Re: [A/S] Mercedes ML 500 and a 34 foot Airstream

[Rick Kunath <k9ao@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

> 
> Hummers!  <snort> 1/2 ton, Chevy pickups in fancy suits.
> 

Actually, only about 10 percent of the parts are recycled from pickups. 
They really are different beasts all together.

I've got a 4WD Tahoe too, which *is* a recycled pickup parts and frame, 
and I couldn't follow the Hummer 500 feet on a good lot of the trails 
without needing to have it towed back to a dealer broken. There are 
trails where the Hummer couldn't follow the Jeep Wrangler Rubicon 
either, but not really so very many. I wouldn't think about taking the 
Tahoe on trails.

I camp as near to the area I want to explore as possible, then use the 
4WD to save several days of walking and get as deep into the back 
country as I can, hiking to the sights from there with day packs, 
camera, radios, GPS, etc.

But yes, I do scratch them (seldom), and break them (very seldom these 
days). But that's why I have them. The day I start to worry about using 
the hard-core vehicles on the trails, is when I'll cease to need them. 
If you've got to worry about paint scratches and broken parts, then 
4-wheeling isn't a good fit for your particular situation. I've been 
4-wheeling for over 40 years. Someday it'll get to be too much, but as 
long as I can hike, and still want to see the extreme beauty of the back 
country, I'll have a use for them. There is some simply amazing stuff to 
see way back of beyond. And, it's just too far to walk all the way. 
That's the draw for me. In my younger days it was testing the mechanical 
ability of a particular vehicle that interested me. These days, it's 
just a platform to get me where I want to go. I don't make getting to my 
destination any harder than it has to be, but I want to get there and 
back with a reasonable margin for safety.

That's where the A/S comes in with it's self sufficiency. I get as far 
back as I can on maintained roads, and use that as a base for further 
exploration, sometimes staying out overnight in the back country.

Rick Kunath