Hiking by App

[ChrisB]

I suppose it had to happen: "There's an App for that" has come to long distance hiking.

Here's an interesting article on the increasing popularity and use of the Guthook Guide series of long-distance trail apps.

Leave your paper maps, trail guides and compass at home, but keep that phone charged and at the ready.

Trails might eventually look like a typical city street, with everyone constantly checking their phones!

Welcome to the machine.

 

[JoshandBaron]

What's next, sliced bread?!?!

 

[Tom_Murphy]

I LOVE LOVE LOVE planning my backpacking trips using Guthook's App.

The app generates the distance - elevation profiles, has viewpoints and water sources called out, and has photos of all major water crossing and trail heads.

Basically combine your GPS and the AWOL guide into a single phone app. Kudos to him for recognizing that a cell phone app could provide both services.

I haven't needed to use it as a GPS while hiking, but it does have that figure, i.e showing the cell phone's GPS coordinates onto the preloaded maps.

Doesn't replace a map and compass but most LD hikers seem to be bringing phone battery cells because their phone is their camera, map set, GPS, guide book, music, and reading material all in one.

 

[JoshandBaron]

The comment sections on the water sources, camp sites, trail jcts, etc are invaluable for real time updates and being able to judge seasonal changes and popularity. Plus it gives me 3 maps to look at that are more accurate for trails than the USGS quads or AMC maps.

 

[ChrisB]

The comment sections on the water sources, camp sites, trail jcts, etc are invaluable for real time updates and being able to judge seasonal changes and popularity. Plus it gives me 3 maps to look at that are more accurate for trails than the USGS quads or AMC maps.

Baaahhh!

This sh*t is the death of adventure by a thousand cuts (or data points). It's one thing to use an app for planning, but using it while actually on a hike?

Cool. No need anymore to improvise, alter the plan on the fly, cope with the unexpected or accommodate the unknown cause WE ALL KNOW WHAT IT'S LIKE WHERE WE'RE HEADED IN REAL TIME!

I'd rather watch the YouTube video of the hike.

 

[dailey7779]

I'd rather watch the YouTube video of the hike.

And while you're on there . . . https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tJ-LivK4-78

 

[iAmKrzys]

I bet there is a good number of hikers now who have never carried a paper map on a trai or owned a standalone camera. The convenience of a smartphone seems to outweigh safety concerns for many.

 

[JoshandBaron]

Baaahhh!

This sh*t is the death of adventure by a thousand cuts (or data points). It's one thing to use an app for planning, but using it while actually on a hike?

Cool. No need anymore to improvise, alter the plan on the fly, cope with the unexpected or accommodate the unknown cause WE ALL KNOW WHAT IT'S LIKE WHERE WE'RE HEADED IN REAL TIME!

I'd rather watch the YouTube video of the hike.

By "real time" I mean I'm planning my trip Thursday night and it's nice to know if X water source might be dry or that Y campsite is busy AF in winter or if Z shelter burned down. But whatevs, different strokes.

 

[egilbe]

I love Guthooks apps. It works better than Gaia, but I use it in conjunction with paper maps. It does remove a bit of the unknown, but you still have to walk the trail, climb the mountain, experience the sweat, bugs, heat or cold, humidity and be rewarded with the spectacular views. It takes away the unknowns without removing the hard work and rewards. One still can't control the weather and the slope of the mountain or experience the trail.

 

[griffin]

Not doing your research beforehand, unprepared, no business, make them pay for rescue, wah wah wah.

Doing too much research, should be able to deal with conditions you find on the trail/unknown, where's the adventure, wah wah wah.

Map and compass was a new idea once, too. Hike your own hike.

 

[Nessmuk]

I bet there is a good number of hikers now who have never carried a paper map on a trai or owned a standalone camera. The convenience of a smartphone seems to outweigh safety concerns for many.

And they end up in the weekly published Forest Ranger Highlights pages.

 

[ChrisB]

And they end up in the weekly published Forest Ranger Highlights pages.

I try not to be a total Luddite, but I do admit that I'm pretty Old School when it come to outdoor pursuits. Guilty as charged!

For example, I cringe when I am on the trail and I hear a cell phone ring.

Funny story -- When I was leading short winter hikes out of Pinkham as an AMC vol, I'd ask participants to turn off their phones or leave them behind for the one-hour duration of the hike (usually Lost Pond). The amount of push back I got was a surprise to me.

 

[Stan]

What's an App?

 

[Mohamed Ellozy]

Funny story -- When I was leading short winter hikes out of Pinkham as an AMC vol, I'd ask participants to turn off their phones or leave them behind for the one-hour duration of the hike (usually Lost Pond). The amount of push back I got was a surprise to me.

How do you take photos without your phone????

 

[David Metsky]

Wow, a bunch of us folks with 2003-4 join dates in one thread.

 

[Puma concolor]

Wow, a bunch of us folks with 2003-4 join dates in one thread.

Indeed.

And we were all probably some of the earliest users of technology in our hiking/climbing travels. I bet almost all of us “old timers” have used this or similar sites to check on trail conditions before heading out ... especially in winter. Who amongst us has not waited for some clear indication on the internet that a trail has been broken-out instead of blindly hoping that we weren’t going to be armpit deep in trail breaking? Same overall idea, IMO ... the technology has just evolved. I don’t use the Guthook App (never heard of it before this thread) but it sounds kind of cool and someone taking the time to research his/her hike in such a manner is probably pretty unlikely to hike themselves into trouble based on lack of preparation. Having said that, there is also a lot of questionable/inaccurate information on the internet that I’m sure has helped get folks into non-ideal situations. You just have to know how to filter the good from the bad.

 

[peakbagger]

Some thread drift

I was an early adopter of GPS and adopted it way too early to the point where I went back to maps. I also remember having to buy recent aerial photos one at time from various federal agencies by snail mail. I expect few folks are familiar with the USGS orthophotoquads but I had bought a few over the years especially when the USGS was backlogged with the forced upgrade from 15 minute quads to 7.5 minute quads in rural areas. While sectioning the AT I lived through the long debate if the Wingfoot guide "ruined a thru hike" by institutionalizing random acts of trail magic into hard and fast expectations by thru hikers. In most cases the limiting factor was an accurate location of the trail on an accurate up to date contour map. In most cases the AT mapping was not great prior to my sectioning, although I happened to get lucky and many of the various trail maintaining clubs were in the process of upgrading their official maps tied to the 7.5 minute USGS upgrade in the late eighties. For several years GPS technology accurate enough for trail use was usually paid for and copyrighted by clubs and most were very protective of that particular IP as it was a major source of revenue to most clubs as they were the ones with the good maps. I expect AMC got a lot of revenue every time a new guide was issued as there really wasn't a lot of competition until a few privateers started carving out high use areas for slick maps that could be sold through tourist channels. MATC got a big chunk of their revenue from trail guides and the map set included with them and I don't think they have figured out a way to replace it and expect AMC is seeing the same issue. AMC did try to keep revenue by selling subscription access to the online WMG but has finally given up and I wonder how long before the WMG ceases to be published.

Now with more accurate portable GPS equipment and crowd sourcing its far easier to sell accurate trail data, the problem is unless there is way to fund trail maintenance and protection the trails and associated facilities will cease to exist. I don't know if any trail maintaining organization (usually non profit) has figured that part out of how to pay for trails that are increasingly being used by folks that have not contributed a dime towards maintenance.

 

[Remix]

Baaahhh!

This sh*t is the death of adventure by a thousand cuts (or data points). It's one thing to use an app for planning, but using it while actually on a hike?

Cool. No need anymore to improvise, alter the plan on the fly, cope with the unexpected or accommodate the unknown cause WE ALL KNOW WHAT IT'S LIKE WHERE WE'RE HEADED IN REAL TIME!

I'd rather watch the YouTube video of the hike.

The day is going to come when VR goggles will 'augment' a hike with blended day/infrared vision, identification of astronomical features, horizon matching, heads up compass display 3D tracks identification of bird species with sound yada yada yada, But these things will never replace "the unexpected"

 

[iAmKrzys]

MATC got a big chunk of their revenue from trail guides and the map set included with them and I don't think they have figured out a way to replace it and expect AMC is seeing the same issue.

Printed maps & guidebooks is a declining business. I bet by now all non-profits that relied on sales of hiking maps realize that they won't get too much revenue from them in the long run. There is still a lot of value in the information contained on these maps and in these books but the question is how to monetize it so that people want to buy it. New York New Jersey Trail Conference for example sells electronic versions of their excellent maps for use in Avenza phone app that has a built-in DRM (I'm still buying paper maps as I can share them with my sons.) Perhaps Guthook will become a platform where local hiking clubs could sell their maps and guides and push other publications. This probably won't happen too fast - sharing a profit with a newcomer can be a really hard sell when you have been a king of the hill for many years and your sales are not yet completly dead.

 

[ChrisB]

... Perhaps Guthook will become a platform where local hiking clubs could sell their maps and guides and push other publications. This probably won't happen too fast - sharing a profit with a newcomer can be a really hard sell when you have been a king of the hill for many years and your sales are not yet completly dead.

The Randolph Mountain Club is the prototypical organization you describe. It offers a variety of hard copy books and maps for sale.

Any RMC members care to comment on the shift to electronic (app-based) publication?

cb