Hare: John Dodgson
Venue: Bkt Tagar (Just off Junction 119) Batang Berjuntai
Scribe: Wolfgang Druba
As I was told, it was a hot day and the run was off on time....a lot of running in a relatively flat area..oil palm...just one gentle hill and then a long home trail...front runners back after 1>30 and no one got lost but some shortcutters got a transport back on a friendly farmers trailer.
Ohh yes, that reminds me on that topic of shortcutting and eventually getting lost. How can that happen?
Shortcutting is the high art of hashing. Seasoned hashers dont do it necessarily to run a shorter distance but trying to outsmart the hare. SCB's like to make a good guess, how the hare is setting the run, perhaps also to fool blindfolded front runners who have sometimes no clue where home is. Its gambling...sort of.
Now, shortcutting as a hash newbie will end in a disaster> it requires a good sense of direction as well as experience what might be a possible trail in the given terrain.
Ridges, rivers, natural contours are a safe bet to follow. Once under a dense tree cover, directions will get blurr and easily you may walk in circles. Frustration starts and you tend to make desperate decisions. You are then ending up somewhere totally out of the runsite...impossible for a search team to find you.
Perhaps some basic safe countermeasures not to get lost or at least to find your way back, if you dont use a GPS >
Once you leave paper, just bear in mind the directions you came from the runsite. If you guess the run goes clockwise, just follow that guess to hit paper again. Stay inside the run-circle. Do not meander and change that main direction, because then it may be impossible to find your way back.
If you end at a dense jungle or too deep ravine to cross or a too steep hill to climb, simply turn back and admit your defeat.
If it is 6.00pm and you are still not back on paper or definitely not close to the runsite, your plan B shall start>>
TURN BACK! Walk back to the last paper. Backtracking will be faster then your way forward and you should be back on paper in not more then 1/2 hour or max 45 min. At that time its still daylight. At 7.00 its dark under tree cover, at 7.30 its pitch dark. If at that time you are not on a main road nor on paper...then you are in deep shit.Yes...you fucked up!
Say, its pitch dark and you are on paper, but paper ends. Perhaps there was a check before and you cannot find the new trail > STAY and wait! Approximatley at 10>00pm the search team will go in. On paper they will find you quickly.
Say, its pitch dark and you are lost in an estate, far off paper. Then stay on the biggest possible path and follow that. If you come to a junction, choose the most frequented path or road. It will end up somewhere at the estate entrance. But it may be a distance to walk.
Say you are on no path and have absolutely no clue where paper was, then..
Option 1> if there is a ridge, follow that up. It is easier then to hear the horn of a search team than in a valley. A good OnOn shout carries far at night in open area.
Option 2> if there's a stream, follow that. It will lead you to civilasation eventually. But it can be challenging to climb over fallen trees or blocked passages. Its dark, its scary, its Rambo style and not for the cowards.
Option 3> call 911
"There are times in life where one is responsible for himself. Hashing is one of that."