An incident hike can be as simple or as elaborate as you want to make it but it will need thorough and careful planning.  The location needs to be chosen to minimise hazards such as traffic.

The principle of an incident hike is simple: the girls set out on a given route where they will encounter a number of incidents along the way.   These incidents have to be completed before the girls can set off on their way again.  The theme and the teams have to decide whether each incident is sufficiently important enough for them to stop and deal with it and whether they have the time.

The girls may or may not have been briefed about what will happen and they may or may not have been equipped in advance and they may need to work in competition with each other.

You may need people at each incident to help stage it.

Emergency: plan a number of incidents requiring the girls to respond to an emergency situation e.g. a minor car accident with a casualty needing attention; someone acting suspiciously in the front garden of a house; a cat stuck up a tree; someone locked out of their house.

Local Knowledge: incidents might include identifying wild flowers; sketching a local scene; making a model of a small area of the locality; the identification of familiar places that have been photographed from unusual angles; brass or grave stone rubbings.

Arts and Crafts: make sure you pick activities that won't take too long to complete.  For example, making decorations from natural materials; plaster of Paris moulds; corn dollies; painting or sketching.

Assorted Skills: you might choose to enable the girls to develop or demonstrate particular skills e.g. physical agility; knowledge of camping, nature or Country or Highway codes.  You may be able to find enthusiasts who will come in and share their skills such as fishing, golf, horse riding, flying a kite.

Observation: you might give the girls a list of things to look for or you could set up a number of things that are out of place such as a scarecrow standing on his head or a toilet roll up a tree.

Problem Solving: these might relate to the hike such as working out how to cross a stream or how to find their direction if the road sign is covered over.  Or how about designing a measuring instrument with the equipment provided or making a cup of tea without a kettle or cup.

Communications: how about getting the girls to deliver a message using semaphore or Morse code; or delivering a message from memory.