Feature 01 · Trail observations
Log what you actually saw on the trail
An observation is the point of a journal. Log a sighting the moment it happens and Go Hike captures the context around it for you: where you were standing, what the weather was doing and how warm it was. Add a photo, rate how the moment felt, and note whether the path underfoot was dry, muddy or frankly a bog.
Wildlife · 11 °C · 54.5972, −3.1425
How an observation gets logged
Open the camera from the home screen
Observe is one of the four quick actions. If exactly one hike is in progress it is used straight away; if several are, you pick which one.
Take the photo, or pick one
Shoot in the app or choose from your library. A photo is optional — an entry with only a title and a note is still complete.
Say what it was
One of four categories, a title, and a note if you want one. The category is a single-choice chip row, so it is one tap.
Rate it and move on
A mood face and a star rating, both one tap. Your location, the weather and the temperature are already attached by the time you reach this step.
What you can do
- Four categories: wildlife, vegetation, view and trail condition
- Photos taken in the app or picked from your library
- Your location attached automatically, no typing
- Weather and temperature captured at the moment you log it
- A mood rating from rough to ecstatic, on a one-tap row
- Trail condition from dry and firm through muddy, rocky and icy
What an observation remembers
The last three are captured for you the moment you save. You never type a coordinate or a temperature.
| What | Detail |
|---|---|
| Title | What you saw, in a few words. Required. |
| Category | Wildlife, vegetation, view or trail condition. |
| Note | The bit you'll be glad you wrote down. |
| Photo | Taken in the app or picked from your library. |
| Rating | 1 to 5 stars. Tap again to clear. |
| Mood | Rough, okay, happy or ecstatic. |
| Underfoot | Dry & firm, muddy, wet, rocky, icy or overgrown. |
| Hike | The walk this belongs to, so you can find it again. |
| Where | Read from your phone automatically. |
| Weather | The conditions at that exact moment. |
| Temperature | How warm it was when you stopped to look. |
Common questions
What happens if I have no signal when I log something?
The observation saves normally. Your location comes from your phone's GPS, which needs no connection at all. Only the weather stamp needs the network, and an entry without one is still saved and still readable.
How many observations can one hike have?
As many as you want. They are ordered by the time you logged them, so a single hike reads back as the day it was.
Why is the weather saved onto each observation?
Because it is the context you forget first. A year later a photo of a valley does not tell you it was taken in light rain at 11 °C. The stamp does.