Sleep Late and Hike Code of Conduct
Sleep Late and Hike (SLH) is a hiking and outdoor group, and we realize that meeting new friends with like interests is one of the main reasons you’ve decided to join. However, respect for other people and respect for trails and the environment must never be taken lightly.
We require permits for many of our hikes due to our size. We are only able to get our permits approved if we can assure the park authorities that we have done everything possible to deter poor behaviors and encourage good behaviors.
We’ve developed this Code of Conduct to address some of the behaviors that will not be tolerated at our events, with people you meet at our events, and on the Web sites associated with SLH.
SLH takes the well-being of our members and our stellar reputation with the park authorities very seriously. By using the SLH Web site (whether or not you choose to become a member) and attending any events organized by SLH, you agree to accept this Code of Conduct. To the extent there is any inconsistency between the Terms of Service and this Code of Conduct, the Terms of Service shall take precedence.
You agree that we may modify terms of this agreement from time to time at our sole discretion, which we will do by updating this document. If you do not agree with the terms below, you should stop using our site and attending our events immediately.
Outdoor Event Safety and Conduct
Outdoor environments are fragile and special care needs to be taken to ensure that they are protected:
- Do not do anything illegal or do anything against park/trail rules.
- Stay on the marked trails at all times. Off-trail wilderness scars easily and can take years to recover.
- Always listen to safety rules and event agendas provided by trip leaders.
- Do not hike alone and generally stay with the group.
- Please drive only on the roads provided; vehicles can damage vegetation.
- Fire can cause devastating losses. Please don’t throw cigarette butts down. There is no smoking during our hikes. The lighting of fires is strictly forbidden except in the designated areas at the parks or hiking areas.
- Please do not litter. There is no one to clean up after you. We will Practice: No Trace Left Behind
To protect our environment we would appreciate if a policy of “whatever you bring in – you take out” was followed. This includes orange peels, and egg shells. If you don’t like what you are eating, do not spit it out on the trial. If you don’t like it, swallow it. - It is illegal to pick any plant, or to disturb or kill any animal or to remove or disfigure any biological, archaeological or geological material. Picking of berries is not permitted. The berries are there for the animals that live there, not you.
- Hikers taking deliberate and obvious short cuts when hiking could speed up erosion and damage wilderness. This is a punishable offense at many parks and you are asked to remain on the paths.
Physical and verbal Harassment
Grabbing, or touching another members private areas such a butt, genital area, or chest of females is strictly prohibited and will result in immediate removal from the group. Simulating such behavior is also prohibited.
Being ‘touchy’ or “grabby” in general will also result in immediate removal.
Being told to keep your distance, or told not to touch, and refusing to do so will also result in your immediate removal.
Repeatedly making sexual gestures, profane gestures or lewd comments.
Being told to or not do anything by an Organizer and continuing to do similar behavior will result in your immediate removal.
Online Safety and Conduct
To help reduce the creep factor, we suggest that members only contact people they’ve already met at an event or already know in real life. That includes e-mails, greetings on the Web site, and the like. Once you’ve made a mutual connection with someone at an event, take it from there!
The exceptions to this would be:
- Communication from SLH trip leaders
- Focused member-to-member communication on the logistics or carpool around an event.
At all times:
- You will show courtesy and good will towards other members and users online and offline.
- You will not post content that is offensive to our community, such as photos, videos, messages, or events that promote racism, bigotry, hatred or physical harm of any kind against any group or individual.
- You will not harass or advocate harassment of another person.
- Harassment such as by sending inappropriate messages or posting inappropriate comments. Harassment also includes unwanted contact of any kind after the recipient said “No” to further contact. Excessive messages where the recipient does not respond is also harassment. Harassment includes, but is not limited to, sending messages through this site, as well as contact in person at one of our events.
- You will not distribute or disseminate inappropriate, unauthorized or unsolicited advertising or promotional offers including, but not limited to, spam, contests, sweepstakes, barter, junk mail, chain letters, and pyramid schemes.
- You will not invade privacy by attempting to collect, store, or publish private or personally identifiable information, including, but not limited to, password, account information, email, credit card number, address, or other contact information.
- You will not use the site to obtain personally identifiable information, or to solicit, sell, or promote to any member inappropriately.
- You will not impersonate another member, celebrity, or otherwise falsely represent yourself.
- You will not copy or reuse other members’ content, such as their photos or videos, without their permission.
- You will not create “trolling” posts (deliberately posting false or provocative information in order to elicit responses from people who would not respond if they knew the motivation behind the post).
- You risk being removed from the group by doing anything illegal.
Administrative Review
We will review and may act immediately upon any complaints from our members. We reserve the right to remove any member at any time, with or without warning. We reserve the right to investigate and take appropriate legal action, in our sole discretion, against anyone who violates these terms.