s whistle. The hares will mark this area using the letters NBZ. At the start of the area you’ll see “Begin NBZ” and then eventually you’ll see “End NBZ” when it’s OK to use your whistle again.

Song Check.  The polar opposite of the NBZ, a song check is marked with a music note “emoji.”  Hashers should reassemble for a moment and sing a quick hash song prior to moving on.

Photo Op (camera emoji). Place this where there may be a scenic view worth stopping for a moment and taking a photo. These are usually not for stopping for longer than it takes to enjoy the view and snap a pic or two.

Be Very Careful and Be Very Fucking Careful (BVC & BVFC).  These marks indicate that the trail ahead is varying degrees of dangerous and are to be used when the trail warrants it so that the hounds do not unknowingly risk life or limb.

Beer Check (BC). A well-laid trail usually has at least one beer check. The beer is typically manned by a hare.  If not, it should be somewhat hidden from obvious public view but should be found with a little Hash diligence whenever one of these signs is seen.

Shot Check (SC). A shot check may or may not be manned by a hare.  If not manned by a hare, the idea is to regroup the pack until the contents of the shot barrel have been totally consumed.

BEER NEAR. This is the most welcome sign in Hashing! Typically this mark is laid within at least 1/4 mile of the On In/On Home (finish) and usually closer than that!

ON IN or ON HOME.  Marks the literal end of the trail.  And also this guide.  Neat.

Current as of 20 Dec 2023