Cub Scout Pack 323

 Posted below are the starting times for the Cub Scout, Boy Scout/Webelos/Sled, and Adventure Trails for the 2015 National Pike Klondike Derby for this coming Saturday, January 31st.

Some Reminders:

1)  We still need volunteers to help out with parking.  Please send me a reply if your unit can help out with some volunteers.

2)  NEW REGISTRATION REQUIREMENTS:  We need to identify all participants by name.  I have attached a roster form.  Please print the form, complete it. and bring it to me at some point during the day on Saturday.

3)  If your contingent includes professional medical staff (doctor, nurse, EMT, etc.), please provide us with their name and cell number when you register in the morning.  We will use these only in the event of a medical emergency at the event, and only to augment our own emergency medical staff.

4)  Your event planning should (must!) start with a carpooling plan — a plan to get your sleds and Scouts into the park using the fewest possible number of vehicles.

5)  You will be directed where to park by our traffic management crew– please do what they tell you.  They’re in charge.  You will have an opportunity to drop your sleds near the trailhead/registration.  You may also want to plan on dropping off your registration person while someone else parks — the walk from the furthest parking lot to registration is 10-15 minutes.  DO NOT plan to drop your Cub Trail participants off at the trailhead — if you stop there, you’ll create a traffic jam and a safety hazard.

6)  Make a gathering plan for your groups — pick a landmark near the trailhead for each group.  Please do not pick the registration desk as your gathering point.

7)  Registration can be done by one person for all groups (Cub Trail and multiple sleds).  However, you will receive materials (passports on the Cub side, map and scoresheet on the sled side) at registration that need to go with your trail groups, and the trailheads for the two trails are about a 10 minute walk apart — so one person doing all of your registration will likely get some exercise.  Please do not send a large crowd to registration — one person per trail group should do.  We will also ask for a cell phone number (only one, please) for an adult traveling with each trail group, in case we need to reach your group on the trail.

8)  If you have adds to your headcount, you can settle any changes in fees at any point in the day, but I would encourage you to wait until after your trail group has started — you may not really know who you’ve got for the first half hour.  Registration will be very focused on getting groups on the trail — we’ve got all day to sort out fee changes.

9)  The time shown in the schedule is the time at which your unit should present itself to the station staff at the trail head — not the time that you should be arriving at event registration.  Please plan accordingly.

10)  Total trail time:  The Cub Trail typically takes about three hours to complete; the sled trail takes about five hours to complete.

11)  Troop 649 will be running the Ulcer Gulch food service again this year.  Ulcer Gulch provides coffee, cocoa, hot dogs, and various other snacks sufficient for a trail lunch, at modest prices.  Ulcer Gulch provides a fire for warmth; depending on the expected weather, the Ulcer Gulch pavilion may be enclosed to provide additional warmth.  The Ulcer Annex will also be provided again this year.

12)  Clothing and Weather:  Everyone should be dressed in layers, and in appropriate footwear.  The trails will be snowy or muddy, depending on the weather over the next few days — sneakers are not appropriate.  Please impress upon parents that this is an outdoor event spanning several hours — if they have younger siblings participating, they may need to plan on a warm-up at Ulcer Gulch at some point.  Note that older boys on the sled trail don’t have that luxury — there is no practical way to take a break from the sled trail, so they need to be prepared for the day.

13)  Port-a-pots will be distributed through-out the park.

14)  Postponement:  This event will run rain or shine unless 1) the Maryland Department of Natural Resources closes the park; 2)  District/Council invokes their closure rules (state of emergency due to weather, etc.); or 3)  the event staff deem conditions to have become unsafe.  In the event of postponement prior to the event starting, we will notify all unit POCs directly via phone call, will send an e-mail to this distribution list, and will post an announcement on the District web page.  I see nothing in the long range forecast that is likely to trigger such a postponement — cold temperatures have never caused the event to be postponed.

15)  Early Curtailment:  Once we get started, the event will be curtailed early only if the Maryland Department of Natural Resources closes the Park or the event staff deems conditions to have become unsafe.  There are two possibilities here:  a weather surprise, and the filling of all parking spaces.  In the event of a weather surprise that closes the park, we will notify all stations and manage traffic to effect an orderly closure.  If we completely saturate parking in the park, we will be required to turn away cars at the front gate.  That will create tremendous headaches and safety issues, so we need to carpool effectively to avoid that.

16)  Lost and Found items can be turned in at the registration desk, or to station staff.

17)  Finally, what should go without saying:  All of the event staff are volunteers who are donating their time to provide the best possible event.  Mistakes may be made and plans may go awry, but please bear in mind that over 200 people have donated their day for the entertainment of your unit — be kind to the event staff.  Also be polite and respectful to the McKeldin Park employees; they’re very proud of the ability to host such a large event, but the size of our group also makes them nervous.

18)  If your unit has not yet registered but you want to participate, please call me (443-812-1606) or send me an e-mail.  We can still add you to the trail schedule.

See you Saturday —

Randy

PLEASE NOTE that there are two tables below; the first is for the Cub Trail, the second for the Boy Scout/Webelos/sled trail AND the Adventure/Hiking trail

CUB SCOUT TRAIL:

Please note that large groups are shown as covering multiple consecutive starting times; the whole unit should arrive as one group at the trailhead at the first starting time.

Boy Scout/Webelos/Sled Trail AND Adventure/Hiking Trail

Units shown with a leading “A” (A – T0225A) are participating on the Adventure/Hiking trail.

Note that some starting times have shifted 12-18 minutes from the preliminary times you were given at registration in order to accommodate the integration of the Adventure trail and units that are camping over night.