Hike Leaders Guide

Tuesday Vigorous Hike Leader Procedures (DRAFT 9/30/24)

 

The Tuesday Vigorous Hikers (TVH) is sponsored by the Potomac Appalachian Trail Club (PATC). Click here for The PATC Hike Leader Guidance Document. It should be reviewed by all hike leaders. It describes the leader responsibilities outlined in TVH leader procedures below. PATC hike leader and first aid training are available, but are not required. PATC has an insurance policy that covers hike leaders for liability when a hike is advertised on their website and all hikers sign the signup sheet/liability waiver at the beginning of a hike.

 

The TVH weekly hike announcement from the http://groups.google.com/group/Vigorous-Hikers list is the best source for detailed information on the current week’s hike. Anyone may join the list and receive an email every Friday or Saturday with complete details and, usually, a map for Tuesday’s hike.


Detailed information on our group and a schedule of future hikes is available at http://vigoroushikers.org/. 

 

TVH encourages all regular Tuesday hikers to take a turn at leading a hike. To lead a hike, one only needs to coordinate the day’s activities and need not be out front of the fastest group. New hike leaders will be trained by existing experienced leaders and assisted during the first couple hikes they lead as needed. 


The following are the TVH leader procedures:

 

1. Reserve a date for your hike with the TVH hike scheduler. Every two months the hike scheduler will cajole regular hikers to select a date and hike from the list of past hikes, or plan and new hike route.

 

2. Plan your hike:

a. Generally, hikes are 15 to 18 miles in length with 3000 to 5000 feet of elevation gain. However, shorter options to accommodate new or slower hikers are usually included on a typical Tuesday.

b. Avoid substantially repeating an event that has been held in the previous four months or so, or is being planned for the current cycle by another leader. 

c. To assist planning a hike and avoiding repetition, leaders can go to http://groups.google.com/group/Vigorous-Hikers and see all past messages sent to the group including the descriptions of all hikes since the group was started with any attached maps. A list of past hikes as announced in the hike schedule is available on the website (http://vigoroushikers.org/) on the “Past Hikes” page. One can look for old hikes to duplicate or search on a key trail name and see how recently or how often it was hiked.  (List of older hikes can be viewed form the list of documents at the bottom of the “Hike Leaders” page.)


3. Coordinate your hike: As soon as a leader has planned a hike, he/she should email the Hike Scheduler, and Webmaster and post it to the PATC Events Calendar.  


4. Online Hike Schedule Posting: The Hike Schedular or the Webmaster will update the website schedule page to reflect the hike.  If a leader wants to reserve a date after the two months currently being coordinated, he/she should inform the Hike Scheduler, and Webmaster to insert a placeholder in the schedule.

 

5. On the Friday or Saturday before the hike, email a hike announcement. The announcement sent to vigorous-hikers@googlegroups.com should include a description of the day’s activity and times and locations for meeting carpools and for meeting at the trailhead. If possible include a map of the hike route. Those meeting at the trailhead and those beginning the hike early should be asked to notify the leader. If this is the hike leader’s first time sending an announcement, he will need to notify the TVH webmaster or Hike Coordinator to get authorization to send the message to the group.


6. Respond to inquiries from prospective new hikers. Hikers will contact the hike leader via email and phone with questions concerning the hike. The hike leader should make new hikers feel welcome and try to accommodate their needs. Most any strong hiker can be accommodated, since there are usually shorter alternatives for slower hikers associated with planned hikes. New hikers should also be encouraged to join the TVH Google email group.


7. On the day of the hike:

(a) At the carpool location the hike leader or regular hiker should:

(1) Have each participant sign the PATC Hike Signup Sheet and Liability Waiver. 

(2) Assess the equipment and condition of hikers. Based on your judgment, you may exclude someone from your hike.

(3) Make transportation arrangements. Drivers must volunteer to drive and riders must then make their own arrangement with the drivers for reimbursing expenses.

(4) Ensure that drivers know the way to the rest stop and trailhead

(b) At the trailhead:

(1) Have each participant meeting at the trailhead sign the PATC Hike Signup Sheet and Liability Waiver. 

(2) Assess the equipment and condition of hikers meeting at the trailhead.

(3) Brief hikers about the hike. 

(5) Ask others to present alternative plans for your approval.

(6) Establish a clear agreement of everyone’s plans for the day.

(7) Hikers planning on leaving the trailhead early should inform the leader beforehand by email

(c) During the hike:

(1) Keep track of hikers at rendezvous points  and lunch. A sweep should be designated.  

(3) Be prepared for emergencies. Carry a first aid kit. You should be able to take care of minor cuts and scrapes, blisters, bee stings, and so on. Know what to do for more serious problems like broken bones, bleeding, or shock.

(4) Also carry a map, compass, flashlight, and cell phone. 

(d) At the end of the hike:

(1) Do not adjourn the hike until you can account for everyone.

(2) If someone is lost, alert authorities by dialing 911 or, within Shenandoah National Park, 800-732-0911.

(3) In the case of an accident or altercation involving any member of the group, fill out the PATC Incident Report Form, follow up on the incident to be sure everyone is OK, and send the form to PATC Headquarter as soon as possible.


9. After the hike: Complete the PATC online Hike Report Form. To see and use the form, from the PATC website click on "My Portal," sign in and from the list on the left side (near the bottom) click on "Volunteer Reporting."  The link to the PATC Hikes Form is half way down the page.


Be sure to report any problems on the trail (blow downs, washouts, etc,) that are observed and could not be easily removed. 

 

Managers: To manage these procedures, the following duties are preformed by these individuals:

 Hike Managers/Schedulers;

Hunt Loftin, hloftin@verizon.net 

Ed Cook, veetee76@gmail.com  

Marshall Wilson, marshallwilson770@gmail.com     

Webmaster: Gene Whitaker, GeneWhit@gmail.com 


Using Vigorous Hikers Email Group List