Last week, toward the end of our adventures in Arizona, my husband ran across a fabulous app that let him track and record our hikes: National Geographic AllTrails. He was bummed that we couldn’t backtrack to add our earlier hikes, but was pleased to record our time along the West Fork Oak Creek Trail in Sedona. For Mother’s Day, the boys and the beagle took me out to one of our favorite hometown trails, the Peninsula Trail at Harris Lake Community Park. And we added it to the database.

The best way to record your hikes into the system is through regular photographs with your phone. They act as weigh-points, and the GPS tracking helps to mark the path. It’s a fun way to remember where you’ve been. It’s also a cool way to learn a little while you’re at it.

For example, on the two trails we’ve added, here are the basic specs:

West Fork Oak Creek Trail: May 2, 2012
-  Distance: 4.82 miles
-  Elevation: 5,323 ft
-  Max Elevation: 5,406 ft
-  Elevation Gain: 201 ft
-  Elapsed Time: 3.23 hours
-  Average Speed: 1.49 mph
-  Top Speed: 3.68 mph

Harris Lake Park – Peninsula Trail: May 13, 2012
-  Distance: 4.84 miles
-  Elevation: 226 ft
-  Max Elevation: 258 ft
-  Elevation Gain: 69 ft
-  Elapsed Time: 2.26 hours
-  Average Speed: 2.14 mph
-  Top Speed: 4.72 mph

We were at a much higher altitude in Sedona, where the straight uphill climbs were sometimes slowed by my asthma, but in New Hill we had our easily distracted beagle in tow. I wish we could’ve recorded our hikes in Broken Arrow Canyon, the Grand Canyon, and Boynton Canyon — where the max elevation was sometimes over 6,000 feet, and our elevation gain was sometimes in the four-digit numbers.

So check it out. AllTrails is a great guide for new places!