It all started when a regular hasher, Sasha (soon to be given a less appropriate name), was not able to set the hash, turned down the help of experienced hashers (yes, your obedient scribe volunteered) and appointed Slava to replace him, with Elena (actually, two Elenas) to set the walkers' trail. What can you expect when beginners set out the trail? The worst...

The hares managed to find the starting circle, somewhere in Rosha Bauma (known to long standing hashers as Steve Schmidda's park) and Jackmaster, our former Grand Master, opened the circle. Mighty Mouse, with the help of EMP, gave the starting note to Father Abraham, and then off went the happy pack... with an almost even distribution between runners and walkers!

Seemingly our current but absent GM has made some adepts, since the trail was a series of checkpoints, where the only right trail leads to another checkpoint. It started gloomingly, the hares accompanying the walkers did not remember which was the correct path, and the runners strived to find each other after the first check. But then if this run was to have any similarity with Colombia, this situation was only normal, the trail could be seen as an allegory of the many difficulties faced by that country, where every solution is in fact a new problem... and confusion prevails, just like when the hashers tried to sort out all the contradictory marks. A good Colombian need a good machete to get through the rainforest and a good hasher needs a good sense of directions.

The run ended in a similar disconcerting manner, all trails leading to Xs, which was supposed to let us know the final circle was right there. Stinkfoot, new hasher in Almaty but previously named, was again appointed to run back so as to get the keys to the Hash Hops car, while the runners waited at the second circle... (Yes, this is the worst that could happen, two circles and no beer in the vicinity of either of them!) As he found his way back to the sound of the Colombian hymn, with Super Sneaky Stalker and her keys, the pack decided that the circle would be convened at a more convenient location, closer to ... the Beer!

So a short and confusing hash it was, but with many good ideas and a perfect shady location given the heat. The new recruits should not be discouraged! At the final circle, the rotating RA punished a few violations and reminded us that hash songs need to be learnt! (Come next week and you'll get some of them on print.) Then all the deserving hares and hashers found some sustenance, since a picnic had been organized.