I have been following a certain thread in GC.com for quite sometime now concerning having caches along a route being a new perk for GC.com members and they almost have all the bugs worked out and are ready to publish it very soon. I think this will be a great addition for those going on a trip and want to know about caches all along the route that they will be taking. Unfortunately for me it will be hard to use as I am on dialup and using Google Earth just takes too darn long to download but for those who are on high speed it will be a godsend. Here is the info that they have come up with and I am hoping that someone in here can test it out and see how it works for them.
We're still bug testing, but Raine is close to perfecting caches along a route. We already tested it with a small group and worked through most of the possible bugs and UI issues.
This is a short instruction on how you can create a route and generate a pocket query against it. Some points first:
1. This works anywhere in the world as long as you have a proper KML or GPX of routes/tracks.
2. We do not generate the routes themselves, but rely on outside tools like Mapsource and Google Earth to generate them.
3. However, we do plan to allow people to eventually click on a map to generate a route on the fly. I believe most will go the Google Earth route, however.
4. It only works with GPX 1.1 - not 1.0.
Here's the link:
http://www.geocaching.com/my/userroutes.aspx
1. Download/Install Google Earth (if you haven't already)
2. Click on the Directions tab in the upper left-hand corner of the page
3. Enter your start and end locations and click the button to generate your directions.
4. Scroll up the results with turns to the root (should have the start/end location)
5. Right click and choose "Save as"
6. Save as type (*.kml) and not (*kmz) which is the default.
7. Visit the geocaching link above.
8. Choose the tab "Upload GPX / KML"
9. Click Browse and find the file you saved from Google Earth
10. Click upload and after a short time it will show you the route in the window.
11. Check the box next to the name of your route and select the button "save selected routes." You can also click on preview to see it in the small map or double click on the route name to edit it before saving.
12. From here you can either click on the name to add more info, make it public, etc. Or you can create a pocket query with the "Create pocket query" link.
13. You should be able to follow the PQ creation process as it is similar to how it works using a point of origin.
We're looking for feedback, so have at it!
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Jeremy Irish
Groundspeak - The Language of Location ™