How Th3 lays trail

Invest some time in planning the starting point, the route, and the ending

location of your trail. 

Traipsing through private property should be avoided unless permission is

granted. 

Police and open consumption of beer do not mix. 

Try to avoid lengthy straight stretches (especially on pavement); it's boring

and too much like real exercise for the average Hasher. 

Plan your intersections, BTs, back checks, true trail arrows, special

maps/instructions, and chicken/eagle splits. Please don't forget the beer

check(s)! Hares are responsible for arranging a means for the Beer Check

cooler(s) to get to the Beer Check. The Beer Meister will provide the cooler(s)

full of libations and the Haberdasher offers "El cheapo" plastic vessels at the

start of the hash.

Make your trail a reasonable distance! A long trail isn't necessarily a good

trail! Plan a true trail about 3 to 5 miles with a duration of 45 minutes to one

hour. The FRBs will run further as they solve and mark intersections, back

checks, maps, riddles, etc., and the slower hashers will be able to follow true

trail and therefore get to the end without it seeming like a time warp has

occurred.

Do not measure your length (of trail, that is) using a road map. That method

invariably causes trail to be longer than anticipated. Run and time yourself on

True Trail prior to the Hash and then do a little math (depending on your

pace) to extrapolate the distance and/or time. The average Hasher will

meander down trail at a whopping 10 minutes per mile, and lots of heavy

shiggy will slow the pace even further.

The start location should provide adequate parking for the anticipated number

of Hashers. Ask the Hash-Cash or GM how many hashers to plan for if the

start has a limited parking capacity and find another location if parking is

going to be a pain in the arse.

Hares provide the flour for laying trail. It should be thrown with wild abandon

by the fistfuls, not in pinches hidden strategically along the trail. Two hares

will normally use a minimum of 10 pounds of flour per trail unless there is lots

'o shiggy. A trail through heavy shiggy (no routinely trodden path) must be

marked much more often for the pack to follow it. Consider "pre-laying" an

extra 5-pound bag at some point along your trail or with the beer check to

replenish your hash supply if shiggy is your thing.

Chalk is provided by the chalk/beer-meister at the beginning of the Hash.

The expense of the flour as well as the effort put forth by the Hares in

designing and executing an alluring, fascinating, beguiling, and seductive trail

make it unnecessary for them to pay the Hash fee.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with pre-laying in the interest of making the trail more fun and interesting. You may be called into the circle for a down-down (Oh darn!) if it's painfully obvious that you unnecessarily pre-laid. Lone hares sometimes pre-lay the BTs for their planned intersections or pre-lay a section of trail in order to bypass it during the hash. This allows them time to concentrate on laying a well-marked trail with copious numbers of intersections and BTs. Pre-laying has also been done with hand-written or computer-generated maps posted on doors, windows, trees, etc. to add some variety to the trail. JUST DO IT if you think it will enhance your trail! 

On A-to-B trails, Hares are responsible for arranging a designated vehicle to transport down-down bags, coolers, etc., to the down-down. For an outdoor down-down, ensure the driver has good directions so the BEER coolers arrive in a timely manner! Hell hath seen no fury greater than that of a thirsty Hasher at trail's end without beer – except, of course, that of a woman scorned. 

Don't worry about it! There will always be those shortcutting bastards that immediately deviate from your perfectly planned trail on a "search and snare" mission. Hares get snared often at TH3 so remain focused on laying your trail as planned.

When snared, i.e. actually touched by a fellow Hasher while still laying a trail, the Hare(s) usually utter a few expletives as well as dole out a compliment, such as "Well done, you *ucking asshole" and then proceed to lay the remainder of their trail. The snarer(s) will mark the snare point with chalk and wait there for five minutes prior to resuming their quest. They will also brag with impassioned fervor of their sublime achievement to any other Hashers arriving at that location and hold them on station until the five-minute waiting period is over. 

elaborate profusely when the Religious Advisor calls upon the hares for special instructions. It's considered standard at TH3 that more than three consecutive hash dollops (smatterings, piles, blobs, splooches, whatever) indicate true trail. That by no means should deter Hares from laying a nice long bad trail should they desire, but if done they should be appropriately marked with a bad trail or a back check mark. The Hare could also announce during special instructions that "more than three don't mean doo-doo."

Another standard is that an intersection means true trail, therefore no intersections should be laid on a bad/false trail.

Swimming is another example of an event for which a special instruction should be announced. If there is a water crossing deep enough that those, um , height-challenged hashers may founder or that everyone will have to swim, then let it be known. Then those who may have a proclivity to drown can "long-cut" or cling to a savior.

Other items that should be announced:

Chicken/Eagle Splits 

Number of beer checks 

Where the map/directions to the down-down will be located for those poor "lost on trail" souls 

Any special considerations such as whether the trail has a location(s) where it may be prudent to not blow whistles (through hospitals, golf courses, & police stations, etc).

When the Hash is A to B, the Hares are responsible for organizing transportation back to the starting point either at the end of the down-downs or before it begins. This can usually be accomplished with the use of a vehicle.

Outdoors Down-Downs: Try to pick a legal venue. In the great Commonwealth of Virginia, that isn't easy because it's illegal to consume alcoholic beverages in public. That eliminates school grounds, playgrounds and most public parks as legal down-down locales, although they are among our favorites. To date we've only been chased out of these areas and haven't been fined. A private residence is the ideal locale, but in lieu of that, choose a venue that is out of the way, where we can't be seen by a lot of nosy people that will whip out their cell phone and call you-know-who.

Outdoor Down-Downs: The Hash Cash will reimburse the Hares for money spent on Beer. One way to ensure a good feed is to grill hotdogs, hamburgers, chicken or mystery meat. 

Or cook up a big 'ole batch of your favorite recipe, i.e. chili, spaghetti, etc., to serve up. Be sure to provide several assorted bags of crunchy stuff too. Victuals don't always have to consist of a cooked meal though. Snacks are an acceptable food for us to "feed our faces" after a little physical activity; after all, the intent is to get some food in our bellies before we imbibe heavily. TH3 sometimes has a "Snack-Meister" during the outdoor down-down season that will provide snackage. Should the Hare(s) be among the poor and wretched suffering masses, arrangements can be made to obtain some legal tender up front from Hash Cash to make food purchases. The "Beer-Meister" will provide the "nectar of the gods" for the beer check and the down-down. Other hashers provide Gatorade and water.

Indoor Down-Downs: Hares are responsible for both the victuals and the libations at the down-down. The Beer-Meister will supply a cooler of libations for pre-hash imbibing and beer check(s). Again, others provide Gatorade and water.