The Scout handbook gives guidelines on how to plan for a hike. One thing you want to know or figure out is timing. How long to get to the trailhead? How long to hike? How long to get back home? Google maps will give you a great estimate of the time to get to or from the trail head and can even estimate on what day of the week and time you are planning for. But what do you do for planning on the time to take on the hike itself? A starting point is Naismith’s rule. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naismith%27s_rule
Here are some other websites to check for ideas on how to estimate the difficulty and duration of your intended hike.
https://www.nps.gov/shen/planyourvisit/how-to-determine-hiking-difficulty.htm
http://www.nwhiker.com/HikeEval.html
https://trailsnh.com/tools/hiking-time-calculator.php
How to track your hike on your smartphone.
There are several applications (apps) available to track your progress on a hike. I have used AllTrails and GaiaGPS both of these apps have a free version which allows you to track the route that you took (which is a great way to show how your hike went) Similarly, they let you see what to expect on your route from both a distance and elevation basis. The paid versions allow you to do more elaborate things like download maps and routes for use when the cell coverage is poor or non-existent. These apps can help you with the first class requirement of showing your track from beginning to end.
