Trek Design Framework

INTRODUCTION

 

In addition to Nature Trail offering/delivering our commercial Hiking Tours and Road Tours, we also offer/deliver commercial Treks, which are a distinctly different mode of touring.  Each participants must have advanced trekking skills, trekking experience, a high level of health and fitness (aerobic, physical strength, stamina) and be trek kit independent and self-sufficient.

Trek durations are either 2-Day Treks or Multi-Day Treks (3 and 7 day options).

HOW WE DEFINE A ‘TREK’ 

 

In English parlance, a ‘trek‘ is ‘a long, hard walk lasting several days or weeks, especially in the mountains.’   

In Nature Trail’s parlance, we choose to distinguish a ‘hike‘ as being: ‘walking along an established country foot track usually over uneven natural terrain over the course of up to a day in duration with no overnight outdoor camping‘.

Conversely, we distinguish a ‘trek‘ as a more strenuous and longer walking along a country foot track usually of more difficult and steep grade and condition usually over very uneven natural terrain not always on track over the course of more than a day and so necessitating overnight remote outdoor camping.

 

 

While we refer to a ‘hike’ as being within a day’s duration and its grade may be vary from ‘easy’ to ‘hard’, we distinguish our ‘hikes’ from our ‘treks’ by defining our treks by necessitating the following characteristics:

  1. Multi-day Duration:  Our treks are either a 2-Day Trek or a Multi-Day Trek (3 to 7 day options)
  2. Presumed Very Difficult Conditions:  Our treks are typically over many kilometres along remote and difficult/very difficult graded hiking tracks in often rarely used and in poorly maintained condition.  Indeed, some track sections may defer to rock scrambling, but no bush-bashing to comply with our eco tread lightly principle.  Whilst we maintain an easy pace and the daily trek distance kept within 10km, the difficulty involved to undertake our treks requires of each participant a very advanced level of fitness, strength, stamina, trekking skills, gear and experience.  Each participant is required to recognise these inherent difficulties and challenges and so to be mentally  resilient and personally responsible for preparing, exerting the required physical effort and to be a team player under such trying circumstances.
  3. Remote Bush Pack Camping: all accommodation is by tent of which each trek participant must assume fully responsibility to carry in his/her backpack for their own singular use, along with all overnight sleeping gear.
  4. Participant Self-Sufficiency:  Each participant must take full responsibility and accountability for all his/her self-sufficiency whilst on a Nature Trail Trek – including (but not limited to) personal clothing, kit, drinking water, food sustenance, remote self-catering, camping gear, toileting and sleeping gear.  Nature Trail does not provide for any of these needs on any of its treks.  This is why Nature Trail treks are priced inexpensively – we facilitate and lead, but we don’t pamper or Sherpa.
  5. Trek Participation Agreement:  Each participant must read, agree to all terms and sign Nature Trail’s Trek Agreement before being approved to participate on each Nature Trail Trek.

1.  TREK DESIGN

 

  • Trek Title:  Succinct and based upon geographic area and route as deemed appropriate by Nature Trail. This may vary over time.
  • Trek Scope: deciding upon planned trek’s business fit with Nature Trail’s business purpose, territorial range, policies and operational capacities, trek duration, routes, features, benefits, activities.
  • Geographic Area: A specific area range of the trek with topographical map reference names and versions
  • Route Plan:  Map of the planned trek – specifying trek distance (per day and overall), transport road route segments, track route, track legs, waypoints, track grades, condition, exposure, ascent/descent per trek leg, and contingency alternate routes.
  • Itinerary: Transport and trekking schedule, recommended trekking pacing rate, rest/break locations and durations, daylight timing, and specifying duration safety buffers to allow for unscheduled delays
  • Transport: Map of transfer and transport routes (Katoomba base outbound and return), rest stops, specified vehicle type(s)/numbers/kits, total road distance, refueling needs/locations, logistics (best routes, access conditions, parking locations, car shuffle requirements
  • Tour Equipment: including trek vehicle kits, trek remote communications, guest kit  – food, drinking water, clothing and gear
  • Accommodation: options detailed including facilities, pricing and contacts
  • Risk Management: Risk analysis and risk mitigation. A Risk Analysis Report prepared weeks in advance of the scheduled trek start date by Nature Trail’s Trek leader
  • Legal Compliances:  trek duly insured, trek operator licensing and area access permits secured
  • Commentary:  initial research of likely relevant topics of trekker interest
  • Trek Promotion:  Trek webpost published on Nature Trail’s website, trek’s  notification distributed on social media months in advance of trek’s scheduled start date

Further details are provided to each trekker upon signed agreement and paid booking received by Nature Trail.  This needs to be well ahead of the scheduled trek start date.

2.   EACH TRIP PLANNING

 

Following the completion of a Trek Design framework (for each iteration of a designed tour, Nature Trail undertakes detailed trip planning followed by at least two field reconnoitres to trial, document and fine tune the trek offering.

The following list is a summary outline of the Trip Planning tasks in sequential order.  This allows us to evaluate whether this trek design in practice will be a quality and commercially viable tour service offering.

  1. Recces + Practice Trips: at least two recces, one being within a week of the scheduled trip date
  2. Trek Plan and Variations: itinerary refined, mapping prepared, waypoints identified and Trek Plan
  3. Transport Plan: transport route, vehicle(s) choice, mapping, logistics (parking & shuffles) alternates and contingencies, checking access/road closure information, providing for the driver(s) and trip leader, driver familiarisation with trek including a recent prior reconnoitre of the trek route start-to-finish by the trip leader
  4. Trek Risk Mitigation: Risk Analysis Report including hazards identified, assessed for likelihood and severity of injury, risk mitigation measures prepared after each recce by our trip leader
  5. Trek Leader Equipment Kits: for hiking, trekking and/or road touring according to the tour type, including catered sustenance, drinking water supplies, communications devices, first aid kits, trekking attire for variable weather conditions, benighted contingencies, maps, etc.
  6. Briefings & Commentary: content of safety briefings to be immediately prior to locational context and commentary content
  7. Applied Research: undertaken by Steve in his joint roles as tour director and trip leader to build a varied folio of commentary content
  8. Trek Sales: Process tour guest enquiries, bookings and pre-payment processing
  9. Conditions Forecasts: – route standard, weather forecast, closures, any known or forecast bushfire risk
  10. Trek Guest Guidance: reference to Trekking Protocols on Nature trail’s website, what to expect, weather forecast, recommended touring attire, what to bring (touring kit), and what not to wear or bring
  11. Trek Notice:- trip plan route, schedule, kits, and guest manifest logged at NT Base.  For each hiking and trekking tour this is posted by us on the AMSA website
  12. Trip Prep Checklist: responsibility of the trip leader
  13. Trip Journals & Recordings: scribed by the trip leader for each recce, practice trip and commercial trip for a given trek.

 

 

3.  TRIP DELIVERY GOVERNANCE

 

For each designed Nature Trail Trek that also undergone a completed Trip Planning framework, our aim is then to ensure best practice in service delivery for each trip iteration of a given trek.   The tasks to achieve this are prescribed in Nature Trail’s Trip Delivery Policy within its Operations Manual.

The following list is a summary outline of these tasks which are the compliance undertaking of our delegated Trip Leader on the actual day(s) of a given commercial version trip – before, during and after.

 

  1. Pre-Trip Self-Assessment: conducted by the trip leader on the early morning prior to scheduled Trip Start: included fitness readiness of Trip Leader, Tour Vehicle(s), Trip Equipment, conditions suitability, no closures, trip prepayments received from all tour guests
  2. Visual Screening of Trek Guests: good health and fitness, appropriate touring attire, kit and suitability at Group Meetup time ahead of the Tour Start
  3. Adherence to Tour Brochure and Trip Agreement: adhere to route plan and schedule including dwell duration limits at rest spots, avoid route deviations or splitting the tour guest group.
  4. Group Field Leadership*: in a field/remote group leadership situation,  focusing on small group dynamics, individual tour guest safety and wellbeing, avoiding group separation, delivery of timely and appropriate verbal communications and instructions, monitoring tour guest performance and conduct, fosetring mutual respect and group cohesion, effective immediate management of interpersonal tensions and conflict, appropriate leadership style in time of incidents and emergencies.
  5. Post Trip Chores:  conducted by the trip leader after Trip Finish such as trip log update, unpacking disposables, rubbish disposal, equipment stowing, refueling and detailing tour vehicle, clothes washing, devices recharged, writing up trip journal, scribing tour yarn on Nature Trail website, finetuning tour design, and tour budget, etc.
  6. Governance Debrief: – conducted by the trip leader at Trip Finish as part of our Quality Development Cycle
  7. Trek Yarns: tour write up on Nature Trail’s website which is scribed by the tour director
  8. Trek Brochure: designed and scribed by the tour director.

 

For each commercial tour offered by Nature Trail a Trek Design Folder has been created with all the above information listed on this webpage included.  Each folder is a dynamic record that is updated and refined after every trip of that trek.  This is an output of Nature Trail’s Quality Development Cycle Policy.

 

*Group Field Leadership is a Nature Trail term that recognises the specific people leadership challenges that tend to arise amongst a group of strangers (typically on a tour) whilst day hiking or multi-day trekking in a remote area and sometimes under adverse conditions.  Group Field Leadership is those advanced interpersonal skills, people management and leadership traits, skills and style/approaches required of a professional tour leader under such situations.  Often once such a trip commences, it is difficult to alter or terminate the trip without costly repercussions, so interpersonal difficulties need to be appropropriately managed in the field at the time, especially when the group encounters an obstacle, hazard, unforeseen problem, conflict, incident or emergency.

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This webpage updated 18th October 2022.