Well, another beautiful day has begun here in the mountains and it will be time to head out soon. As I was loading my stuff for the day, I realized that I am so far from a tech junkie it is not funny. I do not own a GPS and my cell phone stays lost most of the time. The only TV in the house is for watching cartoons, it never goes off of PBS Kids. The one thing I have that is amazingly high tech is my iPod Touch. It is always with me, no matter where I go. I have it encased in a protective case from Otterbox, you can read more about it at NecessaryCool and I will be looking at it more here later. I love music, and without it I, and those around me, would be in much worse shape.
One of my other weaknesses is maps. I have a massive world map on my living room wall and will spend hours in a 
map store. I say all that to introduce you to one of my favorite apps in the iTunes App store. Topo Maps by Phil Endecott. This app allows the user to download scans of the USGS Quad Maps into the iPod Touch or iPhone. Once they are installed, which is amazingly fast, you are ready to start using them as you would a paper map. Built into the software are some amazing features that make navigation and orienteering so much easier. One of my favorite features uses a network connection to locate your current position on the map, and display the coordinate of that position. Coordinates can be displayed in decimal degrees, degrees, minutes and seconds, UTM, and MGRS/USNG. The rest of the app functions perfect without a connection, and it will give you coordinates of the cursor position, as well as an estimation of elevation. You can than lock that position and pan around the map, which will show you bearing and distance to a new point. The app also allows you to shade the contours of the map to allow for easier interruption of terrain. You can even tell it where the sun should be for the shading, so you can make it fit your circumstances.
The overview does not do this app justice. There is no way to describe all the features in this short blog, but I can tell you my take on it. With the ability to store basically every USGS map for the area of your choosing, there are some still unavailable, and the features that make it easier than paper to use, this is amazingly fun and easy to use. I would still carry paper maps with me on any long trek; technology is not a perfect science. I have had only one problem since I bought this app, and Mr. Endecott was very quick in responding to me and ensuring that my problem, which was hardware oriented, was properly corrected. Will this app keep you from getting lost? No, it still takes basic navigation skills to do that. It will, however, make navigating easier and more enjoyable. The best part is that the app costs less than the paper version of one map.
