Using Garmin eTrex30 GPS for planning your hikes

I own a Garmin eTrex 30 and it is a wonderful device. It has a rather large number of overwhelming features.

However the documentation of the product leaves much to be desired and a number of people out there are giving half baked advice.

In today's day and age you may wonder why am I talking about a GPS device when all smartphones will do this for me, the reason is simple. Smartphones batteries don't last as long and this device works on a standard AA cell.

In this and the upcoming blog I want to work on two basic tasks that anyone would need

• How do I plan a hike on eTrex30 so that I can go between start and end point of my hike
• How do I get back to my starting point in case I get lost

In this first of the two part series we will talk about getting maps for the device, plotting a route using google maps (you may get gpx files from alternate source), transferring it to the device and finally using the device to navigate to desired location.

While Garmin is a great device, it however doesn't come packed with the data you may need. It certainly will not have all the hikes you want to do or have maps of areas or countries you want to visit.

We will in this blog go through a step by step process to achieve our goals.

Software Installation

Garmin provides couple of  important softwares for there devices, These must be installed on your computer before any steps around map and gpx file installation may take place.
Please note that multiple blogs and videos suggest to directly copy files onto the Garmin device, however it is my advice as a professional not to do this. You should always use the recommended software to update any patch and transfer any map / routes.

Garmin has a number of softwares, however the three required software for our work are - 

• Garmin Express - This product allows you to keep the device hardware up to date. http://software.garmin.com/en-US/express.html
• Garmin MapInstall / Mapmanager-  This product will help you install a map of the desired area. https://www8.garmin.com/support/download_details.jsp?id=3291
• Garmin Basecamp - This will allow among many other features allow you to transfer routes/tracks to the device. http://www.garmin.com/en-US/shop/downloads/basecamp

These products are available for windows and Mac. I will not get into step by step installation of these products and assume you will be able to figure this out.

Difference between a map and a route - A map is an image that you will see which shows everything of interest as you walk around, while a route is a path you take on a map. The map is an image and the route is a line / curve on the map. A map lists all the interesting features in your vicinity for example a lake, while a route is a set of coordinates slapped together to get from point A to B. Maps and routes complement each other and one should have both the items present. Map is lay of the land.

Hardware Installation

Now this is not strictly required but I highly recommend installing a SD card on your device as the maps are very large files.

How to Download a map (for free) 

The next thing we need to do is download the map for our area of interest. You may choose to purchase a map or download these from http://garmin.openstreetmap.nl/

The easiest way would be to leave everything to default and select the country from the lists of predefined country.

Steps

1. Goto the url - http://garmin.openstreetmap.nl/
2. In the country drop down select the desired county or manually select the sections you want to download.
3. Click on download.
4. Select the file appropriate for your platform.
5. Unzip the downloaded file.

How transfer map onto software 

Now that we have the map we need to next install it to be made available on the Basecamp software.
The process is simple, all we need to do is to open the downloaded and unzipped gmap file using the map manager application.

1. Open Garmin Map manager
2. File -> Install Map 
3. Browse to the gmap file and select it
4. Click on install
5. The file be available on Garmin products.

At this stage the maps will be available on the basecamp and other softwares.

How to Create directions on google map

The next order of business would be to create a route / track that we may want to follow. Now you may choose not to create a route as a gpx file and with a map at hand use the where to / go to feature of the gps to get to a location. However we will proceed with an assumption that there is a well defined route that you might want to follow. Further the current and next step that allow creation of gpx file may be skipped if you have a ready to use gpx file.

1. Open the link maps.google.com
2. Click on Directions
   
   
3. Enter a starting point and a destination and click enter, ensure you have a proper map and you are using walking /cycle as your mode of transport based on activity at hand.
4. On the right pane you will observe that a map has been created.
5. Copy the URL in the browser to be used in the next step.

How to download the directions as gpx file

At this stage we are ready to download the direction as a gpx file, this format will allow us to copy the directions to any gps.

1. Open the link http://www.gpsvisualizer.com/convert_input
2. In output format select GPX
3. In the URL paste the URL of the google map as copied from pervious step.
4. Click on Convert and then from the next page download the file and rename it to a meaningful name.

At this stage we have all the data that is required to proceed and install the map / route on to the device.

How to transfer the directions into BaseCamp

To transfer the map and the route on to a device we need to ensure it is available on the base camp software. The downloaded map is available by default because it gets installed as a part of Garmin map manager, however the gpx needs to be explicitly transferred to the basecamp software.

1. Open Garmin Basecamp.
2. Change the activity to the correct activity.
3. In My Collection right click and create a new list with an appropriate name like - My Trek.  
4. Goto File-> Import into "My Trek" (This will be replaced name you chose for your trek).
5. Browse and select the gpx file downloaded in the previous step.  
6. Double click on track and change the color to red or any other bright color.  
7. Right click on the track and click on convert to route. 

How to transfer the map to device

At this stage we are ready to transfer the map and the route to the gps device which may then be used for navigation. We will first transfer the map to the device.

1. Plug the GPS device on to the computer
2. Open Garmin Map Install
3. Select the drive to install into, this should ideally be the sd card on the Garmin device and click on continue.
4. Select the maps from the maps you selected and then click on Send maps and the click confirm.
   
   
   
   
   
   
5.  It will take a while for the maps to be created on the device. 

How to transfer the gpx file to device

With a map transferred to the device one is ready to send a route and track. The Basecamp software is used for the same. We essentially use it to send the route and the track to the device

1. Open Garmin BaseCamp
2. Ensure that the map is selected, if not Click on Map -> Map name
3. In the list created previously right click on the trek and routes and then click on send to device.
4. In the device select the drive along with routes, tracks, maps and other items you may want to send.
5. The details will be copied to device.
   
   
   

This concludes transferring the details to the device. The device is now ready to be used for navigation.

How to start navigation

With the device ready for navigation, eject all the drives of the device and turn it on in an area with clear sky's.

Now all you need to do is go to the where to menu in your gps and go into the where to menu once there select route and click on the desired route.
We may check the same on map and when ready we may click on go.

The route is also accessible from trip planner option.

What if I don't have the map for the area I am going into but have a gpx file?

In case you get a gpx file but do not have the map of the area you may still use the said procedure to install the gpx file on the device, however you will not be having of all the benefits of having the map such as what is nearby such as a water source.

What if I have a great map but no gpx file?

In such a scenario you may use the Where to function of the GPS to search and get to a location.

What if I have coordinates of the location?

In such a scenario you may enter the coordinates of the location to get to your destination.

References:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VMv0yK7XCrY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LPq135Ev4r8
http://forums.groundspeak.com/GC/index.php?showtopic=6607
http://www8.garmin.com/learningcenter/on-the-trail/etrex/
http://forums.gpsreview.net/discussion/27596/what-gps-units-have-breadcrumbs-route-track-log
https://www.google.co.in/search?q=garmin+go+back+to+starting+point+of+trek+recording&oq=garmin+go+back+to+starting+point+of+trek+recording&aqs=chrome..69i57.16094j0j7&sourceid=chrome&es_sm=91&ie=UTF-8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H4OeuZpqN8U
http://www.gpsinformation.org/dale/tracklog.htm
https://www.google.co.in/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=garmin+etrex+tracklog+to+trek+back
http://www.gpsinformation.org/dale/tracklog.htm
http://www.expertgps.com/gps-receivers/Garmin-eTrex-10.asp
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Adxu4KpKxvU
http://forums.groundspeak.com/GC/index.php?showtopic=329549
http://www.rambler-info.org.uk/gps/howto/ht_rec_etrex10.htm
http://www.rambler-info.org.uk/gps/howto/index.htm
http://gpstracklog.com/2012/03/garmin-etrex-10-review.html
http://gpstracklog.com/buyers-guides/gps-for-hiking
http://gpstracklog.com/2011/10/garmin-etrex-20-review.html
http://forums.groundspeak.com/GC/index.php?showtopic=6607
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LPq135Ev4r8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Adxu4KpKxvU

A quick run up Nag Tibba

The start

So one fine day I get a message from Neeraj (our trek lead from Kedar Kantha peak) if we would like to accompany him on the next trek, Happy, Harveen and I quickly decide we wanted to be a part of it.

Nag Tibba is a relatively unknown peak at 10,000 feet some 100 Km from Dehradoon.

Day 1

Our journey began at New Delhi Railway Station where we took Nanda Devi Express to Dehradoon. At 'Doon we boarded our cabs and reached Pantwari. Pantwari our starting point is a small village from where the trek starts.

When we started it was looking like it would rain and I was in my full rain gear with gaiters and more however by the time we were on our first resting point I was sweating and needed to take them off

The trail was easy as we started walking towards the goat village, the journy was uneventful at the goat village we had our lunch roti's with aalu subzi

In another hour or so we were at the base camp where we were greeted with tents laid out around a panoramic view. The remainder of the day was uneventful, we had food played games and went to sleep.

The evening was cold.

Day 2

Next day started off lazily, we were up at around 7 AM and started off, I was given a choice to be in slower or faster group and I chose to be in the slower. As we started off most of our friends due to inexperience or otherwise  were left behind and three of us started walking up the trail.

We treked through open meadows where we experienced some rain.

The trail was well laid and mostly pine forests and we continued. Suddenly we saw some snow and were able to see the peak.

The peak had a flag and a small temple of Lord Shiva. We dashed up to the peak and saw the 360 panoramic view, soon it started to snow, we had experienced all four seasons in a span of 24 hours. The weather was not clear however within a span of 30 minutes our entire group arrived and after a few obligatory shots we started down and soon reached the camp.

The camp had almost been disassembled as the gear was supposed to be taken down, we had a quick lunch and goofed around for a while until marching orders were given.

By now my knee had started to trouble me and I had some sort of cramp in my right leg.
I was the first one to leave but had to slow down and in the end Neeraj was besides me as I walked down.

We soon reached our starting point and drove back to 'doon... bidding goodbye once again to the majestic peaks.