Hares: Horsefl Drivebi and 8″ Crack
This one was a doozie. Best virgin-laid trail in recent memory, and best trail of the year so far, in no small part thanks to the rain that pelted Houston nonstop the 48 hours before.
Newly-named virgin hare Horsefli Drivebi answered Mismanagement’s desperate cries for a volunteer and planned a spectacular trail in just a few days’ notice, days in which rain was so heavy that scouting trail could not have been possible. And had it not been for the rain, HD and 8″ Crack’s trail (she volunteered to help, feeling sorry for the guy) would not have been so awesome. They took us through marshland that was normally fields of weeds, creeks that were normally dry, and flats that were normally only shoe-sucking muddy, not quicksand muddy.
Trail offered something for everyone: virgin shiggy, sock-ripping vines, a change to get dirty and wet, and plenty of flat land to run if you felt like it. If you missed this one, you really missed out. Even Heartache liked it:
Trail started at West Bellfort and Chimney Rock, with the hares promising us “virgin territory.” Also, a couple of YBFs (You’ve Been Fucked, or false trails to the H4), a beer check, and plenty of shiggy. The first mile or so was disappointing, with hounds running true trail through the residential neighborhood just south of the start. Several hounds, heeding the promis of shiggy, headed for the nearest bayou, but better things came to those who waited.
About halfway trail the hounds were teased by what appeared to be a huge, dry retention pond. Heartache and few others ran to the southeast, while the smart hares ran to the north, back into the neighborhood, where soon we found ourselves passing through a grassy easement to the beercheck, almost exactly 2 miles in. Local residents hung out in law chairs outside their back gate, teasing us to stay for just one more (more on this later).
From there trail picked up. We continued east-ish into what became a genuine urban jungle, with blackberry vines and stick mud everywhere. A large part of trail consisted of prairie grasses rendered into marshland by the recent flooding, a cool and welcome respite in the heat of our first cloudless day.
My only complaint is that twice the hares led us across extremely busy roads, not so smart after a hot and sweat beer check. But the hares are easy to forgive when the trail is this perfect. About four miles in, as pack had finally turned back westward, we saw in the distance, across a busy road and a railroad track, a huge mound of sand. Surely the beer will be near soon. Right enough, after crossing the tracks and mounting the wall of sand, the slower hounds could see, off in the distance, a odd, terraced gazebo, overlooking a water retention center complete with pedestrian-sized suspension bridges. The hounds were home, only a few blocks from the original starting point south on Chimney Rock.
Horsefli Drivebi was roundly praised (abused) for his savant-like virgin haring efforts. For the most part, 8″ Crack was spared — the trail was that good. And also, she kept saying she had nothing to do with it other than buying a limited amount of snacks. Hounds cooled off with a mini keg of L’il Pussy’s homebrew and an adult-sized keg of Zeingenbock. Heartache was called into the circle for multiple imaginary infractions, everyone drooled over Lucy, the vishla dog Brrrrrrrrrr was babysitting (author especially guilty) and the hash welcomed in true H4 form transplant from Austin Headbanger, by singing “We no likey Austin Hasher.”
On on on was at Hunter’s Pub on South Post Oak, an charming little bar with a nice proprietess, a lush patio, and a table full of free food.
On on, your humble scribe-ette,
Snatcha
Ed. note: Heartache’s map of trail is here.