Hike Leaders Guide

Tuesday Vigorous Hike Leader Procedures (November. 15, 2021)

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, updated every two months, is available at http://vigoroushikers.org/.

TVH encourage all 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. The following are the TVH leader procedures:

1. Reserve a date for your hike with the TVH hike scheduler. Six times per year the hike scheduler will cajole regular hikers to complete the leader schedule as follows:

January 10 for March & April hikes

March 10 for May & June hikes

May 10 for July & August hikes

July 10 for September & October hikes

September 10 for November & December hikes

November 10 for January & February hikes

The hike scheduler will inform the hike coordinator of the completed schedule so he can monitor schedule and calendar entries under (2 & 3) below.

2. Plan your hike:

a. Generally, hikes are 15 to 20 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 (see 3. below).

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. In June 2008 Cliff Noyes also put together a Vigorous Hike List of past hikes to assist leaders in planning future hikes. (See list of previous hikesin 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, Hike Coordinator, Webmaster and other hike leaders in the current cycle of his/her plans. If no conflicts are noted, the hike is ready for posting.

4. Online Hike Schedule Posting: The Hike Coordinator 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, Hike Coordinator and Webmaster to insert a placeholder in the schedule.

5. Advertise your hike on the PATC on-line calendar. As long as your hike information is entered into the PATC on-line calendar before 5:00 AM on the first of the month, it will automatically be published in the Forecast section of PATC’s monthly newsletter, for the following month, i.e. 5:00 AM January 1 is the deadline for advertising February hikes. More detailed information on how to enter information into the PATC on-line calendar see the document PATC-OnLineCalendarInstructions.doc on the “Hike Leaders'' page. The TVH hike coordinator will monitor the PATC on-line calendar to ensure that leaders get their hikes entered in a timely manner.

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 group.

7. 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. Those who have walkie talkies should be encouraged to bring them. 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.

8. On the day of the hike:

(a) At the carpool location:

(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) Introduce yourself and ask the participants to introduce themselves to the group.

(4) Brief hikers about the hike.

• Discuss the route,

• pace,

• rendezvous points,

• lunch stop,

• major intersecting trails,

• promontories and viewpoints,

• approximate time hike is scheduled to end and other necessary items and

• provide group members a trail map showing where they will be going.

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

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

(7) Establish a clear agreement if someone is not to be waited for at the end of the day.

(8) If possible, have each group or individual hiking alone carry a walkie talkie and agree on a channel for coordination during the day. Emphasize that the walkie talkies are only to be used for hike coordination.

(c) During the hike:

(1) Keep your group together by stopping at rendezvous points, setting a pace that everyone can follow, and/or designating a sweep.

(2) If possible, carry a walkie talkie set to the prearranged channel.

(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 Hike Signup Sheet and Liability Waiver and PATC Hike Form the online PAYC Hike Form. Be sure to report any problems on the trail (blow downs, washouts, etc,) that are observed and could not be easily removed.

Current Assignments: To manage these procedures, the following duties are currently being preformed by these individuals:

Webmaster: Gene Whitaker, GeneWhit@gmail.com or 540/748-4973

Hike Scheduler: Dave Green, dkgreenva@hotmail.com or 703/536-5189

Hike Coordinator: Bob Livezey, bobbilbo@msn.com or 301/320-4679