This is probably a simple question to answer, but it is compounded by the near total lack of any functional documentation on the Garmin Explore app.
News flash to developers: most of your apps are not as intuitive as you think they are. Remember manuals? Those things that covered every feature of your software/hardware, so we could actually USE all the whistles and bells we paid for? Yeah, start putting them back in the effing box!
I am currently at my Mom's home in the Seattle area. In a week I'll be leaving for Sitka, AK. I'd like to load maps and plan routes for my hiking in that area, but the only maps the app will load are those for my current region.
I know there HAS to be a way to load maps for a region other than the one you're currently sitting in, but I have done about forty web searches and can't find it anywhere. As it sits, there seems to be no way to plan a trip properly using this software-- if I wanted to hike backcountry Tanzania, this seems to be set up to not let me look at any of the maps until I'm literally sitting in Tanzania. That is shortsighted; no one with any brains goes into the woods without a clear navigational plan.
So, who has the ELI5 explanation to talk me through this?
Thanks.
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EDIT: I have found the answer.
Apparently, if you wait long enough, the Garmin Explore app will download the entire North American map AND display it properly. For some reason, I was unable to load anything for Alaska-- every time I zoomed in it would go as blank as Joe Biden's face when you ask him who won the 2020 election. I tried it again today by manually zooming the map out from my current location, and then zooming it in to the location in which I'll soon be sitting and it suddenly worked. Explore then displayed properly, and I created a course in a few minutes as a test, which saved it to Garmin's "cloud", where I could grab it with my phone and then sync it to my Instinct.
The steps are as follows:
1. Click on Maps in Explore app.
2. Download regional maps for the location where you want to plan your route.
3. Wait.
4. Zoom OUT your regional map showing your CURRENT location.
5. Zoom IN to the region where you want to PLAN a route.
6. Draw the route as normal.
7. Save the route.
8. Sync to Instinct. (I assume this works for syncing to other devices as well.)
I hope this helps someone who may be encountering the same issues I was running into. This should really be covered in the documentation a little better. I mean, Garmin, if we can't navigate your software, how can we navigate with your devices?