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MILL SPRING – Hiking is one of the most popular activities in the area. Finding trails nearby to experience has now been made a little easier, thanks to an app developed by local businessman Anwar Timol of Mill Spring. 

The Hike Asheville app debuted in 2019 and includes 405 hikes in the region. Local hikers curate the popular app to give the best info about hiking in and around Polk County. It also features directions to hikes, trail maps, photos, and trail descriptions, and provides up-to-date weather info. It can even keep track of completed hikes.

Timol is known in the area for revitalizing the Mill Spring Agriculture Center, where he runs his communication and technology company, Cloudgre. A native of Brooklyn, he began programming computers in high school and has worked with numerous high-profile companies in healthcare and finance, managing their mission-critical systems. 

“Apps are fun to develop,” says Timol. “It allows for a lot of creative thinking and can be much less serious when you’re building something for fun. The first app I created was called AlzApp, and it’s geared toward caregivers of adults with Alzheimer’s.” 

The app was created to have a local feel, according to Timol. 

“I didn’t like the apps out there, and I knew what I wanted,” he says. “Since I had been developing a proprietary app for a client, I decided to make a hiking app that someone like me would actually use.”

The app doesn’t store or obtain any user data. It exists in the device with the only call out going to Google maps and a weather service that provides the weather forecast for the hike you’re looking for. Anwar is also in the process of adding video content.

“I named it Hike Asheville because folks from outside Western North Carolina often associate the area with Asheville, but some of my favorite hikes are in Polk County, such as Little Bradley Falls and Vaughn Creek,’ Timol explains.

The Hike Asheville app costs 99 cents and is available for download in the Apple Store and Google Play. It works on Apple, Android, Google, and other devices. To learn more about the app or Timol’s other technology services and products, visit hikeasheville.com or cloudogre.com.