Jump to content

2020 Alpine Road Trip


Recommended Posts

Stunning scenery but the Vrsic Pass is a very dangerous road at certain times of the year because of avalanches 

300 Russian prisoners were killed while building it 1908

When we parked up for the last photo I got talking to a lovely old couple who were lighting a candle for their friend who was buried in his car along with his dog and a few climbers out hiking in the 90’s 

We’ve been up there and heard avalanches, sound is not something you forget quickly 😕

Today would’ve been perfect IB winter mountain driving weather, clear and cold but with dry roads and not much traffic 😎

I was really pining for mine

 

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...
  • 2 weeks later...

I've done the Gotthard pass late one night in my stripped out 964 without heat

Was quite an exciting drive as we did a lot of over taking

Don't think I've ever been so cold, I didn't warm up until late morning somewhere near Belgium

Seats were still comfy even after 23hrs of continuous driving

Link to comment
Share on other sites

You need to check out this guy's channel for many vids of Cayman GTS on a ton of passes in the Alps - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCW2JTcXSCsIImFuk0hrbVvA

 

PLEASE READ - forgive caps but, I am still waiting on a couple of replies for the last night accommodation at Relais de Ried.  I have till 31st to confirm numbers then you will need to book yourself at a higher room rate via booking.com etc.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Duncan - I got an email from Hotel Bergheimat yesterday re night of the 22nd.  They have your booking via booking.com and have connected that with our group.  I have your info for the last night near Colmar and have confirmed that with the hotel. I have an invoice for the group booking with 30% due in a few weeks, so will get that sent around to people soonish and work out payments.

You should have all the other contact details in the email I sent you, but shout if any difficulties.

Edited by Richard Bernau
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Repeating what I have emailed directly to you guys.  Please let me know if you don't have the email.
 
Here begins what can be the most frustrating part of the trip - getting everything working on the satnav!
 
First off, why not google maps and phones?  Because you are limited on waypoints in google maps and because this is how I have always done it.  Second, why no tomtom?  Because tomtom de-contented their satnavs in about 2013 so you can't plan offline and upload route files.  That may have changed at some point since and you can convert the gpx files to a tomtom format, but that's up to you.  Third, what if I have no garmin?  Buy one.  I have a model 2597 and used on eBay they are £40-60.  Option B, its possible you get it to work near enough on google maps on your phone. Felix did that in September and IIRC we had only a few times where his instruction was different to mine.  I would prefer we don't engineer in complication from the get go but satnav hiccups are very much part of the fun of a road trip.  But if you want to do that, then Felix is your man.
 
When I email the route files, here is what you need to do.  They will be saved in gpx format which is the garmin file format and there will be 2 files per day (am and pm).  Each route file has the hotel as a start or end point and has any coffee and/or lunch points as described in the written instructions as a waypoint, usually a carpark nearest to that point rather than the restaurant as car parking is not always obvious in places like Lech for example.  There are lots of other waypoints as the planning app otherwise takes you the fastest way. Bear with me.
 
You will need to connect your Garmin to a desktop/laptop with a USB cable.  A reputable brand cable works best   I have a Cannon and Nokia as well as the Garmin which work and a generic which doesn't.  Now is also a good time to update your map package via Garmin Express if your maps are way out of date.  But not essential.
 
Once connected, you can open the Garmin like any external drive from your desktop.  Once open just drag and drop or copy across the gpx files to the garmin.  It will have internal memory and also an SD card.  I put the files in both as I have a big-ish SD card with tons of memory (can't recall which drive is best).  Then wait for it to copy across.  They are tiny files sizes by modern media standards. 
 
Next, eject the Garmin correctly and connect it to a separate power source - I am using an apple wall charger for usb power.  Turn on the Garmin, select "Apps" and then select "Trip Planner".  At this point you may see nothing and think its all failed.  Leave it for an hour or even overnight and come back and by magic, all the route files should be there.  It has taken overnight for all files to appear in the past so be patient.  One pitfall is needing a larger SD memory card.  Mine was full one year requiring a quick purchase.
 
If I have done a good job labelling the files, they should be in daily order or there abouts and they have the start and end point in the title.  Fingers crossed.  Example, the first morning's route is titled "1a - Ulisbach to Lech", and the afternoon is "1b - Lech to Lermoos".  So you should have everything nicely in order.  Day 5 has just a single file and day 6 has IIRC 4 files as there are options.
 
If you then click on route 1a, you get a screen with a list of the waypoints and a summary with total distance and travel time.  You can also click on the "Map" button to see a map you can zoom into and a "Go!" button that starts the guidance.  If you miss a waypoint, the Garmin can annoyingly try to direct you back to that waypoint at which point you need to go back to this screen and start the guidance from the next waypoint.  Its not rocket science, but is quirky.  This usually happens if I have put a waypoint just off the road by accident and haven't fixed it before finalising the route.  It is really easy to do, but I am confident I have found all of these mistakes and corrected.  But there is always one.
 
Congrats if you have read to the end of this!   
Edited by Richard Bernau
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Correction - just realised there are 2 options on day 5, but each covers the whole day rather than split into am/pm.  Also, the file names are different from the names your Gamin will display.  Files names are formatted "1Day20..." while your Garmin will show "1a - ..." etc.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Correction 2 - the Option B for day 5 has the wrong name on the Garmin.  It is showing as "Leaving St Moritz...".  You can manually rename it if you select it within Trip Planner and then use the menu button top left and select "rename", then it will take its place in the right order.  Option B is the one that goes Julier, Albula, Fluela rather than just Albula.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

34 minutes ago, Busybee said:

Can any old Garmin be used? @sopor, How do you sort these onto a phone? 

It was a bit of a faff. I extracted the waypoints from each of RB's files, ran them through an excel spreadsheet to reformat them and create a set of hyperlinks that I stored in an Apple notes file. Each link was one of RB's waypoints and would open Waze with that destination. Every time a waypoint was reached I would need to go back to the Notes app and select the next hyperlink. Here's a sample hyperlink that works on an iphone https://www.waze.com/ul?ll=47.213295,10.145681&navigate=yes

The upsides:

  • saved me from buying another single use device and mounting and wiring it

the downsides:

  • a faff to set up
  • required manual selection of the next waypoint as a waypoint was reached
  • possible different routing between waypoints due to Waze and Garmin using different algorithms and Waze using realtime traffic data
  • did I mention it was a faff to set up?
  • you can't whinge at RB when something goes wrong 😂

There is an app and web service that is supposed to automate some of the in-car stuff. https://www.myrouteonline.com/ I found it cumbersome and I think it wouldn't let me start a route in the middle. So after a lunch stop where I stopped using the app and/or waze myrouteonline sort of fell down. Perhaps they have upgraded it. And it's not free for more than a perhaps 25 trial waypoints so that's a strike against it.

My advice is that if you plan to use the Garmin and you're not normally a Garmin user that you get some familiarity with it before the start of the trip so that you understand its quirks. I haven't yet decided what I'm going to do. Loads of time to procrastinate more. :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Garmin is a good platform for this kind of trip as its robust and simple.  It sucks onto the windscreen with a sucky mount and you double your incar powere with a cig lighter adapter so you can still charge your phone and you are good to go. Then when you decide to plan your own trip, Basecamp is as good as anything even though its not super intuitive or pretty - but it is free.

If its the hassle you don't like, I will buy another Garmin and do it all for you.  For a small fee. :) 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Afternoon chaps. I managed to pick up a Garmin Nuvi 2545 for £30 off Gumtree (Seemed to have a better selection / price compared to ebay).

I'm currently in the process of downloading the GPX files and have found that in order for the route files to appear on the satnav, you first need to remove any old files from the GPX folder. This maybe a fix if anyone is struggling to load the files.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Holly carp that was a pain in the behind.  Garmin Express and Base Camp don't like working together on a Mac and working out how to Get BaseCamp to talk to the devise is not easy. It doesn't appear as a division a Mac so no drag and drop.

Seems to have worked now OK after lots of huffing.  Didn't help At first I couldn't find where there trips were saved.  (you have to go to Apps and Trip Planner) Only worked that our by looking at the Doc's picture above!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...