[pct-l] Half Mile PCT

[Town Food]

It's probably still possible to get it installed, but it's officially 
discontinued, and the data hasn't been updated since 2015.  I also 
haven't hiked the trail in a few years, but my impression is that the 
current de facto standard is the Guthook apps.

Guthook's apps improve on Halfmile's app by adding actual maps, 
elevation profiles, photos of waypoints, and user comments.  The 
comments are very useful when you want to know the status of a water 
source -- they get updated whenever you find an Internet connection, so 
you can often see reports just a few days old about flow rate and other 
such details.  They're also useful as a sort of a second opinion to the 
data the app provides (e.g. Guthook tends to underexaggerate how many 
tents can fit in a given tentsite).  It still has a Halfmile-style list 
of waypoints by mile, if you prefer that over a map with icons on it.

Gaia GPS has been popular for people who want something more like a 
traditional map than an app.  I haven't used it, and can't comment.

I used OSMAnd for traditional maps.  It's not specifically for the PCT, 
it's just a generic mapping app that works without Internet and happens 
to have the PCT on it.  I like that it can be customized to have a lot 
of features I like for hiking, such as contour lines, hillshades, and 
colorization for steepness (I find it easier to judge steepness at a 
glance with colorization than with contour lines).  It can even display 
icons for Wikipedia articles about points of interest near you, and 
display the articles without an Internet connection.  This can be nice 
if you enjoy learning about where you are during your downtime.  A map 
can tell you that the mountain you're looking at is "Mt. Adams", but 
OSMAnd can tell you how the Bridge of the Gods legend explains Mt. 
Adams' flat top (short answer: Mt. Hood hit him over the head while 
vying for the love of Mt. St. Helens).

Organic Maps is a newer competitor to OSMAnd.  It doesn't have as many 
features yet (e.g. no Wikipedia articles), but I find its display easier 
to read.  Trails in particular are drawn with a bolder line, and don't 
disappear so quickly when you zoom out.  It's also faster than OSMAnd 
(though possibly because I have a million features turned on in OSMAnd).

I've heard Avenza Maps recommended.  You buy/download PDF maps that have 
GPS information embedded in them, and it displays your location on the 
maps.  This means that Avenza doesn't provide the maps, they just make 
the app, and various maps are available from third parties.  This can be 
useful if you prefer navigating by maps made by National Geographic or 
the Forest Service or such, but don't want to carry paper or have to 
guess about your location on the map.  So far as I'm aware it doesn't 
have any hiker-specific features like marking campsites and water 
sources, or labeling locations by trail miles.  I personally find Avenza 
not so useful for thru-hiking, but good for tourism and day hikes, since 
they have maps for practically everywhere, and sometimes there are 
special-interest maps available.  Finding maps you actually want in 
Avenza's store is somewhat of a problem though, because there's a lot of 
"map spam" in the listings.  I find it easier to find the map I want on 
their website on my computer, then search for it by name in their app on 
my phone.

This email is a bit long-winded, but the short answer is:  Use Guthook's 
apps.  If you prefer traditional maps instead of a purpose-made hiking 
app, there are several choices.  Of course, apps weigh nothing, so you 
can also try them all.

  -=Town Food

On 9/18/21 8:22 PM, John Casterline wrote:
> I used Half Mile's PCT app when I hiked the tail a few years ago.  Is that
> still available?
> 
> What similar app(s) is as good or better than Half Miles?
>