eTrex 35T - Following Tracks

[Scott Fuller]

I laid out some tracks for a weekend hike in Basecamp and uploaded them to my new eTrex 35T. During the hike, I did not load the track and say "Go". I simply started hiking and the map showed me both my track as a walked and the loaded track. I could see if I was correctly following the planned track without actually loading it and pressing "Go". What is the difference if I were to load the track and press "Go"? Any advantage to doing that? Any insights appreciated. -Newb.

 

[Nuvi-Nebie]

Garmins use two types of file for different purposes, a Track is usually automatically generated by the GPS as it moves from location to location, it is a record of where you have been. A Route is generated in Basecamp (or on a GPS) by the user and is a record of where you want to go (in the future), as far as I am aware you can't 'go' to a Track, but you can 'go' to a Route

If you generate a Track in Basecsmp and download it to your GPS, it will be displayed as if it was recorded automatically by the GPS, the only difference is that a real recorded Track will have a time/date stamp for each point, whereas a user generated Track won't

 

[Scott Fuller]

I just walked a saved track and discovered a couple of things. If you follow the track by selecting it using the 'where to' magnifying glass from the hike profile screen, it does offer a "Go" button. I clicked that and it shows the track and my progress along it. No big deal. It does not offer off course warnings as with a route. I would really like to have that feature particularly when hiking in areas with little or no trail markers like Dolly Sods West Va. If you get off course, it can be a real pain. I'm now hunting for ways to convert a track, either actual or basecamp generated, to a route so I can get off course warnings.The problem with using Basecamp to generate a route is routes apparently do not use straight lines to connect the waypoints like track points. They rely on known roads or paths to connect the dots. If you are laying out a route in a wilderness area where there are no roads or paths, I don't see how that would work. Will continue to experiment. Thanks for your advice.

 

[Nuvi-Nebie]

There is an option in Basecamp i.e. right click on a Track and select 'Create Route From Selected Track', this takes the start and endpoints of the Track and auto routes a road 'trip' between the two, however if you re-draw the route by hand by clicking on all the points you want to be announced, you cay flag these points as 'Alert on Arrival' in Basecamp

Have a look at this thread on Garmin Routes :-
https://www.gps-forums.com/threads/garmin-routes.46540/