The spelling of "wast on the trail" might seem strange, but it actually follows the rules of English phonetics. The word "wast" represents the past tense of the verb "to be," and it's pronounced /wɑːst/. The "a" sound is long, as in "father," and the "s" is pronounced as a voiceless consonant, meaning the vocal cords don't vibrate. So, when encountering unusual spellings like this, it's essential to rely on phonetic transcription to understand the pronunciation and meaning of the words.