I have been using topofusion for the last year or so to 'map my rides' (not to be confused with pimping my ride) and have really enjoyed downloading ride info and then creating a topo via the software to see the terrain and surrounding areas.
My formula usually involves downloading the Garmin Forerunner 305 info into the SportTracks software and then exporting the ride info into TopoFusion to generate a ride topo. A couple of recent ride topos from Zion look like:
The Gander ride on Gooseberry Mesa:
The road ride around Squall Hollow Rez by Hurricane, UT
You can also generate elevation profiles based on the GPS coordinates uploaded into TopoFusion that look a little something like:
Additional data points are provided like total elevation gain/loss, etc The actual elevation gain info seems to usually be over-stated but I am not sure if that is a smoothing factor that I need to select within the SW. None the less, the profile is usually on the money in the sense that you can see how a trail climbs/descends.
What is super cool about the TopoFusion SW is that you can click on a 3D image (like the first two images above) and you can manipulate the view like you were in Google Earth - such that you can move any direction on the compass and also up/down. It allows you to zoom in/out as you want too. The free version of the SW usually means there will be a couple of squares on the grid that say 'Demo' but you can usually find a view that does not show those squares as much. You can see those Demo squares in both topos above (for the first topo above, the logo is in the upper right corner and left hand side of the topo).
The two dimensional view is just like a satellite view from above the earth - the 3D flavor is definitely more fun to play around in though.
As you can tell from the ongoing vacation references, I am still basking in the sun...my mind still dreaming of the 70's desert sun!
My formula usually involves downloading the Garmin Forerunner 305 info into the SportTracks software and then exporting the ride info into TopoFusion to generate a ride topo. A couple of recent ride topos from Zion look like:
The Gander ride on Gooseberry Mesa:
What is super cool about the TopoFusion SW is that you can click on a 3D image (like the first two images above) and you can manipulate the view like you were in Google Earth - such that you can move any direction on the compass and also up/down. It allows you to zoom in/out as you want too. The free version of the SW usually means there will be a couple of squares on the grid that say 'Demo' but you can usually find a view that does not show those squares as much. You can see those Demo squares in both topos above (for the first topo above, the logo is in the upper right corner and left hand side of the topo).
The two dimensional view is just like a satellite view from above the earth - the 3D flavor is definitely more fun to play around in though.
As you can tell from the ongoing vacation references, I am still basking in the sun...my mind still dreaming of the 70's desert sun!
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