So with the weather changing and the rain and occasional snow settling into the Pacific Northwest, it has come time to find our first adventure rig. So far we’ve been using the old family Honda Pilot for exploring but 2WD can be a little limiting. So we’ve decided to pursue our options for an adventure truck that can get us in and out of the mountains with ease while having plenty of room to keep all our gear and being decent on highways as well. I started thinking about the Jeep lineup but brand new is not in the cards for us and honestly not ideal as we’ll surely be getting it dirty and the occasional scratch.
To give a little background in what I’m planing on doing with the rig and the important features I’m looking for, lets take a look at where we’ve been. With Yacolt Burn State Park being within 30 minutes of the house, it tends to be our go to for shooting and exploring. There are plenty of heavily used logging roads throughout the park that aren’t an issue in good conditions. With the rain and snow heading our way though 4WD is a necessity. There are also plenty of rarely used roads and off-road trails throughout the park that require some more flexibility and ground clearance to get through. Also once we get out in the woods we need to have all the gear we could need whether it be firearms to go shooting, packs for some hiking, shovels and sleds to play in the snow, and always the standard survival gear. This leads us to an SUV with the enclosed backend instead of a truck. Jeep Wranglers, Cherokee’s, and Toyota 4Runners are very popular in this category but unfortunately there is a pretty large gap between the “newer” vehicles that are in good shape that are well above our price range and those that have already been used for this purpose which are usually in rough shape and not as reliable.
Enter the Hummer H3! The Hummer doesn’t seem to be nearly as popular as the others which definitely helps the cost but these trucks have been built for off-road. The smaller size makes them very nimble and maneuverable on the trail while having good ground clearance right from the factory. There are several packages to choose from over the years but two of the important factors for me have been the adventure package and possibly the Alpha model. The adventure package gives us some additional protection to the undercarriage but the main advantage is the locking rear differential on earlier model years and later years have locking front and rear differentials. Having the locker can certainly help get out of some sticky situations when in the backwoods and would be ideal to have. The Alpha package on the other hand is an upgraded engine, welcome V8! With the stock ’06 using the 3.5L I5 engine and subsequent years getting the 3.7L I5, the V8 brings a substantial amount of performance to the table.
I’ve determined that ideally I would like an ’09-10 Alpha with the adventure and luxury packages, however that would be driving up our price. With the ’06 being the first year in production and the slightly smaller engine, prices are definitely reasonable. I’ve narrowed my search down to ’06-07 with the adventure package, this should fit nicely into the budget. This leaves us with enough room to get leather seats with seat heaters which will help us stay a little cleaner and warmer.
So that’s enough of the planning and searching stage, it’s time to get out there and and get this party started. I’ll be back soon to fill you in on what I find and ultimately adding to the family soon.
The PNW Adventure Family 