Hashing hasn't strayed far from its roots in Kuala Lumpur. The hare(s) mark their trail with paper, chalk, sawdust, or colored flour, depending on the environment and weather.
Special marks may be used to indicate a false trail, a backtrack, a shortcut, or a turn. The most commonly-used mark is a Check, indicating that hashers will have to search in any direction to find the continuation of the trail. Trails may contain a Beer Check?, where the pack stops to consume beer, water, or snacks, allowing any stragglers to catch up to the group.
Trails may pass through any sort of terrain and hashers may run through back alleyways, residential areas, city streets, forests, swamps, or shopping malls and may climb fences, ford streams, explore storm drains or scale cliffs in their pursuit of the hare.
Trail Marks and Symbols
Every Kennel has different Trail Marks that they use. It is important to attend Chalk Talk when visiting a Hash you have not been to lately.
Signals & Terms
Hashers often carry horns or whistles to communicate with each other, in additional to verbal communication.
Every Hash House employs its own set of marks and the names for these marks may vary widely, so newcomers or visitors will have the local markings explained to them before the run at a Chalk Talk. Additionally, the hares for that particular run may give some trail-specific advice, such as rare markings or particular obstacles.
Trail Types
There are two types of trails. Live Trails? are laid by hares who are given a head start, while Dead Trails? are pre-laid hours or days before the Hash begins. Live trails and dead trails are also known as Live Hare? and Dead Hare? trails, respectively. Live trails are closer to the original "Hare and Hound" tradition, with the intent of the pack being to catch the hare rather than making it to the end, and are more common in the United States, while the rest of the world tends toward dead trails.
A trail may be "A to A," where the trail returns to the start, or "A to B," where the beginning and end of the trail are widely separated. Some trails are referred to as "A to A' (prime)", denoting an ending point that is close to (usually short walking distance), but not the same as the start.
