SCOGUI's 30th Night Hike - Loughborough
Penny Daws (Loughborough)
Wednesday 22nd of March 2023
On 11-12th March SCOGUI ran their annual Night Hike for Loughborough Guides, Scouts and Explorers. Teams between 4-8 participants ventured off on either a 10 or 13km walk in the Thurnby, Leicester area – completing tasks at bases along the way. They all did very well considering the bad weather but were grateful to come back to a bowl of warm spaghetti hoops upon reaching camp!
After setting up their tents, planning the route following set co-ordinates and completing a kit check, 14 teams set out from 7pm on their hike with the last persevering walkers reaching Thurnby Scout Hut at 1:30am. The wet, muddy conditions added to the challenge and high morale was particularly important when turnings were missed and waterproofs soaked through.
Testing their teamwork and strategy skills, teams checked in at SCOGUI and Explorer run bases completing a variety of tasks including first aid scenarios, putting away a pop-up tent (harder than it seems in the dark!) and using British Sign Language to communicate messages between team mates. They were scored on each activity and overall speed of completing the hike with winning teams announced the following morning at our sunny, closing ceremony.
Thank you to all of SCOGUI, Leicestershire County Scouts for assisting with communications on the night, unit leaders and helpers – the event couldn’t have gone ahead without your support. We hope you are also all looking forward to next year’s Night Hike, hopefully it’ll be a drier one!