HikeArizona.COM

What kind of vehicles do you guys all drive when your going hiking? Im thinking about investing in a 4wd high clearance Jeep or something of the sort so I could get to some places where I definitely couldnt get to with what Im driving now (73 mustang):) I saw a Jeep Grand Cherokee today for $2600 and I was thinking about checking it out. What "hiking vehicle" is easiest to drive and which gets the best gas mileage (even though I know most wouldnt be too fuel efficient.)

Oh it's definitely there. Funny enough, the yellow hides scratches remarkably well... very difficult to actually photograph the scratches (I've tried.) The paint also seems to be rather thick on the FJ. Darn Japanese engineering!

Nice Toyota!!

Here's our HAZride. This gets us to the remote places we like to go, then we hike from there.

how are the repairs coming along?

joe bartels wrote:how are the repairs coming along?

If you are talking about the buggy, things are going along pretty smoothly. Hubby is a shade tree mechanic thank goodness, this should be up and running in a couple of weeks. It is major for some folks, but hubby already had a spare rear end, he will take the two and make one out of it. We have 10k miles on this thing already, and it's an '08. It gets used ALOT! I'm gonna miss it while it's down!

Thanks for asking!

You're right about the FJ not showing pinstripping, ours is covered.



This is my dream project though.....

The Yugo 4X4... ;)

The morning after my latest Trip. This is a Front Wheel Drive, not a 4x4. It pretended to be a 4x4 on this last Trip. The picture does not do it justice. There is mud on the Moonroof! Easily the dirtiest this Escape has ever been and I took this vehicle to it's limits on that Trip. The rule, "don't go down something unless you know you can get back up" applies to Vehicles too, as well as Hiking. I forgot that on this Trip. Nothing like "Rock Crawling" and trying to get back up a hill full of loose Rock with mud caked street tires!!! But somehow, the Escape did good and Chad didn't have to push.... It only took a few tries, but finally overcame a tough spot. Not too sure I'll follow Chad down a side road again..... The Escape handled 5 big Creek Crossings in great style.

I did however, probably put a nice "first" dent in my oil pan on this Trip. I'm amazed Paul Hubbard didn't "hear" it happen from his Campsite.... That one "hurt".....

For not having a 4x4, I am really liking this Escape so far. It has great clearance and seems to be pretty tough. Time will tell as I put more miles on it.....

Oil pans are highly overrated. Maybe not enviromentally friendly, but the oil is always fresh.
The Ford Escape as you say has great clearance and is a very good offroad vehicle.

Thoreau wrote:2007 Toyota FJ Cruiser. All that one ever needs =)

I think I recognize that ~road.. ..your 4/4/12 ?..
http://hikearizona.com/decoder.php?ZTN=2099

Always wanted an FJ. But always wanted a Wrangler to. Will have to settle for my 94 Silverado 4x4. Paint is shot so scratches are no big deal. Only have 95,000 original miles.

Outdoor Lover wrote: I took this vehicle to it's limits on that Trip. The rule, "don't go down something unless you know you can get back up" applies to Vehicles too, as well as Hiking.

Your comment remind me of my very first attempt in 1995 as a complete novice at trying "4-wheeling" :
There was (is no longer legal) a popular, scenic, remote, and very serious 4-wheel drive area in southern California known as "Los Coyotes Indian Reservation".. http://loscoyotes.info/id1.html (Letty also knows this place well). Prior-to 1995, I use to enjoy hiking in this Reservation but could never drive in far enough with a passenger vehicle to hike many remote areas. In 1995 I bought a lifted (with larger off-road tires) 4 cylinder 2 wheel drive Chevy Blazer thinking because it was lifted with larger tires that it would do anything .. My girlfriend at the time, my dog, and me with a pumpkin load of "pre-Camp Grasshopper" beginnings in tow, had plans to car camp and hike in a remote area of this Reservation that I had been itching to get back to for years and couldn't due to needing a capable 4WD vehicle. To make a long story short, we (three) started down a 45 degree 4WD road to my destination and as I went further down hill, I had a that maybe this steep downhill could be a bit much for going back up two days later.. so, before reaching the creek bottom, I turned it around just to see if we could make it back up hill.. well, we couldn't and we spent the next two days/nights in the front seat of my Chevy Blazer on a 45 degree angle awaiting a hopeful, nice 4-wheeler to show up and help winch us out.. which did eventually happen. It took two fully modified Jeeps with winches hooked to each other to pull me out of the spot I was bogged down in on this loose rocky 45 degree angle road. The really funny but most part of this story was that after these guys finally got us up hill and out, one of the old timers who owned one of the Jeeps noticed I had one of those Sports Chalet license plate holders that read "I had rather be Hiking". Before leaving as he was winching in his line, he looked at me before turning around to leave and said "I think that you had better stick with hiking.." ;)

Grasshopper wrote:

Thoreau wrote:2007 Toyota FJ Cruiser. All that one ever needs =)

I think I recognize that ~road.. ..your 4/4/12 ?..
http://hikearizona.com/decoder.php?ZTN=2099

Keen eye =) If memory serves, this was taken on the stepped-rocky area just before the big saddle.

@Grasshopper
Chad was in front, tossing some rocks out of the way to create less obstacle and prevent me from cutting a tire. I was afraid we were going to need those rocks to shore up the back tires. Couldn't understand why Chad wouldn't get in the vehicle or get behind me and start pushing..... From what Chad said, there was a lot of mud flying out the back end from the last creek crossing..... I got it figured out, but it's definitely time for a tire rotation....

Outdoor Lover wrote: I got it figured out, but it's definitely time for a tire rotation....

Check out my above photo. My second set of Goodyear Wrangler Silent Armor.
Had the first set for 60k tilll I got sick of looking at them. Kept one and that would be the spare on the back.
Look how much tread is left.

@Alston Neal
Unfortunately my budget will not allow me to replace these tires before their time. They only have 18,000 miles on them and still have alot of good tread left. (Although I'm trying... ) I just want to make sure that when I put beefier tires on it, that it doesn't affect my MPG too much. 24 MPG is pretty nice, even in town....Will probably stay with the same size, just for that reason....I have Michelins on it now, would like to go to Goodyears....

Yeah you got a good many miles ahead of you and you could always practice dropping your air pressure if you had to.
Amazing what street tires can do with 10 or 15 pounds less.

Alston Neal wrote:Amazing what street tires can do with 10 or 15 pounds less

Amen to that!! We got away with a lot in Baja just by dropping the tire pressure to about 12 lbs. We kept a small compressor to put things back to normal when we made it on to the pavement.

Gotta love my Ford Explorer Sportrac. Third (and best) Explorer that I have owned. Several of you have been around this critter. Rolled onto its side coming back from Cedar Mesa a few years ago. Got it turned right-side up, replaced the spare tire, and drove back to Page. Hard core.

@Rob del Desierto
Hey, I know that vehicle! Every once in a Blue Moon it leaves CG and actually makes the incredibly long trip to Phoenix to go for a Hike....

The SportTrac is why Ford never sold the crew-cab Ranger in North America. They didn't want to cannibalize sales on the higher-profit Explorer.

Too bad, I really liked the Ranger. My second one lasted 10 years and 160,000 very aggressive miles. How aggressive? Just about as aggressive as why my first one didn't last 10 years