Hashing:

A social event with two parts: the trail and the drinking, singing and laughing after the trail.

The Trail

A trail leads the pack (you and everyone else who did not lay the trail) through forests, along city streets, over rivers, inside buildings, etc. Trails are typically 3-6 miles long, and usually take less than two hours to complete. The hares (the person or people who did lay the trail) use chalk, flour, or toilet paper to mark where the trial goes.

Along the way, the you will discover decision points, places where the trail goes in many directions. The goal of the pack is to find the true trail that will lead them to the finish, which might be at or near the start, or it might be miles away. A full description of markings is available.

The Drinking, Singing,
and Laughing

After you have finished the trail, you will either end up at a bar, or find a cooler or keg in the woods or at someone's house. Either way, the hares should have one of your favorite beverages, such as beer, soda, or water. Feel free to drink as much as you want, but save some room for the down-downs.

Down-downs are a form of ritualized drinking. When you have a cup, can, or bottle of the beverage of your choice, the pack will sing a song with the words ``drink" or ``down" in it. At that point, you should start drinking. You will continue drinking until one of two things happen:

1. you finish the beverage, and you turn the cup over on top of your head to show that it's empty, or
2. you don't finish the beverage, and you pour the rest over your head to show that it's empty.

Remember, even though most people use beer, you can use soda or water or whatever else there is to drink.  That leaves more beer for everyone else.