- Be familiar with the hiking trail and directions to the trailhead.
- Have a support team, including sweep and someone with a GPS who is familiar with the trail.
- Have a reliable cell phone with a charger.
- If the leader has a GPS make sure the GPS track is downloaded for that hike
- Send a copy of the "mail-out" for the hike to Nancy so she can email the name of the hike and the directions to the trailhead to the club members. This should be done on Monday, prior to the hike. Add your phone number to the mailout so members can record the number on their phone for the hike.
- Arrange with Nancy (nanc21.na@gmail.com, 403-896-9899) to pick up SPOT and the Walkie Talkies.
To learn more about SPOT check out the videos at the bottom of the page on this link findmespot.com/gen3 website. On this same website, you can see (on the right-hand side) Gen3 Links. On the list of links, there is the SPOT 3 User Guide.
- Write your cell phone number on the sign-in sheet for members to add to their phones.
- Make sure hikers sign in and if new, provide an email address.
- When new hikers arrive have them fill out a waiver sheet and sign up as a new member. Inform them of a $10.00 fee that the club uses for the SPOT device.
- Arrange drivers. Drivers sign up on another sign-in sheet with a description of the car and the name of the driver. Have hikers fill in spaces available for the ride. Passengers give $10.00 to the driver for the ride.
- Make sure drivers have directions and encourage them to follow the lead car.
- Drop the Itinerary Sheet for the Front Gate. The SPOT devices are monitored by a company in Houston Texas that contacts the local Search & Rescue Authorities wherever the SOS call comes in from. The company in Houston has the Front Gate number as a contact and they let Search and Rescue know where we are. These contact numbers are specified by the club. We can update who the contact people are through a website. Nancy has the SPOT website information (usernames and passwords) that is required to change contacts for findmespot/gen3.com.
- Verify the hike headcount, before, during and at the end of the hike (Bring the list with you).
- Have the GPS ready to view and record the trail
- Have the SPOT and Walkie Talkie (provide one to the sweep)
- Remind Drivers to account for all passengers
On Hikes
- Hiker safety is the top priority
- Have a cell phone. The cell phone may lose battery power if it searching for towers. May have to turn it off, or use airplane mode. Carry a charger.
- Have first aid equipment with you and encourage hikers to bring first aid kit.
- Assess hiker endurance and stop for rests and hydration.
- Assess progress on an out and back hike to leave time for the return hike. Assess the distance gone if doing a loop to make sure there is time to complete the loop or decide to do an out and back hike instead.
- Ensure that hikers know the etiquette of hiking such as staying far enough back when going downhill so they will not knock over other hikers if they should fall, keeping up with the group, not going off without telling the leader, letting the leader aware of too fast of a pace for hikers, helping out the leader by being a sweep or keeping the group together.
When there are two groups. Long Hike and Short Hike
- Try to prearrange the hike's distance so that they will be back approximately the same time to the trailhead if there are not separate driving arrangements. It is ideal to have separate vehicles for long and medium hikers.
- Need two leaders, two sweeps and double equipment (GPS, Walkie Talkies and SPOT devices)
After the Hike
- The milage of the hike is recorded on the sign-in sheet in order to keep track of how many miles each hiker has hiked during the season. Nancy records this on an excel tracking sheet.
- Provide Nancy with the sign-in sheet.
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