Author Topic: I've become very attracted to my Wikiloc app.  (Read 1472 times)

gunwharfman

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I've become very attracted to my Wikiloc app.
« on: 19:52:29, 25/02/19 »
I used the Wikiloc app when I recently hiked across Gran Canaria. So very useful to follow a trail which someone else has recommended and have it dispayed on my phone screen and to tell me where I am at any given moment.

I'm seriously considering that after the Borrowdale 'meet' in April I will walk from there to Carlisle on the Cumbria Way. then onto Hadrians Wall and when I get to the Pennine Way I would turn north to Kirk Yetholme and then walk onto Edinburgh. Although I know the way to Kirk Yetholm its so easy with Wikiloc to plan for the bits of the route that I don't know.

When I'm at home I also run off road and this week I have been recording my run routes on the app for all to see. My son asked me to do it, as a project and an interest for me! I think, he thinks that I'm getting old and he wants a permanent record of what I do.

Interestingly, I now know that as soon as I start to record my route, I can also send it in real time to my sons Whats App and/or his Skype account. I can also prove to my wife that I do actually run and am not just sleeping in my car for an hour or more. The app also suggests to me that it could act as a personal tracker so my wife can follow me where ever I am and can resond if I fall down a ravine or something similar. It also looks like that I could record a really long walk as well, which I'm sure I will try out if I walk to Edinburgh in April.

For an old fella like me smartphones are truly interesting, so much can be done on them!

gunwharfman

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Re: I've become very attracted to my Wikiloc app.
« Reply #1 on: 19:56:30, 25/02/19 »
If you are in my neck of the woods and want to do a walk before say, catching the ferry to France or Spain, just go on Wikilock, put in my name 'Reginald Edmunds' and my suggestions will be displayed in front of you. There are loads of others as well, the best ones are around Portsdown Hill.

Owen

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Re: I've become very attracted to my Wikiloc app.
« Reply #2 on: 20:20:08, 25/02/19 »
Each to their own and all that, but following along on somebody else's route is preciously what I don't want to do. For me half the fun is making my own route up and finding places no one else has. 

GnP

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Re: I've become very attracted to my Wikiloc app.
« Reply #3 on: 20:51:01, 25/02/19 »
What is the UK mapping like, in comparison to say, Open Source Or Ordnance S.?
A night under silnylon. Doesn't have the same ring to it.

gunwharfman

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Re: I've become very attracted to my Wikiloc app.
« Reply #4 on: 09:44:52, 26/02/19 »
Sorry, I've never checked, I only use the Wikiloc satellite view. Just checked, the map is like Google maps. If I want OS quality I just switch on my Backcountry app. When I first downloaded Backcountry it was my most important app for hiking, nowadays I use it far less and now tend to use a combination of apps. For example, Wikiloc for actual routes, Backcountry for detail and sometimes for direction and Google maps to find specific places. hostels, etc.

I like the idea in principal of devising my own routes, but I've made a promise to my wife and son, that I will try to stay on main trails, going off alone on obscure routes can be potentially dodgy. At my age, falling, stroke or other illness, even in the UK on some of the routes I've hiked, you could be flat on your back for days (and dead to boot) and no one would know that something may have happened to you.

I can offset much of this nowadays by starting my Wikiloc app when I start a route and then click it through to my wife's Skype address, or more people if I want to. She can then glance to see that I'm moving or not in real time. If for example, I did fall with a stroke she would at least know where I am and could direct any medics acordingly.

As I write this it can read a bit complicated, perhaps long winded as well, but it isn't at all, just a simple agreed safety habit and a 30 second routine.

BuzyG

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Re: I've become very attracted to my Wikiloc app.
« Reply #5 on: 19:30:41, 01/03/19 »
My son and I use Strava in much the same way as you describe. Great way to keep tabs on him on his adventures.  O0

GnP

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Re: I've become very attracted to my Wikiloc app.
« Reply #6 on: 19:47:21, 01/03/19 »


As I write this it can read a bit complicated, perhaps long winded as well, but it isn't at all, just a simple agreed safety habit and a 30 second routine.
Once you have a tried and tested system in place it becomes second nature O0
A night under silnylon. Doesn't have the same ring to it.

dave_p

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Re: I've become very attracted to my Wikiloc app.
« Reply #7 on: 09:44:34, 04/03/19 »
How is wikiloc different to Viewranger?

gunwharfman

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Re: I've become very attracted to my Wikiloc app.
« Reply #8 on: 13:05:50, 04/03/19 »
Sorry, I don't know, I've never tried Viewranger. The method could be the same I suppose? I only came across Wikiloc by accident, liked at and have continued to use it since. The only small problem I have with it, is the 'route colour' that it uses, as a red/green colourblind person for me it demands a bit of concentration to see it clearly, If it was yellow or blue I would have no trouble at all.

 

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