Blauert on Outdoors: A new way to ID mountains – with smartphone apps

There are a few glorious days each year when the smog and clouds clear, leaving us with a jaw-dropping view of the snow-covered Sierra Nevada. It’s an absolutely beautiful sight.

A couple of years ago, I took photos of the mountains we can see from Merced and pieced them together into a 12-foot panorama. I then set about trying to find people who could help me identify them.

It proved to be a harder task than I expected, and although the landmarks on my photo eventually received several positive identifications, some tentative ones and a few guesses, the project remained incomplete until recently.

The key to completing the project was a new technology that can be used to identify just about any major ridge or peak – smartphone apps that can be easily installed and used on most phones.

If you find yourself asking, “What that mountain is over there?,” I highly recommend downloading two 2PEAK identification apps. Each represents a different approach to identifying geographical landmarks, and there are times when one may work better than the other, or when having both may be the best way to identify a challenging landmark.

The first one I tried was Peaks USA. You can download one state for free (including California), or buy the entire USA for only $2.99. The USA version includes 70,000 peaks and summits. Peaks USA works with your iPhone or iPad’s camera, displaying the name of each peak next to the peak on your phone’s screen.

Once you have lined up the scene to show the peaks you want to identify, you can take a screenshot to save the identification on your phone and later print it if you’re interested in trying to memorize the landmarks of our local horizon.

Once you’ve downloaded a state, it works offline when you don’t have cellphone service in the backcountry. So far, I’ve found it works best when you’re actually in the mountains or at least closer to them than when you’re staring east from Merced.

The other option is PeakFinder Earth. Instead of using the phone’s camera, PeakFinder provides clear outline images of the mountains that should be visible in the direction you point the phone. All you have to do is to match the outlines with the horizon. You can also screenshot the outlines.

I’ve taken screenshots of the entire skyline east of Merced and pieced it into a long panorama image. Like Peaks USA, PeakFinder works offline in the backcountry. Unlike Peaks USA, Android and Nokia versions are available.

Although the Apple App Store continues to list USA West and USA East versions, the Earth version is the most recent release and the best option to download. The Earth version includes more than 250,000 summits worldwide.

Neither app contains every prominent summit – especially in the foothills and lower mountains – but having both means you have two tools to use.

Overall, I like the format of Peaks USA the best, but I’ve found PeakFinder Earth to be more reliable – especially from farther away. Because they’re inexpensive, you can easily download and experiment with both if you have an iPhone. If you don’t, you won’t regret trying PeakFinder Earth.

My favorite local place to enjoy the panorama of the Sierra on clear days is the Lake Road bike path between Yosemite Avenue and Bellevue Road.

I’ll feature some recommendations for hiking apps in a few weeks. If you have a favorite hiking or navigational app, or if you have another app to recommend that identifies peaks and other landmarks, send me an email and let me know.

This story was originally published April 26, 2016 at 5:19 PM with the headline "Blauert on Outdoors: A new way to ID mountains – with smartphone apps."