This article was originally published on Cache Up NB. It has been mirrored here for archive purposes only.
Like many other dedicated geocachers, I find myself occasionally going for a good cache run. These runs can be anything from a good hike along a nice trail, to a day driving around a particular area snagging as many as I can. As time passes though, it becomes harder to remember many of the places you have been. And in many cases, you might not realize exactly how far you really went when you were on that run. Thankfully, your GPS’s track can help you remember some of this.
Most modern day GPS units have a “track” feature. This feature uses the GPS’s location to mark a spot on a “track” to record where you have been, what time, and how fast you were travelling. The track is sometimes visible on your GPS’s map as an extra line that seems to be following you everywhere you go. These tracks serve as virtual “bread crumbs” for you to use to find your way back to any given point, or to simply see where you have gone. But once you’ve finished the cache run, what use is the track after that?
In the map above, you see my most recent cache run. I posted this track on GoBreadcrumbs. This particular site allows you to plug your GPS, and transfer you track data onto the website for you to see and manage. You can view all of the details about your track from the web interface. Further to that, if you have GPS-tagged photos or video, you can upload them with your track and the website will place the images and video in the proper spot along the track.
I was introduced to this website by evulc and have been using it to store some of my more memorable tracks. You can also make them publicly available so if you want to share where you have been, you can simply share the link to a particular track. I have been quite surprised by the length of some of my hikes after I have posted them here. It’s been a great way to work with my own track history.
I should also point out that I believe there are other websites and services similar to this, including some from Garmin I believe. But this was the one I was introduced to and I’ve found it quite useful.
