One Day Hike of 12 KM
Not more than 4 Scouts should take part in this at a time. Scout Master should organize this hike and written instructions should be given to the participants. The instructions should include things to be done in the hike
The Scouts should take a back pack to carry, food, first aid etc.
There will be no night out camping in this hike
Prior permission of the parents and the school authorities to be obtained.
After the hike the participants should give separate verbal reports to the Scout Master about what happened during the hike. This should be the last test for the Scout Master’s Award.
Hike route must be drawn in standard format and the scale must be 1:25,000. May use A3 paper to submit the final map
Logging your hikes and the instructions is a must.
WHY KEEP A LOG OF A HIKE?
To give an accurate record of the route of the hike, so that anyone else reading it should be able to follow the same route without trouble.
To give a good report of the countryside through which the hike went, including the landscape, plant and animal life, human activity and anything of special interest, such as historical sites. This report should contain useful advice for future hikers and campers in that area.
To give an interesting report of the events of that particular hike, for the information and enjoyment of all who read it, and in particular for the Scout who went on the hike to keep as a souvenir.
A collection of the logs of the hikes that you have been on makes a good record of your Scouting, which you will be glad to have later on.
PUBLIC RELATIONS
Remember your good manners at all times in your dealings with the public. You should dress in such a way that you can be easily identified as Scouts. This will count in your favour because people are well-disposed towards Scouts. Don’t do anything to spoil that reputation!
Write letters of thanks to anyone who has been particularly helpful to you on your hike – this will be greatly appreciated and will mean that Scouts will be welcome there again.
Equipment for logging
You will need something in which to carry your logbook equipment while you are hiking, because you need the equipment constantly, and therefore cannot shut it up in your rucksack – and it is very inconvenient to try to carry things in your hands while walking.
You can make a cloth bag that can be slung around your neck, or an extra outside pocket on your jacket or one leg of your trousers.
You could also make a ‘field desk’ to give yourself something to press on when making notes or sketches. Use a piece of hardboard slightly larger than your notebook. Hold your papers on the board by means of rubber bands or bulldog clip, and fix a box on the board to hold pencils, paperclips and other small objects.
You should only make rough notes on the hike, so you can use any book or paper that you like. It is not a good idea to take your actual logbook on the hike with you, because it is clumsy and can get dirty and spoiled.
The final logbook should be of the kind that has a blank page opposite each lined page. The A4 size is best, as space on it is not so cramped. A ring clip folder with loose pages is also effective, as this enables you to make corrections and insertions easily, and it can also take bulky specimens, which a book cannot do. Keep the logs of all your hikes in the same book (or series of books) so that you can have a complete record of your Scouting hikes. A hard-covered book or file is therefore a good investment because it is durable. Sometimes you may have specimens that will not fit into a book. These can be presented separately, mounted on a sheet of cardboard or in some other convenient way.
Prepare to log your route in the following format:
Columns for Time, Distance
Route description, weather reports, observation notes and personal narrative
Rough Sketches on the important places you pass
Signatures from the junctions from an authorized personnel (Eg: Police Officer)
OBSERVATIONS TO BE RECORDED
Weather
Give a weather report at the start of each day and note any subsequent changes.
Route
Link your description to the map opposite so that the reader can picture where you went. You could put a number in your text to refer the reader to a similar number on the map that shows where a certain event or object occurred, like this: (Climbed over border fence by means of a stile (3).)
Historical interest
Buildings, Clock Towers, Roundabouts
Rough Notes
KEEPING ROUGH NOTES
You need a kind of shorthand to keep notes while you are hiking. A strip map is one useful method. For each leg of the hike, draw a straight line, indicate your bearing, and mark features and distances along it, like this: At more complicated places such as crossroads or junctions, draw a rough sketch map with the North marked
ILLUSTRATIONS
If the Instructions provide you to sketch a building, you may need your Sketching skills to sketch fast.
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