Mother Nature

Is There an App for That?

I traipsed through the buoyant Denali tundra, the wet slush hitting my rain-pants. A highly knowledgeable guide from Camp Denali explained the various mosses and lichens. I walked by a large, curious-looking mushroom.

“What’s that?” I asked my guide, suddenly alert. She confessed that fungi weren’t her forte. Hmm… If I had an Internet connection or 3G I could look it up right now, I thought, bursting my Alaskan wilderness bubble.

I’m not the only hiker who secretly fantasizes about holding up my phone and taking a picture of a flower to …