High Sierra Topix

freestone wrote:We are going to Lake Louise and Jasper to check out the Canadian Rockies.

Flying into Calgary, driving to Banff, LL & Jasper along the Icefields parkway? Yeah, that's definitely too far to drive from Calif unless you're taking a month to drive around N America. We've done the fly in, drive & fly out up there 3 times over the last 12 years.

Helpful hint: if you have your own car (ie not on a tour bus), consider the time to drive over to Emerald lake. The turn-off is right after Lake Louise. According to Google, it's only 25 miles. LL, Emerald & Moraine (just south of LL) are the 3 (lake) crown jewels.

North of LL along the parkway is where some of the more spectacular peaks are located. If you have the time/inclination, take the time to walk over the Athabasca glacier. If the road up to Edith Cavell is open, definitely consider going up. You can hike right up to the base next to a glacial moraine:

Flying into Calgary, driving to Banff, LL & Jasper along the Icefields parkway?

Hobbes, yes that is exactly what we are doing, except for a sidetrip down to Lethbridge to visit family. Thank you for the Emerald Lake suggestion, that's exactly the kind of thing we like to do!

The answer is: Off-road 4x4 Motorhome

Sportsmobile:
Tiger Adventure Vehicles:
EarthRoamer:
More to come.

I wouldn't wish that ER1 move on anyone..

Global Expedition Vehicles:
Action Camper:
Ursa Minor:
JK Habitat:
Action Mobil:
And there are quite a few others. There are also off-road trailers that can be towed by a Jeep, which have fold out kitchens and sleeping quarters.

I liked the Action Mobil... Tom, which one do you own?

Nice to dream though, right up until the first service interval..

I had a Tiger for 2.5 years. We sold it so we'd have cash to renovate the house, sell, then move to WA state.

All those Sportsmobiles are built on E-350s that were upfitted to 4x4 with OEM equipment then given highly modified suspensions, skid plates, etc. They actually have kitchens, fridges, and bathrooms in them. Unfortunately, Ford quit making E-350s. They will still build one of those for you if you bring them a used vehicle to build it on. They now are building 4x4 motorhomes on Sprinter vans (which are unibody). These are a little less off road capable, but will still go 85% of the places people took the E-350s. They also build 2wd vehicles.

All the other vehicles I showed are built on stock 4x4 trucks or Jeeps with frames. Many of the vehicles' owners have started user forums similar to HST where they share info like we do here. Let me know if you want any links to user groups of manufacturer web pages.

Except for the Jeep based vehicles, the SMB E-350 vehicles are the most off-road capable.

well. Not RV's but, My friend and I in Junior/Senior year of college at Sac State we took our cars up and drove them a bit off road. If you've never seen a Triumph Spitfire or a Saab Sonnet hill climb on a 4wd trail, you're missing out. Crystal Basin. The Saab at one point, dropped it's leftrear into a hole. we both got out and went back; lifted the car and shifted it to the right. (It's a front wheel drive; 65% front/35% back).. It was fun back then.. now with wives, it's more a finesse thing.

I'm still voting hotel.

So, you're in WA now?

rlown wrote:So, you're in WA now?

No, renovating the house in Wilton so we can put it on the market.

When I was camping in Death Valley a couple of months ago, there was a couple who had something like the Ursa Minor set-up. A ladder connected to the roof tent. It looked pretty cool.