Bringing together two unrelated people and tryng to get them to agree on anything is a challenge; multiply that by four or more and it becomes a nightmare. When setting up a trip for a large group, here's a few helpful guidelines to insist on:
1. Groups that are larger than nine people should be formed as necessary to provide strength to each subgroup. The problems that arise when individuals insist on picking which people they want to be with are infinite. Groups should be divided by interests (fisherman or those who want to basecamp, those who want to travel at a leisurely pace, or those who want a high adventure traveling trip). If all subgroups plan to do the same type of trip, then make sure that the physical strength is evenly distributed among all groups. It is never a pleasant experience for one group to end up with all the muscle, whlie another group ends up with all the "little fellas".
2. Majority rules on the food menu. It is inevitable that special dietary needs or picky eaters will rear their heads. Keep it simple. Special dietary needs require that the inidividual provides their own food or temporarily adjust their diet for the trip. Keep in mind that special dietary needs may create the need for additional cooking pans and utensils.
3. The person setting up the trip is the coordinator. That person makes the final decisions and enforces the guidelines and rules for the group. The group can vote on what those guidelines and rules are, but once set, the coordinator takes over. This seems so simple, but it can be very difficult for people to understand. It is vital for the coordinator's personal sanity that the guidelines and rules be clear and understood from the start.
4. Assign individuals to subgroups once the final group size is confirmed. It may be necessary to set-up up tentative groups to begin the planning, but everyone should understand that the final group configuration may be different.
It is common place for each person to bring shampoo, toothpaste, bug repellant, sunscreen, etc. This adds a tremendous amount of unnecessary weight. Once the final group assignments are confirmed, ask individuals to sign-up for the following items for their subgroup:
One medium sized bottle of shampoo for the subgroup
One medium sized tube of toothpaste for the subgroup
One first aid kit per subgroup
One bottle of bug repellant per canoe
One bottle of sunscreen per canoe
One flashlight per tent
If the group drops in size, please consider keeping the groups to the MINIMUM number of permits needed to cover the group size. For example: the group starts out at 24 people requiring three permits. As time goes by individuals drop out of the group leaving 16 people at the final count. Instead of keeping the three permits, cancel one. Travel permits for both wilderness areas are extremely hard to come by. Holding on to a permit that isn't really needed means that another group somewhere else won't be able to go on a trip. There are a number of groups that call the permit office weekly (and sometimes daily) in the hopes that a wilderness permit will open up. Please use the minimum number of permits for the total group size going on the trip... thank you!