Well, it’s wonderful how companies like Yelp and Google with their Maps feature help all of us smartphone users find what we’re looking for and that they use crowdsourcing to help us make safer decisions. But what happens when these tools mislead us or simply don’t give us the information we need? It seems to happen to me all the time.

No, I’m not mad, because I remember when I bought my first GPS unit for my motorhome. Most of the streets weren’t listed, just main roads and main roads, the data providers weren’t working together cohesively, even if platforms like ERSI had a great system. A few years later, the dotcom bubble burst, and it didn’t get better for a long time. Today, Google Maps is pretty good, but I’ve been having trouble with bike paths, hiking trails, and so on. Soon we are told that the interiors of government buildings will be mapped out too, we may never be lost again: a bright future, yes, but that future is not here yet.

There was an interesting article in the Albuquerque First Business Journal on October 23, 2013 titled; “Rocks, Rivers, Trails Get the Local Start-Up Yelp Treatment,” by Dan Mayfield, who noted; “Outdoor fans can now start visiting the hiking trails and kayaking creeks just like foodies visiting the restaurants on Yelp. PlanitMapper site is live with listings for biking trails , hiking, snow sports, kayaking and rock climbing in the state”.

This is really cool because not long ago, I was biking in the CA mountains and a couple of college girls stopped me on the way to ask if I knew where the “trailhead” was for a certain popular local trail. Well, I was on a 65-mile bike ride and had little idea where I was. They said Yelp gave them the wrong addresses, and I told them it hadn’t happened so it must be the other way around. They didn’t back down, so I guess they gave up.

I told them; “Yah, Yelp sucks”, and they said “no kidding” and then I told them; “Who made this road up anyway,” pointing to the winding road behind me and all the switchbacks going up about 1,400 feet in elevations, and said “Yeah right?!” Anyway, it turns out that Yelp was no help. So it’s a good thing they are fixing this issue with all the hiking trails, great start up idea, I hope they make this happen. There is still work to be done. Please consider all this and think about it.