Trail Tales: July: The Month of the Hashrun (aka 9 hashes in one month)

Friday, August 12, 2016

July: The Month of the Hashrun (aka 9 hashes in one month)

July was an amazingly fun month for me. Even though I had to work I was able to fit in 9 hashruns before heading to my house in Jamaica on the 29^th. I started the month off full speed ahead hitting 3 hashes over the Independence weekend, missing only Sunday the 3^rd. The weekend started out Friday the 1^st with a very humid nighttime hash in Mays Landing, NJ hosted by the Bimbos of Jersey Hash House Harriers (BJH3). It was hared by What What and included about 7 miles of road, bike paths and trail. There were 2 beer stops, one in the woods and the second at the Tuckahoe Brewing Company. We finished off the evening with dinner and a very competitive game of Heads Up.

(Tuckahoe Brewing Company)

The next morning What What made us a great breakfast and then the 9 of us packed up for an approximately 25+ mile Bike/Kayak/Bike Hash, known as the KYBash once again hared by What What. She laid a relatively easy trail with only a few false trails. The intent wasn’t to confuse the pack too much but rather to lead us to our true destination, Winding River Campground. There we rented kayaks and were shuttled about 6 miles upstream to a launch point. From there we leisurely paddled down the Winding River, drinking beer, singing songs, telling ridiculous stories of past hashes and playing kayak-soccer with a beach ball we had brought along. Our first stop was a rope swing some locals had installed at a deep hole. I won’t put anyone on blast; but, I will say some were better than others. Alright, I’ll admit I should have stopped after my first near-perfect swing because it went downhill fast from there. Our next stop was to have a picnic lunch at the ruins of historic Weymouth Furnace. We had all packed food and beverage in our kayaks so we had a large assortment of choices. Nobody tried my peanut butter and onion sandwiches so I had them all to myself. They just don’t know what they were missing. After lunch we finished our paddling and returned to our bikes for another 9 miles back to What What’s house. Once again she supplied us with a much appreciated feast. There are rumors of an alleged kayak hit-and-run but they have not been confirmed as of yet. Well that’s two days down, two hashes done, and on Sunday He rested.

(Getting ready for the KYBash)

(Kayak soccer on the Winding River)

(Swingers!)

(Lunch at Weymouth Furnace)

(Weymouth Furnace ruins)

Next up was Monday the 4^th when I made my first of 5 trips to north Jersey to hash with the Summit H3 and NOSE H3. NOSE stands for the area North Of Seventy Eight, as in Interstate 78. These northern excursions took me places like Millburn, Florham Park, Raritan and Boonton, NJ the night before flying to Jamaica. I really enjoyed these as the hashers were great people and the trails included some hilly trails which the area around my home lacks. Brag-a-deer General, Just Asia and I also travelled to the Jersey shore to hash with NOSE H3 on Long Beach Island. That course was mainly on road, which I hate; but, since the beer stop and last mile were both on the beach it ended much more enjoyable for me than it had started. In case I didn’t say it already, “I really hate running on pavement”. I also hared our McGuire Dix Lakehurst H3 (MDL H3) hash #4 once again in Country Lakes, NJ. This was a going away party hash for one of our 4 founders, BCD (I can’t write her hash name here and still keep this G-rated). Due to temperatures cresting 100 degree, I shortened the trail to about 5 miles and added a number of additional water crossings to my original plan. The only injury on course was when I got stung by a hornet on the forehead as I live-hared the second section. Luckily we were able to use BCD’s back yard for the final time because we were forced into her garage for the on-after party when a late afternoon severe thunderstorm rolled into Browns Mills pounding us with heavy wind, rain and hail for about a half hour. There were other great runs and lots of yoga but this July will forever be remembered by me as my Month of the Hash!