High Sierra Topix

Wouldn't be without one!
Got a 85 toyota pickup sitting on 35's for off road fun, then I use a 94 4runner, when I want a little more comfort ride, for the saline valley and death valley runs. With that said if you get one with manual hubs it's only 4 wheel when you lock it in, other wise it's 2 wd.(just like a car). Thats when I lived in pasadena,ca

But must admit since moving to the blue ridge mtns, I have bought a toyota corolla (still own the 4x4's) for the gas miles, when it's 15 miles to town it pays for it's self LOL

For driving nearly everywhere we have a Nissan Sentra and a Honda Civic. The '92 Pathfinder stays under wraps unless I am sure we will be driving some rough dirt roads. I see no need to use twice as much gas per mile as either of the other two unless I have to. In the line of geologic field work I commonly have to drive some rough road, but the most frequent use of both the high clearance capability and the 4WD comes in taking some hiking distance off to various destinations. In years past this was mostly northern Sierra and I80 country stuff, most of which barely calls for 4-low, but we use it a lot in the Hwy 168 backcountry where there are lots of jeep trails, most of which are far beyond my capability. Given that my vehicle is unmodified with highway tires, I stay away from super hairy stuff (ie Roger Mitchell Class 4 and above) but I will do standard 4WD class 3 with moderate frequency (4WD Class 3 will look and feel totally gnarley to someone who has never seen a vehicle do that sort of thing before). Some years I do a whole lot, such as the summer of 2009 when it seemed as if I was 4 wheeling nearly every week. Some years I hardly do any 4 wheeling, such as 2010, when I shifted into 4wheel low for a grand total of about 1/4 mile the entire summer (and this was probably a stretch I could have done in 2WD--but I just wanted to take it easier on the vehicle). I have friends and students who do serious 4 wheeling as an end in itself. I cannot say I share that passion. I see 4 wheeling as a way to reduce the hiking distance to a lake for me or me and my family. Like many who have done a lot of this, I do take my technique very seriously and try to negotiate the tough spots with the minimum of 'errors'.

Unlike a lot of us, I have only one car to choose from. Even though the number of times I've actually needed the AWD are few and far between, I'm very glad I have a Forester for whenever they might come up. Plus, the Forester was dirt cheap and I can sleep in it

I've always owned a 4WD/AWD vehicle...city or no city. My first car, in 1978, was a Subaru and we haven't been without a Subaru since. The '85 Subaru took us a lot of places and was retired at 388,000+ miles, trading in for the new 2007 Outback. Have been keeping the Outback newish, with 44,000 miles and have been driving the '94 Chevy S10 Z71...recently 4wheeling while hunting for flowers at Anza Borrego last weekend. This workhorse pulled a 5th wheel trailer for it's first 9 years...even up and over Tioga and Sonora Passes. Have a 2003 Chevy Silverado Z71 for that job now. Until 2006, I was also driving a 1980 2WD Toyota SR5 pickup...everywhere. You wouldn't believe where I asked this truck to negotiate. But, alas, a rock falling on Tioga Pass took it out of duty.