Talking Rockies

HikeUtah

Hiking guide books are great, but with the explosive popularity of a new class of handheld computers provides an opportunity for something better. How might a mobile app improve on the classic hiking guide? Here are some ideas:

1. My hiking guides are back home on a shelf. My iPhone is always in my pocket. If I’m stuck in the tire shop, instead of thumbing through that dog-eared Sports Illustrated sitting there by the sagging furniture, I would love to pop out my phone and think about the fun I could be having outside the shop.
2. It would be great to “chuck” a hike to a buddy so she or he can read up on it.
3. I’d like to be able to make hiking plans and email them out to friends. Just grab a hike or 2 from a guide, shoot out the message, and see who’s interested.
4. People want a simple way to log the fun things they’ve done and post them in FaceBook.
5. It would be nice to be able to add my own favorite hikes to a guide book.
6. When I’m out on the trail, it would be great to have the hike info in my pocket, instead of in my backpack.

For the last few months I’ve been working on an iPhone app that would do these things, and as I worked on it, I also tried it out on 15 hikes around Utah, from the Raft River Mountains to the Virgin Rim Trail. As I hiked, I asked myself, “What information do I need in this app to do this hike?”

A few people have tried the pre-release version of HikeUtah, and they like what they see.

I plan on submitting the app to Apple in January, and as soon as the approval process is complete, HikeUtah will be available for free on the iTunes App Store. Summer will be here before we know it, and I hope HikeUtah helps people have a safe trip.

Here’s a peek. The first screen that comes up is a list of hikes that you want to do. By default, I’ve chosen some of Utah’s classic hikes, but you’re free to change these:

So that you can have an idea of where the hike is, there’s also a map.

And for each hike, there’s a detailed description of landmarks and directions.

Watch for HikeUtah in iTunes. It can help you spend more time on the trail and less in front of your computer.