Troop 849
Manhattan Beach, CA
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Weekend Hikemaster's Handbook

Introduction | Locations | Permits | Equipment | Food | Travel | Cost | Checklist

Travel

The usual departure point is the scout house.

Drivers

Drivers should be finalized several weeks before the hike. This is normally not a problem because the number of participating adults that are willing to drive is adequate. On rare occasions it has been necessary to get additional adults to drive.

Try to keep the number of drivers to a minimum for several reasons.

• Trailhead parking is often limited.
• Many hike locations require Adventure Passes for each parked car. The troop has a limited quantity of these and cars without the proper passes are subject to a $200 fine. These are only required if you will be parking in San Bernardino, San Gabriel, Los Padres or Cleveland National Forests.
• Drivers are paid by mileage and any costs above those collected from the participants must be covered by the troop.

Make sure you have the required information from each driver that is needed for the "BSA Local Tour Permit Application". This includes driver license number, vehicle type, insurance information and number of seat belts. The troop maintains a "Drivers List" to help you. Make sure you get an updated one from the troop equipment locker before the hike.

Each driver should be provided with the following information the day of departure.

• Driving map showing the location of the trailhead or Friday night camp site.
• Emergency phone number to contact in case of any problems. Usually several of the drivers will have cell phones and these numbers make good choices.

Car assignments can be made ad hoc (based on friendships, etc.) or as follows. First, distribute adults evenly between the vehicles. Then Scouts whose parent is driving may choose to travel with their parent. Lastly, Scouts line up order-by-rank and choose vehicles.

Food

Each participant may need a sack meal. If the trip departs Saturday, the scouts usually bring a sack lunch so only dinner and breakfast is required. If the trip leaves Friday, then all three meals on Saturday plus breakfast for Sunday are required. If the hike is a long one, it may also be required to include lunch on Sunday, although usually the scouts bring money and we stop on the way home.

Equipment Distribution

How food and equipment is distributed depends on when the hike departs. For a Saturday departure, this is usually done at the scout house prior to leaving. All food and group equipment is organized and separated into a pile for each hiker. The hikers then collect their share (by rank, lowest rank first, to be fair to the younger scouts) and store it in their packs. For a Friday departure, this is usually done at the camp site Saturday morning. In this case you just need to bag up the food and equipment and make sure it is all taken.

It can also save time on departure day if the group equipment can be organized the Tuesday scout meeting before the hike. The cook kits, stoves, fuel molotov's, etc. should be collected for each cook group and stored in a separate box or bag. This minimizes preparation time the of day departure.