How do I edit a Trail Segment in Google Earth?

[+pictom]

How do I edit a segment out of a KMZ (Google Earth) file?

I have created a "track" in my GPS by moving around all day (for a puzzle cache). The information that downloads to Google Earth from my GPS is all needed for my project. When I arrived at the exact location I needed my track to end, I turned off the GPS. I had the perfect trail for my project.

 

I then moved to a location with a computer to download the data into Google Earth and turned on the GPS. I was inside a building and did not realize it was going to track my new location, but it did. It added to the track, a segment that jumped from where I wanted the trail to end to where I turned on the computer and GPS.

 

I need to somehow eliminate the segment while at the same time maintaining all the original data from the GPS. I no longer have the original track in my GPS but still have the KMZ file on my desktop.

 

I could not find a way to edit the track on Google Earth. I was able to go into my GPS and save my trail and then I deleted the tracking on the GPS. I know this does not sound right but when I saved the track, it saved it in a way that is not the normal breadcrumbs. Rather than make my trail longer and longer every-time I turned on the GPS, I just saved a copy and deleted the original (deleted all tracking on my GPS). I was then able to edit the saved track on my GPS and all looked well.

 

BUT when I import this saved trail, the additional data is gone.

 

So I need a way to take off a segment of a KLZ file but maintain the time-stamp. The file is saved to my desktop now.

 

Can anyone help me out with this?

[+New Jersey TJ]

I don't have a KMZ to look at, but do you have the original .gpx from the track? If you do, you can open it in notepad and delete the unwanted entries. If you stare at it for a couple minutes, the structure of the file will become obvious.

[+chuck4564]

Sounds like you have jumped through many hoops so far that I wouldn't have done with my Garmin GPSmap 60CSx but that is water under the bridge now.

 

Google Earth doesn't allow editing of KMZ tracks or points but that doesn't mean there isn't a way to get it done. From Google Earth save the track as a KML file. Use GPS Visualizer to convert the KML (Google Earth Keyhole Markup Language) file to a gpx (GPX XML) file. There are more tools to edit gpx files than there are to edit KMZ files. I use MapSource to edit gpx files. One could also use something like wordpad to edit the gpx file but it isn't so straight forward about what needs to be deleted without the graphical feedback.

[+Viajero Perdido]

You can edit a track in MapSource. Right click, properties, then delete items from the list that pops up.

[+EScout]

In Google Earth see the name of your track on the left. Right click and save as a KML file.

Right click again and choose: Elevation Profile, which will be created at the bottom.

Move your mouse along the profile and watch the pointer on the tract until you get to the end of the track you want to save.

At that point, the elevation profile will show you the time traveled, distance traveled, speed at that point, and elevation. Note these.

 

Use GPS Visualizer to convert your KML to a GPX. Download, name and save this file. This should have the time and date stamps of each track point.

Drop this GPX into the program: "G7ToWin"

You will see your track in a spread sheet format with columns for time of day, distance, speed, and elevation, for each track point. Match the track point to those details that you noted earlier. This is your end point.

Click on this point, Shift-click on the last point, which will highlight the points to discard. Right click and choose "Delete Selected points." Then right click, Select All, Send Selected Track to File, and choose the format (KML, GPX) name and save.

[+pictom]

WOW! Simply amazing and THANKS. I now have the file I want.

 

NJ TJ, I saved the trail in my GPS but when I opened it in Google Earth, only the waypoints were included.

 

I looked at all the other instructions and wound up uploading the file to GPS Visualizer and converting it but before I downloaded it, the site gave me a chance to copy and past the "code," so I did and then edited out all the items (by time) not needed (I know enough about HTML to know a full tag and only deleted full tags) and saved as a KML file and it opens in Google Earth just fine. Now I just need to find a host site or I'll save the file with a jpg extension and just upload it to the cache page and instruct the cachers downloading it to change the extension first. But this may be expecting too much out of the puzzle solvers.

 

THANKS everyone for the solution!