Gaia GPS: www.gaiagps.com
Gaia is one of the more popular apps for maps and navigation, and their website is a filled-out version of that app, offering various resources for hiking, backpacking, off-roading, hunting, mountain biking, backcountry skiing, and fishing. From maps and permitting info to volunteer opportunities and merchandise, Gaia truly is your one-stop outdoorsy info center.
As an app, many folks rely on it as their sole form of navigation.
It’s important to remember that doing so is a bit foolish and somewhat dangerous. If you enter an area without a cell signal, if your battery dies, if your phone malfunctions or gets dropped, and you don’t have a map or guidebook or something else hardcopy, imagine the bewilderment when you can’t access your only navigation tool. I love using it as backup or confirmation, being able to watch myself move as a little arrow on the map on my screen if I have a moment of am-I-going-the-right-way, but I never rely on it as my sole form of navigation.
As an app, its detailed topographical maps are unrivaled. With the push of a button, you can see exactly where you are, often accurate to within ten feet.
Wendy Harrington is a California native who has lived in a small town at the foothills of the Cascade Mountains in Washington state since 2001. Her love of trail running and peakbagging has led her to summit all five Washington volcanoes, climb to the high points of three states, and put nearly a thousand miles a year on her boots. Her loves include ridgelines, saddles, granite, one-day pushes on big mountains, anything volcanic, long solo days, and objectives that push limits and test endurance.
