Geocaching Australia

Hi Guys,

I have just started to unlock the ability of the GPS (i have an etrex h), since buying the cable a few weeks ago.

I have been trying out expert GPS software, and have enjoyed it's feature where you can save a track you have just walked as a KMZ, and then view in google earth.

I have just hidden a few caches which require a decent walk in areas where no walking tracks exist, I also have plans for many more.

Am wondering it some would find it worthwhile if it were possible to download a kmz of a suggested route to the cache. I have been quite surprised at seeing the actual route I have taken, in comparison to the route I feel I have walked in my mind.

I am thinking of the ability to upload a kmz to GCA, and a link provided on the right hand side to it's location, on the caches page.

Forgive me if this ability does exist, I just havnt found it yet.

Cheers Gordo

Nothing like this exists ... at the moment.
If can shoot me a copy of your file I'll have a look and see whether not we can host something like this.

Good idea and I don't want to be a wet blanket however from a bushwalking perpective, if something unexpected happened and the GPSr went AWOL (especially off the beaten track, unsignposted, etc.) things could turn pear shaped. My 2c.

Great idea particularly for off-track walking. I have been to a couple of caches where the best approach route was not immediately obvious. With foreknowledge of the best way, I could have avoided some dangerous and uncomfortable bush bashing. As for the GPSr crashing, it is always a good idea to have a printed version. There are simple ways of printing a map with the route overlayed.

What a great idea, but I can just see cache owners getting upset about people sharing an "easy" way in when they wanted them to take a tougher way in.

I would love to see peoples tracks on an upload, it would be great to see peoples different approaches.

Big Matt and Shell wrote:What a great idea, but I can just see cache owners getting upset about people sharing an "easy" way in when they wanted them to take a tougher way in.

I would love to see peoples tracks on an upload, it would be great to see peoples different approaches.

As someone who usually finds the tough way, I think it would just be depressing

My two bob's worth: GEO-TRAIL!!

With everybody using basically the same path to GZ you would soon have a defined path leading to the cache. Potentially a better way to go would be to provide some key waypoints, at a significant tree, a saddle or a usable creek crossing to make the way in easier.

However, up there for thinking, keep the ideas coming.

Agreed on not using it to "be the path to follow", but instead a way to show someone on google earth a path taken, and perhaps a way to best approach the cache.

I have done a handful of caches where at times I have blindly followed the gps, and it has been quite an ordeal. If I had seen a map of a path taken, it would have been less of a scramble up and down some steep valleys.

I definitely wouldn't want everyone to be made to think they need to plod the same route, half the enjoyment I get is the sense of discovery while on these walks.

To get the kml file, I have been trying out the demo of http://www.expertgps.com/ software, where I first on the gps save a track, than upload it into the app. Here you can simply right click on the track and select export, and save as a kml.

Another interesting part of this is that in google earth, you can right click on the file and select "show elevation profile", and it shows the elevation change along the route. I thought that was pretty cool.

Cheers Gordo

Whilst it would be a handy feature, I can see what a path to a Z cache would look like now. Follow the path for 2km, and then look up, up a bit further, and just to the left Just as well Google Earth is in 3D.

sushilord wrote:My two bob's worth: GEO-TRAIL!!

With everybody using basically the same path to GZ you would soon have a defined path leading to the cache. Potentially a better way to go would be to provide some key waypoints, at a significant tree, a saddle or a usable creek crossing to make the way in easier.

However, up there for thinking, keep the ideas coming.

"Everybody" is probably 3 visitors a year with an off-track cache. Also, with gps variance, even with a route to follow, it would be unlikely for two cachers to follow the exact same path. Having said that, if a location is good enough to attract enough visitors to create a path, then maybe a path is justified.

If the idea to offer a kml to look at is a fizzer, what about the option to show a few waypoints, similar to the way you can on gc site, but in a way that is perhaps a bit more straightforward? I didn't really understand what all the different codes were for, and I couldn't use the code wp to list a waypoint because it is reserved for waypoints. Did I miss something there?

Cheers gordo

Hey, it's not a fizzer yet.

This is some background information I was after.

How did you create the file?
Can you load this back into your GPS so it can be followed as a track?
If we're going to allow kml files (which shouldn't be a problem), the question is whether the general population can create them, or download them to the GPS.

I haven't said anything so far, but for a cache that requires choosing a particular route to get into I would think it valuable. Whether it is just as a google earth file I can plot, an Oziexplorer file I can look at on the map, or a track file I can follow on the GPS. Of course I realise these overlap a lot as one can be converted to another quite easily.

I'm not suggesting this for sub(urban) caches where you need to find the right access point, but on ones that are a serious bushwalk from the nearest parking (which I know is the original intent of this topic). Some bush caches include good descriptions of what turns to use, others don't encouraging shortcuts that may either lead to environmental damage or personal injury. I think unless the owner has specifically asked for no hints that having a track file from someone who has said this was a good way they found in would be a valuable addition to the site, and possibly encourage those who may be a bit nervous about heading to a bush cache.

If something like this was to go ahead, perhaps GPX would be the better tracklog format as it's handled by almost all GPSrs without the need to convert anything

The comment on whether the cache owner wouldn't like any kml files uploaded is an interesting one.
What is the sentiment on that?
It defeats the purpose if the owner is the only one who could load a file as it's the finders who are marking the way.
Making the owner "approve" an upload is also annoying if as a finder I made a track and did all the work and then the owner disallowed the file from being shown.

More discussion is needed.