Tracking vs activity

I’m sure this is a very stupid question. But I’ve read the manual and seen some YouTube videos but still can’t figure it out. 

For my hikes I want to track how long I’ve been going, how far, and my route. Obviously! 

But to do this it seems I have to start ‘Tracking’ on the Mini 2 each and every time I start a hike and stop it when I finish. 

My confusion is that Tracking seems to be all about sharing the activity with friends and family over MapShare. I don’t understand why I have to do both at the same time. Is there no option to start an ‘Activity’ (aka hike) just for my own personal tracking. 

Also, I can see on the Mini display the time elapsed and distance for the hike. But where on earth do I see that on the Garmin Explore app? I can see when I follow a course/track how much distance is left and estimated time of arrival. But it seems like all the details on what you have done so far is only available on the Mini device itself.