I can draw a track on an online topographic map taking advantage of the
landscape contours to perfectly plan the route along the crests and valleys.

I can then export the resulting hiking plan to a gpx file on the phone.

Once on the ground, what offline back country app can I use while trying to
reproduce that hike on the ground?

It would be nice if the app can talk to me while I'm hiking to tell me when
I stray off that planned gpx track?

If the app can't talk to me can it at least simultaneously show both routes?
[1] the complete planned route
[2] the actual route in progress

Or does it just show a compass to the desired track if I'm no longer on it?

On 12/4/2021 3:45 PM, WaltS48 wrote:
> I can draw a track on an online topographic map taking advantage of the
> landscape contours to perfectly plan the route along the crests and
> valleys.
>
> I can then export the resulting hiking plan to a gpx file on the phone.
>
> Once on the ground, what offline back country app can I use while trying to
> reproduce that hike on the ground?
>
> It would be nice if the app can talk to me while I'm hiking to tell me when
> I stray off that planned gpx track?
>
> If the app can't talk to me can it at least simultaneously show both
> routes?
> [1] the complete planned route
> [2] the actual route in progress
>
> Or does it just show a compass to the desired track if I'm no longer on it?

You can import a GPX file to Alltrails and as long as you've also
downloaded the Alltrails map for the area you would be able to see when
you're off-route. However it's not going to speak to you when you
deviate from the route.

On 04/12/2021 23:45, WaltS48 wrote:
> I can draw a track on an online topographic map taking advantage of the
> landscape contours to perfectly plan the route along the crests and
> valleys.
>
> I can then export the resulting hiking plan to a gpx file on the phone.
>
> Once on the ground, what offline back country app can I use while trying to
> reproduce that hike on the ground?
>
> It would be nice if the app can talk to me while I'm hiking to tell me when
> I stray off that planned gpx track?
>
> If the app can't talk to me can it at least simultaneously show both
> routes?
> [1] the complete planned route
> [2] the actual route in progress
>
> Or does it just show a compass to the desired track if I'm no longer on it?

You can now get SatMap functionality on Adroid devices without needing
to buy a dedicated SatMap device. It ain't free though.

See https://www.satmap.com/pages/xplorer-gps-app

--
Cheers,
Roger

On 12/5/2021 9:47 AM, Roger Mills wrote:
> On 04/12/2021 23:45, WaltS48 wrote:
>> I can draw a track on an online topographic map taking advantage of the
>> landscape contours to perfectly plan the route along the crests and
>> valleys.
>>
>> I can then export the resulting hiking plan to a gpx file on the phone.
>>
>> Once on the ground, what offline back country app can I use while
>> trying to
>> reproduce that hike on the ground?
>>
>> It would be nice if the app can talk to me while I'm hiking to tell me
>> when
>> I stray off that planned gpx track?
>>
>> If the app can't talk to me can it at least simultaneously show both
>> routes?
>> [1] the complete planned route
>> [2] the actual route in progress
>>
>> Or does it just show a compass to the desired track if I'm no longer
>> on it?
>
> You can now get SatMap functionality on Adroid devices without needing
> to buy a dedicated SatMap device. It ain't free though.
>
> See https://www.satmap.com/pages/xplorer-gps-app

OMG, I tried that app. The app installed okay but downloading the maps
was not possible. It would stop at 25%, or stop at 75% and then hang.

I tried on the iPhone too. The maps finished loading but the app would
not respond. Ads fill the bottom third of the screen and there's some
sort of bizarre payment system involving the purchase of tokens but no
way to buy tokens--you go to the "Buy Tokens" page and there's no way to
buy them and no pricing.

On 12/6/2021 12:16 AM, sms wrote:
>> You can now get SatMap functionality on Adroid devices without needing
>> to buy a dedicated SatMap device. It ain't free though.
>>
>> See https://www.satmap.com/pages/xplorer-gps-app
>
> OMG, I tried that app. The app installed okay but downloading the maps
> was not possible. It would stop at 25%, or stop at 75% and then hang.
>
> I tried on the iPhone too. The maps finished loading but the app would
> not respond. Ads fill the bottom third of the screen and there's some
> sort of bizarre payment system involving the purchase of tokens but no
> way to buy tokens--you go to the "Buy Tokens" page and there's no way to
> buy them and no pricing.

I tried it too even though it has a 0 rating in the google play store.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.satmap.xplorergps&hl=en_GB&gl=GB

That satmap.xplorergps app needs to log into an online account to work so it
doesn't meet the offline requirements that any back country app must meet.

Ideally you want the desired track to show up on the offline backcountry map
and then your current position to show up alongside that desired track on
the offline countour map.

Psyberia All-In-One Offline Maps was the best I found so far but it only
adds what it calls waypoints manually onto its free landscape contours map.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=net.psyberia.offlinemaps&hl=en_GB&gl=GB

It's too much work to add every waypoint to the Psyberia map one by one to
manually create a track. But once you do that then Psyberia works because it
can also display your current position along with all those added waypoints
on its offline contour map.

Instead I added the track gpx to caltopo which then output a geospatial pdf.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.caltopo.android&hl=en_GB&gl=GB

I used the offline Avenza Maps app to import that geospatial pdf containing
the drawn desired track. Avenza displays the track & the current position.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.Avenza&hl=en_GB&gl=GB

But it's not ideal to have to save a geospatial pdf out of caltopo for every
location that I will be hiking just to get a track & current position shown.

So I'm still looking for a backcountry contour map app which will read in a
gpx file and display that track along with the current position on the map.

Dana Sat, 4 Dec 2021 19:45:19 -0400, WaltS48 <schw01@invalid.net> napis'o:
> I can draw a track on an online topographic map taking advantage of the
> landscape contours to perfectly plan the route along the crests and valleys.
>
> I can then export the resulting hiking plan to a gpx file on the phone.
>
> Once on the ground, what offline back country app can I use while trying to
> reproduce that hike on the ground?
>
> It would be nice if the app can talk to me while I'm hiking to tell me when
> I stray off that planned gpx track?
>
> If the app can't talk to me can it at least simultaneously show both routes?
> [1] the complete planned route
> [2] the actual route in progress
>
> Or does it just show a compass to the desired track if I'm no longer on it?

https://osmand.net/features/trip-planning

On Saturday, December 4, 2021 at 3:45:19 PM, WaltS48 wrote:

> I can draw a track on an online topographic map taking advantage of the
> landscape contours to perfectly plan the route along the crests and valleys.
>
> I can then export the resulting hiking plan to a gpx file on the phone.
>
> Once on the ground, what offline back country app can I use while trying to
> reproduce that hike on the ground?
>
> It would be nice if the app can talk to me while I'm hiking to tell me when
> I stray off that planned gpx track?
>
> If the app can't talk to me can it at least simultaneously show both routes?
> [1] the complete planned route
> [2] the actual route in progress
>
> Or does it just show a compass to the desired track if I'm no longer on it?

All apps in the listing below are free and all work offline with no login
requirement and none have advertisements although some have pay-for addons.

The government has free geospacial pdfs which work offline in most nav apps.
https://www.sco.wisc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/using_geospatial_pdfs_v2.0.pdf

You can get free geospacial pdfs for offline use at the government site.
https://viewer.nationalmap.gov/launch/
https://viewer.nationalmap.gov/basic/?basemap=b1&category=histtopo,ustopo&title=Map%20View

Use free QGIS or trialware OziExplorer offline on Windows to stich pdfs.
https://qgis.org/en/site/forusers/download.html
http://www.oziexplorer.com/

If you need to convert coordinates and tracks offline use the free GPSBabel.
https://www.gpsbabel.org/download.html

The geospacial pdfs will also work offline on your phone with free nav apps.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=ca.abbro.androidmap
https://www.avenza.com/download/
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.custommapsapp.android
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=net.psyberia.offlinemaps
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=psyberia.alpinequest.free
https://www.locusmap.app/ (add BRouter or graphhopper for offline routing)
https://docs.locusmap.eu/doku.php?id=manual:faq:how_to_navigate_offline
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=btools.routingapp
https://www.graphhopper.com/

Some free apps work offline only if you previously cache map tiles first.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.atlogis.northamerica.free
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.generalmagic.magicearth

Nice to have a free offline compass to orient maps on your declination.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.kylecorry.trail_sense
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=ro.overwrite.azimuthcompass
https://f-droid.org/en/packages/com.vonglasow.michael.satstat/

These free offline location trackers will save gpx/kml/kmz files.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=net.osmtracker
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=eu.basicairdata.graziano.gpslogger
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.ilyabogdanovich.geotracker
https://f-droid.org/en/packages/de.dennisguse.opentracks/
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=mobi.maptrek.lite

Free offline sketching tools allow you to create tracks & graph profiles.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.wolfgangknecht.sketchatrack

Somtimes you just need a free offline waypoint finder to point the way.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.keuwl.gpswaypoints

Nikolaj Lazic <nlazicBEZ_OVOGA@mudrac.ffzg.hr> wrote:

> https://osmand.net/features/trip-planning

If your willing to do some trip planning there is no better way than this.
https://caltopo.com/

Click the "Start Mapping" button which takes you to the trip planner.
https://caltopo.com/map.html#ll=38.80547,-98.39355&z=5&b=mbt

Select any topographic map in the listing (or leave it at the default).
https://caltopo.com/map.html#ll=41.69329,-101.74869&z=15&b=t&o=r&n=0.25

Click the "Add > Marker" or "Add Line" to add your waypoint or track.
Doubleclick when you're done drawing the line.

Click the "Export" button to save kml or gpx or legacy garmin formats.
But best of all is you can print any desired area to a geo enabled PDF.

Click the "Printer" icon on the map itself to stretch out the area you want
to have printed to a geo enabled PDF file which contains all the map
features plus all your annotations (like added tracks and waypoints).

Once you've stretched out the area you want, click the "Generate PDF" button
which will save a geo enabled pdf on your computer and it will give you a
URL so that anyone can grab that geo enabled pdf any time in the future.

You can get their app if you want but any app reads geo enabled PDFs.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.caltopo.android

The geo enabled PDF is a custom map of your own creation that can be read
into any offline map application on your phone to follow that route.

Most offline map apps will show the map, the track, and your current
location so all you need to do is get your location dot on the track.

On Mon, 6 Dec 2021 16:39:30 -0400, WaltS48 wrote:

> So I'm still looking for a backcountry contour map app which will read in a
> gpx file and display that track along with the current position on the map.

I tried to find your psyberia app but my search found a different free and
$12 app from the same psyberia than the psyberia countour map app you said.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=psyberia.alpinequest.free
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=psyberia.alpinequest.full

On 12/7/2021 6:42 AM, Jerry wrote:
> On Mon, 6 Dec 2021 16:39:30 -0400, WaltS48 wrote:
>
>> So I'm still looking for a backcountry contour map app which will read in a
>> gpx file and display that track along with the current position on the map.
>
> I tried to find your psyberia app but my search found a different free and
> $12 app from the same psyberia than the psyberia countour map app you said.
>
> https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=psyberia.alpinequest.free
> https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=psyberia.alpinequest.full

I prefer the psyberia "All-In-One OfflineMaps" which is similar but not the
same as the $12 app. There is also "AlpineQuest Lite" app which is similar.

I don't know why Psyberia has three confusing similar apps on Google Play.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/developer?id=Psyberia&hl=en_GB&gl=GB

These are the free two apps from Psyberia which are almost the same app.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=net.psyberia.offlinemaps
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=psyberia.alpinequest.free

Each has a different web site but the apps seem to be almost the same.
https://www.offline-maps.net/
https://www.alpinequest.net/

There is a forum and a web site where you can ask these questions.
https://www.alpinequest.net/forum/

But I think I found the differences between the two free apps in their faq.
https://www.alpinequest.net/en/help/faq
http://www.alpinequest.net/compare

Their "All-In-One OfflineMaps" app can "store complete areas for offline
use" which the almost similar but different "AlpineQuest Lite" app can't do.
http://www.alpinequest.net/en/help/v2/maps/on-demand-store-area

And their "All-In-One OfflineMaps" app can "Add maps from the community".
http://www.alpinequest.net/en/help/v2/maps/on-demand-install

The "All-In-One" also can set waypoints which "AlpineQuest" doesn't do.
http://www.alpinequest.net/en/help/v2/landmarks/local-set-create#how_to_create_a_set_of_waypoints

The "All-In-One" has Details & Statistics which "Alpine Quest" doesn't do.
http://www.alpinequest.net/en/help/v2/landmarks/statistics

And the "All-In-One" has a routing feature to draw a path on a road.
http://www.alpinequest.net/en/help/v2/landmarks/auto-routing

About the only thing "Alpine Quest" has that "All-In-One" doesn't is the
ability to "Display AQM/PGD maps" which the "All-In-One app won't do.
http://www.alpinequest.net/en/help/v2/maps/file-based-select

The $12 "AlpineQuest Off-Road Explorer" does everything though.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=psyberia.alpinequest.full

Peter <occassionally-confused@nospam.co.uk> wrote:

> If your willing to do some trip planning there is no better way than this.
> https://caltopo.com/
>
> Click the "Start Mapping" button which takes you to the trip planner.

USGS is another solution for free united states geoenabled outdoor maps.
https://ngmdb.usgs.gov/topoview/viewer/#

Choose any area of the country to download official outdoor geoPDF, geoTIFF,
geoKMZ or geoJPEG topo map files of 250K, 100K, 63K, 48K, or 24K resolution
from the official united states outdoor mapping department.
https://ngmdb.usgs.gov/topoview/viewer/#12/43.8125/-110.6883

These gpsvisualizer maps are intended to supports all possible map formats.
https://www.gpsvisualizer.com/

Here's what they say about their many free outdoor maps at gpsvisualizer.

GPS Visualizer can read data files from many different sources, including
but not limited to: GPX (a standard format used with many devices and
programs, including Garmin's eTrex, GPSMAP, Oregon, Dakota, Colorado, & Nuvi
series), Google Earth (.kml/.kmz), Google Maps routes (URLs), FAI/IGC glider
logs, Fugawi (.trk/.wpt), Furuno, Garmin Fitness (.fit), Garmin Forerunner
(.xml/.hst/.tcx), Garmin MapSource/BaseCamp/HomePort (.gdb), Geocaching.com
(.loc), Google Sheets, iGO (.trk), Lowrance (.usr), Microsoft Excel
spreadsheets (.xls/.xlsx), NMEA 0183 data, OziExplorer (.plt/.wpt), Suunto
X9/X9i (.sdf), Timex Trainer, TomTom (.pgl), U-blox (.ubx), XML feeds, and
of course tab-delimited or comma-separated text.