For most of my life, I’ve relied on paper maps for outdoor navigation. In March, I joined my friend Rusty on the Appalachian Trail for two weeks and discovered FarOut, a GPS hiking app tailored for thru-hikers. FarOut provides valuable details like water source status through user comments. Though it defaults to northbound and I was hiking southbound, I quickly adapted and was impressed by its guidebook-like features. However, since I usually hike offbeat trails in local national forests, I wanted to try other navigation apps for my solo trip to the Ventana Wilderness in Los Padres National Forest. This also gave me a chance to convince my boss to let me spend more time outdoors. Backpackers, much like gadget lovers, enjoy exploring new technology, and these apps are changing the way we experience hiking.
Back
