The Tale of the Hash of the Blizzard of the Year 2005

Run #981, Jan 24, 2005

Hare:  Basket Boom Boom

Location:  Mohegan (Burrillville)

Weather:  High single digits, Clear, 20”+ of New Snow.

Present:  Dr WHO, Dry Foot Fairy, Bondo Jovi, Fuwangi Boner, Async, Oozing SD, SESYB, Ben, Seamus.
Not Present (week 3): Just Ariana.
Non-combatant: Dogmeat.

The Run:

For the day after the “Blizzard of 2005”, the hare had had to reschedule the Rabbie Burns run because the haggis man wouldn’t deliver in the storm, and the hare was fresh out of sheep gizzards. But the location for the run didn’t change, so the hare had no excuses. He brought along some extra snowshoes, and as the group gathered at Atlas Pallets on Rt 7, they were all well equipped, except Async, who opted for his usual shiggy shoes. The trail was marked in red chalk on snow. The hare is colorblind. Great!

They started promptly at 6:30, turning southeast on Rt 7 to a dirt road on the left. Marks led east into the St Teresa’s Shrine. But soon, the marks disappeared, and were replaced with snowmobile tracks. The excuses were flying fast and furious. Most felt that the hare had never bothered to set marks anyways, relying on footprints. But the going was slow, even more so with snowshoes or skis. Async was the least hindered in the light powder and was quickly out of sight. It was only the lack of marks that kept him from too great a lead. Fuwangi found one of the 3 marks seen that day and ended up taking an unnecessary loop to the Stations of the Cross. Directed by the hare, the main group continued east and turned north after passing through a stone wall.  WHO, Oozing and DFF soon found  true trail west across a small stream, and rejoined the hare, Bondo, and SESYB on power lines heading slightly north of west. They ran uphill to a crest then downhill to the BC.

The beer check appeared to be an opportunity for the hare to get rid of some old bottles of various “beers” that no one in their right mind would have ever chosen to try. But, no one who runs with us is in a right mind anyways. So the beer was consumed. It was a quiet stop, and as it ended,  most decided to follow Async’s lead and remove their snow shoes or skis. They continued down the power lines to Joslin Rd.  and turned left. They came to Rt 7. True trail crossed, but  Async and Bondo had had enough so they turned southeast and took 7 back to the cars.  DFF, Fuwangi, Oozing, WHO, SESYB and the hare continued and turned south into woods shortly.

There had been no snowmobiles here, so trail was through drifted snow. They were soon wishing they had left their snowshoes on. They followed footprints onto a straight grade southeast. Soon, they came to a small stream, with a broken-down bridge, and they made the crossing still managing to stay dry. Trail continued now paralleling the Branch River to the cars. The rest were already in their cars. They agreed to circle up at the hare’s house, and they convoyed over.

The circle was formed. Ratings: a lovely moonlight night, fresh snow, and at least 25 yds of virgin territory could not balance no one lost, short trail, no Just Ariana, invisible markings and recycled beer. Total: -0.69. Hashit: Fuwangi. Why not! They concluded the circle and feasted on meat pies. All were content, until it was pointed out that the hare would be repeating trail the next week, for the rescheduled Rabbie Burns run. O, the horror!

On On