A guide to exploring the Texas outdoors.
Lauren’s love for nature and hiking often came with the challenge of staying oriented on trails. Getting lost, especially when hiking alone, had become a significant barrier for her. While working on a project that created location-registered 'hand-drawn' festival maps, she realized the same concept could be applied to hiking. With so many beautifully detailed maps produced by park services, Lauren thought, "Why not combine those with technology to make them even more user-friendly?" This insight sparked the idea for the app – a tool designed to help hikers feel more confident while exploring trails – and aligned perfectly with Lauren's existing desire to learn how to build apps, motivating her to turn the concept into reality.
Katrina discovered Lauren’s post about the app in a Facebook hiking group and was instantly intrigued. Having grown up hiking and camping in the Pacific Northwest, Katrina had been exploring Texas State Parks since moving to the area in 2015. She has a passion for building tech projects that encourage people to stay active, and Lauren’s vision for the app deeply resonated with her. Determined to be part of the project, Katrina reached out to Lauren, and that marked the beginning of their collaboration.
