Making maps with Retrace


I love little surprises, especially when it comes to making maps!  

I've been fascinated with making good maps since we walked the Camino de Santiago in 2016. Maps of the Camino route in the most popular English-language guidebook are hand drawn, not to scale and very confusing. The whole idea of a map is to keep you from getting lost, but these maps do just the opposite.  I decided to write my own guidebook and put the emphasis on clear, concise maps that showed north where it's supposed to be - at the top of the page!

Of course, to do that in today's world meant I had to use the GPS on my phone.  I had a BlackBerry back then and I downloaded a GPS app called Retrace.  It only worked on BlackBerries, but it worked well. Then, half way through the Camino, the GPS server went down. I had already traced 400km and I didn't want to lose more than two weeks of work. In desperation, I emailed the developer and  asked what was wrong. To my shock and amazement, I actually got an email back!  The problem was quickly resolved!

I'm still using a BlackBerry (it's an Android now) and I still have Retrace. It's now available for Android and iPhone, and it still works like a charm. What's better, I recently learned more about the developer and his story.  Reid Holmes is an Associate Professor of Computer Science at UBC. In 2010, he was a professor at the University of Waterloo (home of the BlackBerry). He developed Retrace to show his students what a practical GPS app would look like.  He certainly achieved that goal with Retrace.  I love the simplicity of the app, and the fact that it doesn't ask you for personal information or demand that you pay an annual fee for "premium" features. 

Many of you have seen maps of our trails that are posted on the Island Trails website.  These maps were drawn using Retrace. I'll tell you more about the mapping process in our next Newsletter.

 



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