Foothills NiteHike 2011
Home	About the Nite Hike	Frequently Asked Questions	Patrol Registration	Running a Station	Station Registration
In order for Nite Hike to be a success, we are asking troop and/or crews to operate a station. Running a station is a great leadership opportunity for older scouts—and it’s a lot of fun! We will offer priority registration to units that operate a station. Stations are located at pre-designated points along the trail/road network at junctions and open areas. At each station Units will conduct an activity for patrols to accomplish, preferably linked to the annual theme. How do we start? - The first step is to volunteer to set up a station by emailing the Station Organizer at organizer@foothillsnitehike.org to let us know that you want to set up a station-- we will send you a station registration packet. - Review this year’s theme (“The Magic of Scouting”) and brainstorm activities that could be done. Each station should have one major activity and a small one to challenge patrols (the reason for multiple activities is so that a patrol doesn’t get “skunked” at any one station). The maximum points available at each station is 25 points— bonus points will not be counted. Activities at a station need to be o “low impact” and keep with Leave No Trace principles—no digging of pits, fires, cutting of trees, etc. If you tie ropes to trees, the ropes should be padded to avoid damaging tree trunks. All activities must be designed to minimize the impact/damage to the site and vegetation. o Safe: it's dark with rocky, uneven and possibly wet ground, and kids will be tired. Station organizers (if sites are new to them) should try to visit their site and see the terrain prior to the weekend of the NiteHike to confirm it is suitable for their activity. o Should be skill and teamwork testing, as well as fun. o Should take between 3 and 5 minutes if you run only one patrol through at a time. You may run more than one team at a time to avoid lineups or holding up the teams. Total hike time as well as the order in which stations are done will be a consideration in the total score. This is to encourage teams to follow the order set out on their map/mark sheet and to break ties in the score. Some examples of activities that could be conducted include: - Movie Trivia quiz - Swing over the snake pit— a rope swing to ferry patrol members over a “snake-filled pit” (a tarp on the ground with rubber snakes) - Emergency evacuation—an obstacle course, where patrols have to make a stretcher out of poles, ropes, etc, and carry it through an obstacle course - “The Spider Web”—set up a web of ropes and pass members of the patrol through without touching the ropes. - CPR—administer CPR to a rescusi-dummy - Wilderness Survival knowledge test - Check all patrol members for “10 essentials” - Emergency raft—lash a raft out of poles and ropes - First aid—administer first aid to a “dragon attack survivor”—after diagnosing the problem - Where are we—using three compass bearings and a map, locate yourself on a map - Quicksand—lash three poles together to rescue a man caught in quicksand - “Cross the Swamp”, where patrols would have to work together to cross a swamp using only 3 boards; - Cross the Monkey Bridge - Kim’s game—set up a tent and arrange survival items inside; Blindfold patrol members outside the tent, then lead them inside, allow them to take blindfolds off for 30 seconds, then lead them back outside. Hand a piece of paper to patrol and have them list every item they saw inside the tent. - Scout spirit—give 5 points to patrols for having a patrol yell or patrol flag with them or for patrols that are all in uniform. For more ideas, visit www.usscouts.org or www.scouter.com for other station ideas. - Review your activity plans with a guide towards safety—do your ideas fit within “Guide to Safe Scouting”? - Fill out the Station Registration form, review site descriptions and request your top 3 choices of sites. As part of this registration, please describe your planned activity and how you would score the event. Once your site is assigned, it would be useful to visit the site in daylight to get a feel for the site and how it is laid out. - Gather station equipment—each station needs to be equipped with a First Aid kit, fire extinguisher, and FRS radio and/or cell phone. Stations may want to bring other items: awnings, lawn chairs, generator for lights, Troop flags, etc. Day of Event - Check in at HQ and collect your station packet. Try to arrive early enough to set up before 4 pm and start of the event. While at HQ, confirm the number of members of your group so we can get an adequate count for patches and donuts. Don’t forget to obtain parking passes; A maximum of two vehicles may be driven to each site to carry gear and personnel. Beginning at start time the roads will be closed except to emergency vehicles—no vehicle movement will be allowed during the hike. - Proceed to your site (marked by a sign) and set up your activity. - Have Fun! - When patrols arrive, collect their scoresheet, record their time of arrival on their sheet, and start the patrol on the activity. When they finish the activity, record their score on their patrol scoresheet, on the Station scoresheet, along with the time they checked out on the station sheet. - At approx 1:30 am, begin to shut station operations down, dismantle equipment, clean up site, and check to ensure site is left as it was found. Please take your garbage home with you! - Bring site sign and scoresheet to HQ to check out and receive patches and donuts. - Fill in feedback form and turn in to organizer to help improve event for next year.