GPX to Topo!

Getting modern runkeeper gpx into old National Geographic Topo!

Overview

This page was written in October of 2018. I was (and still am) a big fan of National Geographic Topo! software. Unfortunately years ago National Geographic discontinued this product. I still consider it a better representation of hikes than say Google Earth or the topo overlay of Google Maps. The version of Topo! that I have is 4.2.6 from 2006. Does anyone have a newer version. Despite having a good visualization of hikes, getting data into the maps leaves something to be desired. This web page will go over how to do it as much as for me as for anyone else reading this page :-)

Runkeeper

For some time now I have been using smart phones for my gps unit. A number of years ago I took my Samsung S3 on a hike with phone and wireless off, and my Garmin. GPS is independent of the cell towers so you do not need phone signal or wireless to record tracks. The Samsung never lost track while the Garmin did. I am now at an Iphone 8. In both cases I use Runkeeper for my tracks. When the hike is done, the data is uploaded to runkeeper and you can then download a gpx file from their web site. This gpx file will load into Google Earth just fine. For the rest of this web page I will use a hike Marina and I did with the pups on Oct 19, 2018 in our "backyard".

In Google Earth, the hike looks like this from the gpx file:
Google Earth View

Here is the same gpx file imported into google maps with the "terrain" overlay:

The problem with the google maps contours is that the contours are faint and hard to read, and if you zoom in, they disappear altogether. Zooming in to the 9800 foot contour just to the left of the "Walking 10/19/118 10:45..." near the bottom left of the map:

google maps zoomed

For some reason the contours disappear completely. Not really acceptable.

Here is what the same gpx file looks like from Topo!:

topo1

and if I printed it out in black and white to carry with me on a hike:
topo1 black and white

In both cases I consider the Topo! much more readable than Google.
However, to get to this point requires a significant amount of work, which includes working around flaws in the Topo! program when it comes to "routes".

Getting Runkeeper GPX into Topo!

I first tried to just import the gpx file and this came up:

This is done by

Handhelds > Import from GPS or Txt Wizard:
import1

This brings up this window:
import2

After selecting the gpx file from Runkeeper to import, Topo! gives this error message:
import3

After taking some of my old Topo! files and exporting them to the GPX format, I figured out how to edit the Runkeeper GPX to be compatable.

Editing GPX

Here are the first few lines as Runkeeper generated:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<gpx
version="1.1"
creator="Runkeeper - http://www.runkeeper.com"
xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
xmlns="http://www.topografix.com/GPX/1/1"
xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.topografix.com/GPX/1/1 http://www.topografix.com/GPX/1/1/gpx.xsd"
xmlns:gpxtpx="http://www.garmin.com/xmlschemas/TrackPointExtension/v1">
<trk>
<name><![CDATA[Walking 10/19/18 10:45 am]]></name>
<time>2018-10-19T16:45:54Z</time>
<trkseg>
<trkpt lat="39.642540000" lon="-106.100764000"><ele>2847.5</ele><time>2018-10-19T16:45:54Z</time></trkpt>
<trkpt lat="39.642483000" lon="-106.100956000"><ele>2848.3</ele><time>2018-10-19T16:46:11Z</time></trkpt>
<trkpt lat="39.642468000" lon="-106.101074000"><ele>2849.0</ele><time>2018-10-19T16:46:27Z</time></trkpt>
<trkpt lat="39.642430000" lon="-106.101193000"><ele>2849.8</ele><time>2018-10-19T16:46:46Z</time></trkpt>
<trkpt lat="39.642384000" lon="-106.101304000"><ele>2850.5</ele><time>2018-10-19T16:46:58Z</time></trkpt>
<trkpt lat="39.642333000" lon="-106.101416000"><ele>2851.3</ele><time>2018-10-19T16:47:09Z</time></trkpt>
<trkpt lat="39.642315000" lon="-106.101533000"><ele>2852.7</ele><time>2018-10-19T16:47:19Z</time></trkpt>
<trkpt lat="39.642261000" lon="-106.101637000"><ele>2854.2</ele><time>2018-10-19T16:47:29Z</time></trkpt>
<trkpt lat="39.642207000" lon="-106.101733000"><ele>2855.6</ele><time>2018-10-19T16:47:37Z</time></trkpt>
<trkpt lat="39.642144000" lon="-106.101823000"><ele>2857.0</ele><time>2018-10-19T16:47:49Z</time></trkpt>
<trkpt lat="39.642075000" lon="-106.101898000"><ele>2858.3</ele><time>2018-10-19T16:48:07Z</time></trkpt>

The problem is that Topo! is looking for xml tags that are either waypoints or routes, not tracks This is from a Topo! export:

Waypoints first

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<gpx xmlns="http://www.topografix.com/GPX/1/1" version="1.1" creator="National Geographic Maps TOPO! 4.1"
     xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
     xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.topografix.com/GPX/1/1 http://www.topografix.com/GPX/1/1/gpx.xsd">
    <metadata>
        <bounds minlat="39.6370792388916" minlon="-106.1180678606033" maxlat="39.6556618213654" maxlon="-106.1017858982086"/>
    </metadata>
    <wpt lat="39.6556618213654" lon="-106.1161890029907">
        <ele>2919.690</ele>
        <time>2018-10-20T14:35:05Z</time>
        <name>X010</name>
    </wpt>
    <wpt lat="39.6545072793961" lon="-106.1154711246491">
        <ele>2938.890</ele>
        <time>2018-10-20T14:35:06Z</time>
        <name>X011</name>
    </wpt>

and the route second:
<rte>
        <number>1</number>
        <rtept lat="39.6556618213654" lon="-106.1161890029907">
            <ele>2919.690</ele>
            <time>2018-10-20T14:35:05Z</time>
            <name>X010</name>
        </rtept>
        <rtept lat="39.6545072793961" lon="-106.1154711246491">
            <ele>2938.890</ele>
            <time>2018-10-20T14:35:06Z</time>
            <name>X011</name>
        </rtept>
        <rtept lat="39.6533813476563" lon="-106.1149193048477">
            <ele>2950.470</ele>
            <time>2018-10-20T14:35:06Z</time>
            <name>X012</name>
        </rtept>

So I edited the Runkeeper GPX file to change tracks to routes:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<gpx
version="1.1"
creator="Runkeeper - http://www.runkeeper.com"
xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
xmlns="http://www.topografix.com/GPX/1/1"
xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.topografix.com/GPX/1/1 http://www.topografix.com/GPX/1/1/gpx.xsd"
xmlns:gpxtpx="http://www.garmin.com/xmlschemas/TrackPointExtension/v1">
<rte>
<name>PLACER</name>
<time>2018-10-19T16:45:54Z</time>
<number>1</number>
<rtept lat="39.642540000" lon="-106.100764000"><ele>2847.5</ele><time>2018-10-19T16:45:54Z</time></rtept>
<rtept lat="39.642483000" lon="-106.100956000"><ele>2848.3</ele><time>2018-10-19T16:46:11Z</time></rtept>
<rtept lat="39.642468000" lon="-106.101074000"><ele>2849.0</ele><time>2018-10-19T16:46:27Z</time></rtept>
<rtept lat="39.642430000" lon="-106.101193000"><ele>2849.8</ele><time>2018-10-19T16:46:46Z</time></rtept>
<rtept lat="39.642384000" lon="-106.101304000"><ele>2850.5</ele><time>2018-10-19T16:46:58Z</time></rtept>
<rtept lat="39.642333000" lon="-106.101416000"><ele>2851.3</ele><time>2018-10-19T16:47:09Z</time></rtept>
<rtept lat="39.642315000" lon="-106.101533000"><ele>2852.7</ele><time>2018-10-19T16:47:19Z</time></rtept>
<rtept lat="39.642261000" lon="-106.101637000"><ele>2854.2</ele><time>2018-10-19T16:47:29Z</time></rtept>
<rtept lat="39.642207000" lon="-106.101733000"><ele>2855.6</ele><time>2018-10-19T16:47:37Z</time></rtept>
<rtept lat="39.642144000" lon="-106.101823000"><ele>2857.0</ele><time>2018-10-19T16:47:49Z</time></rtept>
<rtept lat="39.642075000" lon="-106.101898000"><ele>2858.3</ele><time>2018-10-19T16:48:07Z</time></rtept>
<rtept lat="39.642055000" lon="-106.102015000"><ele>2859.5</ele><time>2018-10-19T16:48:22Z</time></rtept>
<rtept lat="39.642010000" lon="-106.102121000"><ele>2860.6</ele><time>2018-10-19T16:48:37Z</time></rtept>
<rtept lat="39.641972000" lon="-106.102232000"><ele>2861.8</ele><time>2018-10-19T16:48:49Z</time></rtept>
<rtept lat="39.641937000" lon="-106.102342000"><ele>2862.8</ele><time>2018-10-19T16:49:03Z</time></rtept>

At this point, Topo! can read the file:

It took each reading and assigned it a way point. In the view above I have Topo! showing just the names of the waypoints. Turning the names off, I get:

This is more readable but if you want to highlight with waypoints only a few features as in the picture at the top of the page, it can not be done.

Zooming in at 400% mag, you can see lines connecting each waypoint:

But I can not see a route per se that Topo! can use.
Even if you delete some waypoints so that the connecting line becomes longer like this:

the route itself does not appear to be clickable to build a profile. If you hide all the waypoints the map becomes completely empty.

So what I have found I have to do is to use the route tool to hand draw with the mouse a new route on top of the GPX route like this:

This is a bit tedious, but once done, you can delete all of the GPX waypoints then go back and add your own. In addition, you can get a profile and distance, and the export as a printed map looks like this:

The magnetic declination is somewhat out of date, according to the web it is more or less 8 degrees 41 minutes vs the map of 8 degrees 30 minutes.

If anyone with a better knowledge of Topo! than me reads this page and has suggestions, please send me an email (shown at the bottom of the page). If anyone has a later version of Topo! than the Ver 4.2.6 and would be willing to sell me the disks, also contact me below.

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This page last updated on October 20, 2018 by Don Samuels