An App Too Far

Today’s venture into the world of local news brought me into familiar territory. The mountain rescue services are once again complaining about unprepared walkers.

This time, it seems, people are happily skipping up the Lakeland Fells, armed only with a bar of Kendal Mint Cake and a smartphone. They’re depending on Google maps to navigate them to the top and using the smartphone’s flashlight app if they get benighted on the way down. Clearly these people are deluded and should invest in a decent Lakeland walking book or map.

But it’s a good story and one I have tackled before. A few years ago, I was commissioned by Cicerone to produce Take A Hike, a book of cartoons based around walking and the outdoors. Inspiration came in the form of the various equipment walkers were starting to use - from high tech waterproofs to trekking poles and GPS thingies.

Since then, technology has moved onto the humble mobile and inexperienced walkers are beginning to rely on it. Which is good as it gives me more material.

Below are the sketches for this week’s cartoon. You can see which was chosen by my esteemed editor by purchasing a copy of the Westmorland Gazette, or by firing up your smartphone and navigating to your way to my website on Thursday morning.