I received a Nokia Lumia Icon from Verizon; all opinions are my own. #VZWBuzz 

Get outdoors with your Nokia Lumia Icon - Use apps to track where you're going and what you've seen. #VZWbuzz

As an avid hiker and outdoors man, I was excited to see what the new Nokia Lumia Icon smartphone could add to my outdoor life. The first thing I did was visit the Window’s App Store and download a set of apps that were in their “Outdoor Lovers” collection.

Possibly the most immediately useful application I found was the “WTA Trailblazer” app. This simple app lets you look up hikes withing Washington State by different categories such as dog-friendly or kid-friendly, and then it sorts the trail list by proximity to your current position. I have already scheduled some hikes to go explore these newly discovered trails in my area!

WTA Trailblazer App - find trails in Washington State, get weather, and more on your android smartphone.

Hiking with the Nokia Lumia Icon

During my weekend off, I set out to explore one of the WTA Trailblazer app’s recommended trails and I brought the Nokia Lumia Icon to see what it could add to my outdoor experience. Before setting off I activated another application from the Outdoor collection, this app is called “Route Tracker”, and as you may have guessed it tracks your hiking or biking route. This is great for people interested in the fitness aspects of hiking or trail running as it tracks total length of your trip as well as the elevation gained or lost.

Get outdoors with your Nokia Lumia Icon - Use apps to track where you're going and what you've seen. #VZWbuzz

I enjoyed having the Nokia Lumia Icon along on my hike. The size is perfect for slipping into my pocket and it weighs very little. It’s sturdy and I’m not worried about damaging it on the hike.

Nokia Lumia Icon – Camera

During my hike I was able also to take the Lumia Icon’s camera for a test spin. This is no normal smart phone camera, this was designed as a true photography tool, and it produces amazing results even from an amateur like myself.

Taking outdoor pics with the Nokia Lumia Icon Smartphone - a 20 Megapixel camera! #VZWbuzz

This camera, which contains a Carl Zeiss lens, shoots up to 20 megapixel photos. If it was your wish, you could print one of your shots as a wall print without losing any of the quality.

One of the best features of this camera suite is that it saves two copies of a photo every time you shoot. It saves a full size 20 megapixel version as well as an easily sharable 5 megapixel version, perfect for posting that summit shot to Facebook as soon as you find cellular service again!

Hiking with the Nokia Lumia Icon Smartphone -Great outdoor apps to track where you are and where you're going. ! #VZWbuzz

It will definitely be part of my go-to hiking gear from now on and I’m searching for more great apps to take with me. What apps do you use in the great outdoors?