New 2014 Xterra Owner- Icedragonmx's trip reports

[icedragonmx]

After a great visit with the Folks it was time to turn around and head East again. A short detour for some rock climbing south of Kamloops near Roche Lake and 4x4ing too then it was time for some heavy miles back to Winnipeg.

Roche Lake area for rock climbing and a bit of trails…A big thanks to Tess for the adventure invite here!

This is how rough you look after a full week and several thousand KM of driving and still more to go

Me on the wall doing 5.8 and trying 5.9's getting old and fat!

And more of the girls doing it right. The route are overhanging so tough to get back to the face when coming down!

Some sad goodbyes as my fearless rock guide and the gang were back for work on Monday and then on to trail running for me

And the drive back…

A cool item I passed in the Banff area

Then lots of kms again, with one more road side “camp by the Yoho park entrance. Too much gear/junk food!

A great trip with very little time wasted, every minute was playing or driving or visiting family and friends. Worth every Moment!!!!! The Xterra did great and handled it all with no problems. I just need to upgrade the off road recovery gear and I am ready for a real road trip adventure in true Expo style!

 

[wreckdiver1321]

Great looking Xterra, and a fun trip report. I was in Alberta this summer. What an amazing place.

 

[jhberria]

Wow. Just......wow. Great pictures and journey log, man. I've been looking at kayaks and canoes. I'll definitely have to consider the model you have.

 

[Glenn C]

Amazing trip reports man , we dont get xterras here in Ireland but I wish we did keep them coming man.

 

[icedragonmx]

Great looking Xterra, and a fun trip report. I was in Alberta this summer. What an amazing place.

You have some great pictures from that trip report. I have been to so many of those spots from the years prior!

jhberria- Thanks, the canoe did add a lot to the trip. Was so crazy being up against a glacier while it was making noise! Just watch out for pricing on the ultra light stuff! Ouch

Glenn C- Glad you can enjoy the trip reports from a far! Cheers!

 

[richard310]

Excellent and fun trip report! The lakes are really beautiful up there and it must have been pretty awesome to get up close to a glacier like that.

 

[nasko]

Sweet trip report. Cheers

 

[Trail Rated]

That is awesome man!

 

[icedragonmx]

Thanks guys. I need to get some better recover gear as I stepped down from two interesting "trails" because of the time/effort a self rescue would have taken. My upgrade are to include the following...

Warn Winch- https://www.warn.com/truck/winches/95xp-s_winch.shtml This would be the one that would fit the bumper and still be waterproof enough to survive my adventures.

Winch Bumper- http://www.shrockworks.com/2005-2015-Xterra-Front-Bumper-2nd-Generation-pr-16153.html My top pick that will survive a bump on rock and support the winch- Bumper with the center hoop and light guards and two clevis in a black powder coat.

MaxTrax- https://www.maxtrax.com.au/products Two sets of black maxtraxs MKII mats (only black so they can blend into the truck colors!)

Hand Winch times two - https://www.wyeth-scott.com/models.asp model number 3-35-A-SLT with the 35” of Amsteel Blue® Synthetic Rope and the long handles for each of the two

Still need to figure out a rear bumper for both a 33" MT and two jerry cans of fuel...

 

[Barrows]

Have you seen Maxterra's rear bumper? It is a great design. Your build is looking great and I have similar plans for my x.

http://i619.photobucket.com/albums/...s UXOC run 02282015/IMG_8504__zpsb7j8z38f.jpg

 

[icedragonmx]

Have you seen Maxterra's rear bumper? It is a great design. Your build is looking great and I have similar plans for my x.

http://i619.photobucket.com/albums/...s UXOC run 02282015/IMG_8504__zpsb7j8z38f.jpg

Thanks for the picture link. That looks to be the perfect solution for my needs! The scary part will be how much this all adds to the weight of the vehicle! Lol

 

[Allof75]

Great looking trip, and a great truck.

 

[skibum315]

Great stuff ... thanks for the pics.

I like the sounds of your immediate upgrade plans ... should add a lot to the truck. I'll second the vote for Maxterra's bumpers ... about the best thing going, right now - plus I think he'll ship to Canadialand, too.

 

[icedragonmx]

Had a fun little extra trip with a Pal in his newer stock jeep. Still working on Corrupting him proper! Lol I think mud tires are on order for him! Was fun to see the difference a good set of tires and a locker makes in the trails. I was happy to be able to try out the new navigation system that I got as well. A iPad Air 2 with approx 31.8 GB of maps downloaded combined with a Garmin Glo and the http://topomapsapp.com/ app installed. This will be a huge benefit when I start to wander farther off route in unknown areas. Wish I had this and some more serious recovery gear for the West Coast Trip!!!!! Very fast and accurate fun with good detail on the maps using the zoom function. Can also link maps together for longer views but accuracy may suffer if the maps do not align properly. (Flat maps and a round earth). Best to stay on the map your using for details on location etc. This app is highly recommended and worth the time to get.

The trip was great with two equal vehicles both running the same height and length and weight. We did have another reason to get out into the bigger areas too as we wanted to do a bit of shooting at longer ranges. 300y with the 22lrs on a steel plate, 620y with the 308 and a 8” plate and 920y+ with the 308 again. I did try walk the 22lr in at the 620y plate. Even with a high travel scope (31mils) and the holdover with the zoom dialed down it was a hard try. Still fun to try and worth the extra mag at distance, lol.

Posing for pics on the falls..

Fun in the mud with stock street tires, glad I have my MT's

A secondary trail with a rough ending that is beyond the Xterra's reach right now… Need to get my wish list of extras!

Needing sliders etc. for this stuff!

View from the lakeshore

Camping at the beach after a fun day.

Wake up to a view as always

Part two of the trip, shooting at distance. Had another adventurer show up to try his hand for the shooting part but he took off again shortly after so that he could get out of the hard part of the trail before it got dark the first night out. Will have to get him out for more even if the big Dodge 2500 Cummins suffered a bit on the way in. Pic of our 620 yard 8” target. Yes I got the coldbore first round hit on this.

Just need the right tools for the job. PGW Coyotes in 308-mines the green one

Trail/no trail, watch out for the depth!!!!

And on the way back to the main road

Heavy rains did do a job on the trail, deeper ravines than normal

Back on high ground, a fun trip!

I think after some mods for recovery another real trip in order!!! The question will be West or East coast style?

 

[tlin]

Toyota guy here - just wanted to check out what else is being driven out there. I recently saw a really nicely kitted-out Xterra on our way back from a family vacation in Mexico so had the bug to look over here and see "what's what" - yours is the first thread I read.

Great trip, great pics, great ride, great canoe.......and CONGRATS on getting done with that mortgage - AWESOME!