Sample – Rule Book
Copyright 2013 –
BigTripGuide.com
Guidelines,
Rules & General Information for The Big Trip
In order to make the trip a safe and enjoyable trip for all participants there are some rules and guidelines that we need to make everybody aware of. We have also included some general information about the trip.
This is a scout trip, so all
scouting rules need to be followed.
Leadership
- The chain of command:
Non-scout
siblings – their parent is immediately responsible
Scouts
– should listen to the patrol leaders and SPL (Tom Mueller) is in charge of the
scouts.
Major
decisions to be made by Planning team members (Jim Conners, Mark Shultes, Paul
Welker, Dave Pierce, Wendy Amidon, Kristin Conners, Stacy Romaine, Tom Brickle,
Brian Young & John Mueller) onsite.
Scoutmaster
has ultimate say on disciplinary actions
All
parents & siblings not within the “normal” troop membership are asked to
respect the chain of command. Remember
this is supposed to be a troop lead by the scouts and guided by the adults.
The
Main Leader for the entire trip: Jim Conners, Scoutmaster
The
leaders in charge of Flight 1 (Rochester): Mark Shultes, Dave Pierce & Tom
Brickle
The
Leaders in charge of Flight 2 (Syracuse): Paul Welker & John Mueller
Backcountry
overnight – Hike 1 - Jim Conners, Dave
Pierce & Wendy Amidon
Hike 2 – Mark Shultes & Tom Brickle
Hike 3 -
Paul Welker & John Mueller
Rodeo
– Brian Young
Discipline:
Any
problems during the trip will be handled with the above chain of command. If there is a problem that the patrol
leaders can not handle then it will be handled by the leaders in charge of that
section of the trip.
If
there is a major disciplinary issue scouts maybe required to leave the trip at
the parents expense.
Siblings:
Siblings
are to directly supervised by the parent on the trip. For example - A younger sibling can not go on a different hike,
from the parent, that is being offered or they will need to go on the same
excursion of either the backcountry or rodeo as the parent and finally they
will need to be in the same van as the parent for travel times.
Staying
At Camp:
Other than for medical reasons no one stays back at camp, this is a trip to get out and see the American West not hang around camp. Activities like hiking will be allowed to go to the ability level of the person scouts need to stay with an adult and can not go off on their own.
Medicine:
Any
medicine for scouts will need to be held by an adult (can either be a parent or
an assigned leader). Adults may hold
their personal medications as long as it is in a secure location away from
scouts/ siblings. The only medication
allowed to be held by Scouts would be emergency medications like Inhalers or
Epipens.
Smoking
& Drinking:
No
smoking (within sight of the scouts) &No alcohol drinking (at all)
Driving:
Only
adults over 21 will be allowed to drive.
Each
van will have 2 drivers preset, with a back up only to be used if there is a
major issue to switch drivers.
Driving
should be responsible and obeying traffic laws
Airplane
Rules:
We
will not be checking any bags all items will be carry-ons.
Everyone
should follow all airplane rules; No liquids in carry-ons, no knives, etc…
Be
respectful, it will make security a lot easier. NO JOKING AROUND when around
security.
ID’s
make sure to have ID’s available for security at the airport.
CLASS
A UNIFORMS ARE TO BE WORN ON THE AIRPLANE BOTH WAYS (or Class B trip t-shirts
only if you do not own a Class A uniform)
Drop
Off:
July
14th at 3:00 AM at the CS UMC. We
will be taking buses to the airport.
DON’T BE LATE! As the group will be leaving at 3:30 SHARP if you are
late it will be the families responsibility to get your scout to the
airport. Half of the group is going out
of Syracuse and half out of Rochester, everybody will meet at JFK airport and
be on the same plane into Salt Lake City.
IF
YOU CAN NOT MAKE THIS TIME OR ARE DROPPING OFF THE TRIP DUE TO ILLNESS OR
EMERGENCY IT IS YOUR RESPONSIBILTY TO CONTACT MARK SHULTES ON HIS CELL #.
Return:
The
return flight comes into Rochester on July 26th at 9:50 AM, everybody is on this
flight. It is each family’s
responsibility to pick up their scout or make arrangements for transportation
back to Clifton Springs.
Uniforms:
Class
A uniform is required for the plane rides.
Uniforms will also be expected to be worn at some of the dinners out. Trip Class B will be required for those
adults/ siblings that do not own a Class A uniform when scouts/ leaders are
expected to wear Class A uniforms.
General
Schedule:
Unless
a day requires a change for items like a major hike or White water rafting we
will follow this general schedule:
“soft”
wake up at between 5 to 6:30 AM depending on the day
“Hard”
wake up at 5:30 to 7:00 AM depending on the day
Leave
campsite by 7 to 8:30 AM depending on the day
Various
touring/ activities daily
Get
back to campsite at dinner time unless eating out
Cook
& Clean up
Squeeze
in showers if they are available
Quiet
time by 10 or time specified by the campground.
Buddy
System:
Scouts
should follow the buddy system at all times but there will be times within the
trip that the Buddy System will be imperative. Scouts should never go off on their own. During times like hikes and exploring caves
(at Craters of the Moon) scouts could be in serious danger without the buddy
system.
Duty
Roster:
EVERYBODY (Scouts, Leaders, Parents
& Siblings) is expected to help with cooking & clean up. The SPL has ultimate control over this. A roster will be done in advance if somebody
needs to switch arrangements will be made.
Gear
Drop Off:
Gear
will be dropped off either Saturday July 9th or Sunday July 10th. The only thing that will go on the plane
will be a daypack. All other gear needs
to go on the gear truck.
Tents:
Scouts
are expected to share tents with other scouts.
Scouts
will be assigned a tent that they will be responsible for the entire trip.
Adults
are given the option of sharing or sleeping solo.
Adults
can bring their own tent or can use a troop tent.
If
you bring your personal tent, it is at your own risk. Tents can be damaged by a number of ways.
Personal
Gear:
Please
LABEL EVERYTHING!
Large
duffle bags are encouraged instead of backpacks.
Chairs
if there is room.
See
separate sheet for details.
Personal
Belongings:
In
the tent participants will only be allowed to have: Sleeping bag, pad or cot,
pillow, change of clothes for the next day.
All other items will be stored in the gear truck at all times. Participants will be allowed to get items
(like personal care items) out when needed and will be expected to put them
directly back into the truck. At no
time should your personal care items (like shampoo, deodorant, toothpaste,
etc.. anything with an odor) be in the tent, this would attract animals
including bears.
Craters
of the Moon – Gear
While
at the Craters of the Moon Park on the 2nd day we will have the
opportunity to explore some caves, which are lava tubes. People entering the caves are expected to
have a flashlight (headlamp preferred) and a hat of some sort. The hat will offer some protection in case
you bump your head. The caves have lots
of varying heights, some you can fully stand up in and others that are very
low.
Laundry:
Laundry
will be done at least once during the trip, please make sure to have enough
clothing to last 7 days without laundry.
Also make sure all items that will be laundered are labeled.
Showers:
Will
be limited. The major sites we are
staying at Yellowstone and the Tetons have shower facilities available, we will
still have to drive a short distance.
The showers are a pay type, the troop has factored in 6 showers but this
may not happen based on where they are available. Most of the campsites have water available and you can freshen up
at the sink. Our hope would be to do
showers every other day.
Electronics:
Electronics
(like Ipods, cell phones, games, etc…) will be allowed for the plane ride. Any electronics brought at your own
risk. Once we arrive at Salt
Lake City there will be bin for storage of electronics in the gear truck. Games are not encouraged during the van
rides, as we would like the scouts to be social with each other and to “see the
west”. Also charging opportunities will
be limited.
Batteries – we highly recommend
coming prepared with enough extra batteries for cameras, as they will cost you
a lot less at our local stores than at gas stations in Yellowstone. Also make sure to have enough memory cards
for your camera.
Cell
Phones:
If
you are bringing a cell phone please make sure to bring both a regular charger
and a car charger (if you have one), we will have some power inverters and
there may end up being more regular outlets available vs. car power
outlets. Also we would advise you to
update your roaming before leaving NY, last time some of the verizon customers
had limited coverage since there roaming wasn’t updated on their individual
phone; on verizon this can be done by dialing *228 on your cell phone and
pressing option #2.
***Charging
priority for cell phones will go to adults and then to scouts.***
Menus:
With
43 people on the trip we need to account for what type of food will cook
quickly with the least amount of cleanup and will serve the needs of the
majority. There is always the option of
peanut butter and jelly if there is food someone can not eat or just doesn’t
like. With the amount of people on the
trip we can not cater to the likes of everybody, we will try our best to have
well balanced meals with plenty of options.
White
Water:
The
white water will be a full day and is rated for ages above 5 years; the
majority of the day will be a low grade scenic float & the rest will be
mild rapids. This will be a full day
trip with lunch on the trip. The
company we are using will provide life jackets and wet suits (if so
desired). Every participant will need
to have a waiver on file. People can
bring waterproof cameras. If you wear
sunglasses or glasses please make sure to have straps to hold your glasses
on.
Gear
– Swim Suit, Water Shoes (or old sneakers) & Strap for glasses
Spending
money:
Scouts
can bring money for snacks & souvenirs; this is not required and will be
left to the scout to manage. If they
blow it all on the first day it is their own choice. Recommended $10 per day.
What
Costs Are Participants Responsible For?
Snacks
& Souvenirs
Airport
Food – Leaving - Breakfast/ lunch in
Rochester/ JFK Airport
Returning
- Late Dinner @ Salt Lake City and Breakfast @ JFK Airports
Scouts
who do not have parents with them we recommend giving the troop leaders an
envelope with food money in for the return flight, at least $15.
Food
and tents:
Scouts
are not allowed to have food of any kind in their tent. It can attract any number of animals
including bears. Do not bring anything
into your tent that has held food or has food smells on it (like your daypack
or clothes with food spills on them).
Food
in General:
All
food and cooking items will be stored in the gear truck or the vans. If a person buys a snack food they will be
required to store it in the van or gear truck.
NO FOOD IN TENTS AT ALL!
Bear
safety:
Strictly
following the above food and personal items policy will ensure that our
encounters (if any) with bears are from a distance. It is important to follow all of these safety instructions. The number one reason for bear issues is due
to improper food storage.
On
hikes/ the backcountry overnights we will follow similar rules. For the hikes if someone is particularly
scared of running into a bear they do sell bear bells at stores like EMS. The noise usually keeps bears away as they
do not look for confrontation. With
groups of our size regular noise will be quite present so bears will probably
keep their distance.
Follow
The Fun
During
the trip we will be posting information about our adventures. This will be done on a “secret” Facebook
group. In order to be part of the group
you need to be asked by another member, so if you have not been added to the
group and you want to be please email Jim Conners or Stacy Romaine and we will
get you on the group. For security
reasons we ask to keep this group to family and close friends of the troop.
Van
Assignments:
We
will not necessarily be assigning vans but the drivers will be set ahead of
time, other participants can switch vans as long as they are accounted
for. At the time of this printing the
van drivers assignments are:
Gear
Truck: Jim Conners & Brian Young
Van
#1: Dave Pierce & Jake Amidon
Van
#2: Paul Welker & John Mueller
Van
#3: Mark Shultes & Tom Brickle
Van
#4 Ken Smith & Chris Spooner
We
will have back up drivers that can be added if the main drivers are unable to
drive for a major reason.
Emergency
Contacts
During
the trip if you need to contact the leaders for any emergencies, the primary
contact will be Jim Conners but for sub-sections of the trip there may be
different primary contacts. Please
be aware cell phones may not work in all areas.
Leader/
Adult Cell Phone List:
Put your list here - ours was deleted to keep our information
confidential.