Show course during activity

I'm taking a multi-day hiking trip soon on the sort of trail that's not always easy to follow. I've made a course from a GPS track and I'd like to be able to reference it on the watch's map while recording a hiking activity, and to see where I am in relation to it.

Is the only way to do this through the "Navigation" app? I haven't yet seen much written about how to follow a course in the Fenix 5, and it seems that the method isn't quite the same as it was on previous models.

What I'm not interested in is having the watch alert me every time I'm off the course. Over a period of a few days that's going to become an annoyance. I'd just like to be able to see the course and where I am on it (or off it). This way, if I do happen to lose the trail, I can at least work out how to get back on it.

Any advice is appreciated. Thanks.

0 LeanMeanGreen13 over 8 years ago

I'm taking a multi-day hiking trip soon on the sort of trail that's not always easy to follow. I've made a course from a GPS track and I'd like to be able to reference it on the watch's map while recording a hiking activity, and to see where I am in relation to it.

Is the only way to do this through the "Navigation" app? I haven't yet seen much written about how to follow a course in the Fenix 5, and it seems that the method isn't quite the same as it was on previous models.

What I'm not interested in is having the watch alert me every time I'm off the course. Over a period of a few days that's going to become an annoyance. I'd just like to be able to see the course and where I am on it (or off it). This way, if I do happen to lose the trail, I can at least work out how to get back on it.

Any advice is appreciated. Thanks.

You can use any app to navigate a course "gpx track," not just the nav app. In your case, set up the hiking app they way you want with the data screens.

To begin, prep the hiking app by selecting but not starting the activity.
Press and hold the settings button "up."
After entering the settings while in the hike app follow: navigation, courses, select your course, do course.
now you can start your hiking activity if you have a gps lock.

0 TheOzmanRunneth over 8 years ago

Thanks for the very detailed reply - it's an enormous help. Not sure why I wasn't aware of how to do this, but now I know.

It seems that the "off course" alerts still come though. Is there some way of turning these off? Having the watch buzz every time it thinks I'm off course (when it's more likely that the GPS accuracy or the course is slightly off) is pretty annoying.

Thanks again for taking the time to respond. Much appreciated.

0 LeanMeanGreen13 over 8 years ago

Thanks for the very detailed reply - it's an enormous help. Not sure why I wasn't aware of how to do this, but now I know.

It seems that the "off course" alerts still come though. Is there some way of turning these off? Having the watch buzz every time it thinks I'm off course (when it's more likely that the GPS accuracy or the course is slightly off) is pretty annoying.

Thanks again for taking the time to respond. Much appreciated.

I'm not 100% but try:
Press and hold setting from the watch page then follow: settings, navigation, data screens, guide=off.

Let me know if that helps.

Not sure if that just keeps the turn directions from showing up, or stops the off course notifications, or does does something else entirely.

0 TheOzmanRunneth over 8 years ago

Unfortunately, all that seems to do is remove one of the screens during navigation (one that has a compass and headings). The on-course/off-course alerts remain.

Not sure if there's a way to request features, but it would be fantastic to be able to turn those alerts off.

0 Mauricepp over 7 years ago

I agree that it would be good to be able to turn those alerts off.

I have a workaround for you though, TheOzman: Insted of "Do Course", select "TracBack". No alerts, but the map still shows.

If you do this, the "distance remaining" shown while running will be wrong of course, as it will show the distance back to the start going backwards. To correct this, you would need to reverse the course direction on GC before transferring it to the watch.

0 SteveCRunner over 7 years ago

I just did this for St Cuthbert's way, St Oswald's way and Hadrian's wall in the UK in July. Following the track as a course while logging a trail run with the method suggested above worked perfectly. But these routes are each over a 100 km long. If the source of the course was originally someone's gps track then the total number of points if very large will cause Tracback to crash, so the workaround above will not work in some cases.

But anyway, the alerts can be turned off! It is somewhere in settings, I can't remember where exactly.

0 Former Member over 7 years ago

NEVER MIND... I figured it out. Just a matter of following LeanMean13's directions precisely.

i'm new owner of a Fenix 5. I tried LeanMean13's solution, but when I go start the activity, the course doesn't appear. I am a trail runner, so what I want is one screen to be the course (just like in navigation) and all the other running things (Pace, metronome, cadence, etc.). I also love the elevation screem so I know what elevation I got coming up. Do I need to add the navigation screen to my running activity?

0 anthonytee over 6 years ago

Nothing to add, but reading this was very helpful to me, so thanks guys!