From Newsgroup: comp.mobile.android
Dave Royal wrote:
What exactly defines "trail hiking"?
I wondered that. My hiking days are over, but I still take 10 mile
walks.
My days of hiking the South Kaibab to Bright Angel on the Colorado for the night and then back up to Havasupai Gardens to the top, are also well over.
Most people who live in boonies like I do, hike the Santa Cruz mountains,
where trails abound from the Silicon Valley to the Ocean 30 miles LOS.
OSMAnd is open source and can use offline maps and GPX tracks for
navigation. Or do you mean apps with specific routes for hiking?
I use OSMand too, on this Android tablet and (whisper it) on an
iPhone. I often import someone's track as a guide to the altitude
changes and then actually walk with a paper map.
Good questions!
Everyone defines hiking the way they see fit.
But it's fundamentally different in every possible way, from driving.
So the hiking apps are completely different from driving apps.
They serve a completely different dataset need.
For example, following a pre-planned route (which could be someone else's track) using spoken directions, while hiking, and leaving a breadcrumb
track log (for viewing later) is nothing like navigation while driving.
There's no comparison between hiking and driving.
A. You can't use the same maps
B. You can't use the same apps
Even those who live in flatland, flock to the parks to hike on weekends.
Each of these hikes requires some type of offline navigation activity.
a. You might draw a route on a map with your finger,
b. You might follow that route using voice navigation directions,
c. You might pick a far off hilltop to get to by dead reckoning,
d. Doing so may require compass with bearing read out verbally,
e. It might benefit from an altimeter read out verbally,
f. You'll need to avoid the boundaries of private property,
g. If it's more than one day, you'll need weather & star maps,
h. And if the weather is iffy, you'll want a weather app,
i. And you may even take an established named park trail,
j. You may breadcrumb your entire journey like "croy" does,
k. And back home, you may want to look at graphical stats too,
l. Even when on trail, you'll need emergency SMS location apps,
m. And maybe a radio (we usually carry a ham radio) on the phone.
etc.
All of those I've set up in one fashion or another on my phone.
A. To me, that's hiking.
B. And those are hiking apps.
Note that hiking databases are completely different than driving maps.
Notice that most people are familiar with Google Maps on the phone.
i. But Google Maps doesn't cut the mustard for hiking.
ii. But neither does OSM if the landscape isn't perfectly flat.
iii. Although OSM has its place compared to USGS topo maps
iv. For example, dry creeks are labeled in OSM but not in USGS maps
Note that hiking directions are completely different than driving ones.
I. When driving, you turn left at Main Street in 1 miles
II. When hiking, you head west at 275 degrees for 50 feet
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