This is a very niche topic, but I’ve posted about physical gear lists often enough that I feel it’s only fair to talk about the digital prep I do before each thru-hike. Some people talk about hiking as a way to disconnect from electronics — and of course it’s very possible to go old-school — but I’ve found that the majority of thru-hikers use their phones as a dedicated and valuable part of their gear. I’m definitely one of them.

I try to prep my phone for hiking before I start. Cell service and wifi may be weak or absent once I’m on the trail, and besides, who wants to fight their phone to download things when they’re pouring all their energy into the hike itself?

So here it is. A non-exhaustive list of actions I take, or apps I download, to prep for being on trail.

• SPACE AND JUICE – I’m already cheating because this one is about physical gear. But if you’re using your phone for all the functions I list below, you will definitely want to consider both these things. I add a memory card to my phone for extra storage for my three trillion photos, and I bring a power bank to recharge my phone between towns. I also hike with my phone either off, or in airplane mode with the brightness turned all the way down, to conserve power. Checking messages and emails once a day is enough for me. Oh, and if the weather is cold, sleep with your phone! Nothing drains a battery like freezing temps.
• MAPS – Like most thru-hikers I know, I use the FarOut app (previously called Guthooks). The hiker comments on the app are one of the most valuable resources for knowing when an upcoming water source might be dry, or if a certain campsite is frequented by bears. I just download the section of trail I need ahead of time.
• VPN – I have a VPN on my phone for connecting to public wifi. You should, too.
• EBOOKS – My library offers a glorious number of books which can be checked out as ebooks. I download a few before I start, and then just check out new books as I need them. And by a few, I mean too many. What else am I supposed to do in the evenings after it gets dark?? Running out of books would be a tragedy.
• MUSIC/PODCASTS – I have a separate mp3 player as well because its battery lasts longer, but I also listen to a lot of playlists on my phone. (I use Spotify premium so I can download playlists and listen to them offline.)
• DIGITAL COPIES OF IMPORTANT DOCS – For me, this includes things like digital copies of my PCT permit, my covid vaccination card, and any other important info I may need to access from on trail. I usually make sure these docs are both downloaded as well as saved to the cloud. I also do a lot of writing on my phone, so I make sure to switch any relevant Google docs to offline access.
• TRAIL INFO LINKS – I create a little folder on my phone with links to websites with relevant trail info. Obviously this is not an offline resource, but it makes checking info much easier when everything’s all in one place. Depending on the trail, I add links for things like the Water Report, Fire Report, the page for trail closures, the trail’s Reddit page (I refuse to use Facebook, but most trails have Facebook pages as well), etc.
• GAMES WHICH CAN BE PLAYED OFFLINE – Occasionally a bad storm will hit and you’ll be stuck inside your tent for a zero day, waiting for white-out conditions to improve. When that happens, you might just want to be able to spend an hour playing Reversi or Sudoku.
• PASSWORDS – If you normally access certain sites from a desktop and use saved passwords, it can be useful to make sure and sign into any new apps you’ve downloaded for mobile access. No one wants to sit in a café and slog through a dozen password resets when you could be making better use of your precious internet time.
• PHOTO EDITING APPS – Sometimes I like to make photo collages for my blog. These apps are useful to have.
• SUBSCRIPTIONS TO DAILY NEWS EMAILS – I know this one isn’t for everyone. However, I often feel really disconnected from the rest of the world during a thru-hike. It’s a weird feeling to know that something major could be happening in the outside world, but with how fast news moves now, I might miss it entirely or just not know about it until days later. Most news organizations offer a daily morning email blast containing a handful of headlines to bring you up to speed, so instead of trying to endlessly scroll through social media during town days to catch up, this allows me to quickly catch up on any major news whenever I have cell service, and then move on.