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cascadeclimber
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PostMon Feb 15, 2021 8:35 pm 
Randito wrote:
Software should be free right?
WTF? I didn't say it should be free. And, I PAID for the app under their terms. Thanks for putting words in my mouth.

If not now, when?
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Jeff List
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PostMon Feb 15, 2021 10:46 pm 
I have generally used Caltopo for planning and Backcountry Navigator (BCNav) in the field. (Also Gaia a little.) But Caltopo now has a slope map based on high-resolution lidar elevation data for many areas of the country, see the coverage here: https://caltopo.com/l/CM87 It is far superior for planning off-trail routes than what is available in BCNav. So I also started navigating in the field with the Caltopo app and the hi-res slope map pre-downloaded, which has been very useful. However, my early impressions of the Caltopo app is that it's not nearly at the level of BCNav or Gaia yet. Certainly the inability to pre-download maps to the SD card is a major drawback, and they said they have no intention of facilitating that. But when I really need a good slope map, I'm sure I'll be on the Caltopo app.

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puzzlr
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PostMon Feb 15, 2021 11:56 pm 
Downhill wrote:
At first, it would skip sections of my track, and then later my tracks were always a straight line between the TH and the destination
An Android update in the last year got a little more strict on permissions. I got a new phone and was conservative about what location permissions I granted. When Gaia had "only when I use the app" it had the behavior you describe -- it only tracked when I had the app out. Changing it to "all the time" made it work like it used to. I don't have an iPhone so I don't know what the interactions with permissions are on that OS.

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awilsondc
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PostTue Feb 16, 2021 7:26 am 
Adding to puzzlr's post above, GPS trackers will also show that kind of behavior (skipping segments or showing straight lines) if you have your phone on power saving mode. Make sure that is off too. I used to use Gaia and I really liked the interface. I paid for the app years ago but when they switched to subscription based services and wouldn't let me use the app anymore it pissed me off and I stopped using it. My Backcountry Navigator I paid for still works fine so I use that a lot, especially if I want to record a track. I'm surprised nobody has mentioned the peakbagger app. It's great for peak baggers. If you are going for a certain peak, you can download all the tracks and trip reports for that peak that are on peakbagger ahead of time, along with topo maps of the area and even the summitpost page if you want. It's really nice to have GPS tracks for a given peak easily accessible. I use this one the most for in field navigating. And, it's free. So, in the field I'm often using Backcountry navigator and peakbagger.

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Cyclopath
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PostTue Feb 16, 2021 10:27 am 
I use Gaia for planning and being able to see maps in the wild without service. They make it easy to get a planned route into my Garmin watch. I use the watch for "navigation."

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timberghost
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PostTue Feb 16, 2021 10:37 am 
cascadeclimber wrote:
Randito wrote:
Software should be free right?
WTF? I didn't say it should be free. And, I PAID for the app under their terms. Thanks for putting words in my mouth.
Not to worry that's something he likes to do quite often.

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call-151
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PostThu Feb 18, 2021 5:17 pm 
On the phone I'm using the Caltopo app, mostly for the hill slope shading. I think I have the $20/year subscription. I do have an old version of Gaia on the phone that I use sometimes, it works well. I have never used the Gaia web interface for planning anything. I do like the idea of having a moving topo map displaying on the car deck for logging road navigation, so I might subscribe to the Gaia app again once I upgrade to a deck that has Carplay. Good info in this thread, I didn't know about the Caltopo high res slope shading (hopefully it will come to Canada soon) or the Peakbagger app.

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Chief Joseph
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PostThu Feb 18, 2021 5:30 pm 
I like the US mountains, peaks, and hills app.

Go placidly amid the noise and waste, and remember what comfort there may be in owning a piece thereof.
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jstluise
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PostThu Feb 18, 2021 9:38 pm 
When I was still on the fence about leaving my dedicated GPS behind and relying only on my phone, I started playing around with Garmin Earthmate because it was included with my Inreach. Did the job and had a good selection of maps, but doing any sort of planning or getting tracks/routes on and off was absolutely horrible. The other annoying thing was that there was no filtering on tracks which meant you logged a point every second resulting in tracks with thousands of points. I don't use it anymore, but for big trips I do keep it as a backup even if it means going through the painstaking process of adding a route to it. After more confidence with just using my phone I ditched the dedicated GPS and used Gaia all last year. I thought it worked really well and I don't have any complaints. I can't speak to the web interface really, since I do all my planning in Caltopo and only use Gaia online to upload/download tracks and routes. Gaia online did seem kind of clunky (way easier than Earthmate), but I haven't spent a lot of time in it. I did play with the Caltopo app in the field a bit (free version). Seemed like if you had maps in your cache before the trip you could view them in the field no problem. I didn't rely on that since I had Gaia but I may give the paid version of Caltopo a try in the future. Syncing information between the web interface and the app is super easy and smooth. Lastly, I still use Garmin Basecamp (and before that MapSource) on the desktop to catalog all my trips because that's what I started with years ago when it was my only topo source. I don't use it for planning much anymore after I discovered Caltopo, but I still like the interface for cataloging. It's local, but I do have my database backed up to Dropbox. I did start saving trips in dedicated Caltopo maps because it's easier to share online with friends when planning or in a trip report. I would be interested to know what others use for cataloging trips. I can't be the only one that needs to hold onto and organize all that precious track data! biggrin.gif

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Riverside Laker
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PostThu Feb 18, 2021 11:10 pm 
I found the InReach mapping and navigating very awkward. Been using Strava for tracking but am a little disturbed how their heat maps might ruin solitude like other social media tend to. Well we’re gonna give CalTopo a good test on an upcoming trip.

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Cyclopath
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PostFri Feb 19, 2021 12:03 am 
I lost my phone skiing downtown on Saturday. Got it back Sunday night but I had already bought a new one by then, I need it for work. I'm on the fence about keeping our returning it. The screen is cracked on the old one, but it's an excellent, large screen, which is great for maps.
jstluise wrote:
I would be interested to know what others use for cataloging trips. I can't be the only one that needs to hold onto and organize all that precious track data! biggrin.gif
Garmin Connect is excellent for this. Most people just use Strava because it's more convenient unless you have a modern Garmin.

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FiveNines
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PostFri Feb 19, 2021 1:13 am 
Riverside Laker wrote:
Been using Strava for tracking but am a little disturbed how their heat maps might ruin solitude like other social media tend to.
You know, people are saying the Strava uploads your tracks to the Global heat map, even if your personal profile is private. Disgraceful! BOO heat maps!

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neek
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PostFri Feb 19, 2021 8:56 am 
FiveNines wrote:
You know, people are saying the Strava uploads your tracks to the Global heat map, even if your personal profile is private. Disgraceful! BOO heat maps!
People say lots of stuff. From the Heat Map splash screen:
Quote:
The heatmap shows 'heat' made by aggregated, public activities over the last two years.
If your profile is private by default, you can still mark an activity public, and it will show up on the heat map. That seems pretty reasonable to me. I really enjoy the heat map feature, although there certainly are pitfalls, such as the accidental revealing of military base layouts a few years ago. But if someone chooses to mark their data public, that's on them not the company.

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Cyclopath
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PostFri Feb 19, 2021 10:00 am 
I don't run the Strava app and I don't have auto push to Strava enabled, because in general there's no value for me in having everything on Strava. I manually upload rides in interesting places to help other cyclists find great places to ride via the heat map. It never even occurred to me to do the same for my fellow hikers, Strava is a cycling and running platform. I'll give it some thought though, people don't fall in love with the outdoors on their couch.

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Riverside Laker
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PostFri Feb 19, 2021 10:05 am 
Cyclopath wrote:
the old one, but it's an excellent, large screen, which is great for maps.
I also use an old phone for mapping.

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