My Phone's Unreliable Activity Measurements on a Hike

On a modest hike this past Saturday, I learned that my iPhone woefully undercounts elevation gain and recklessly overcounts distance covered. My ignorance of such matters reveals how long it’s been since I could even use the word “hike” instead of “walk.” My phone’s measurements have long been useful on walks. I confirmed that again on Friday when my distance matched up with trail signage during a four mile excursion. There was enough uphill on that to make me work, but the elevation gain did not change the length and regularity of my strides. Saturday was different. The overcounted distance flustered tired me because I was making invalid assumptions about where I was. If the hike had been longer or the weather had changed, that could have been unsafe. The next time I hike, I could try out something like AllTrails. But I’m leaning much more toward a trail guide and map. I used to enjoy that process. And it’s good to read trail route descriptions beforehand anyway in order to make…