2017 Forester XT: Tiny overlander with big dreams

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escape_the_paradigm

escape_the_paradigm

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Figured I should start a build thread for my Forester before I do too many tings to it and not want to write it all up.
Here is my 2017 White Forester XT on the day I got it home:


Two weeks later and still with no plates and I took it on its first adventure through some back roads near Big Sur.


Started adding a few small things to make it a better adventure car: Yakima Load warrior basket, rockblox mud flaps and some rain guards.
Took another day trip up to Panoche hills and had a blast with the little car






Latest addition in preparation for its first overnight trip to the desert up near Fallon NV is an LED bar in the grill and a sleeping platfrom for 2.




Next on the list is a a Cb radio and hopefully a set of Primitive skid plates once I stop spending money on the trips instead.

Future Plans:
-Downsize to 17 inch wheels with 235/65/17 GeoLander A/T G015 tires
-Anderson 1.5" lift kit
-ARB 2000 Awning
-Curt class 3 hitch
-Full size spare tire solution
-Custom small front brush guard
 
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escape_the_paradigm

escape_the_paradigm

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theoutbackdream said:
Beautiful XT! Quite excited to see how your XT gets built!

Where did you go in Big Sur and Panoche Hills? I'm in the bay too. :)
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We drove through Panoche hills to New Idria which is an old abandoned mine.

Big Sur was closed due to forest fires so we too the Old Coast road which is a fire road that starts at HWY 1 right before Big Sur. It was cool to sit up there and watch the Fire Fighting Helos doing their pickups and drops.
 
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theoutbackdream

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escape_the_paradigm said:
We drove through Panoche hills to New Idria which is an old abandoned mine.

Big Sur was closed due to forest fires so we too the Old Coast road which is a fire road that starts at HWY 1 right before Big Sur. It was cool to sit up there and watch the Fire Fighting Helos doing their pickups and drops.
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Would you happen to have the route you took from Panoche Hills to New Idria? Sounds quite interesting, and that water crossing looks fun! Did you need any licenses or anything? I believe I read along time ago we need a license or gate key for New Idria..

Your image didn't look like Old Coast road. haha Have you went to Old Coast road recently? I went a few weeks back and it was closed because of the recent storms.... :/
 
escape_the_paradigm

escape_the_paradigm

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theoutbackdream said:
Would you happen to have the route you took from Panoche Hills to New Idria? Sounds quite interesting, and that water crossing looks fun! Did you need any licenses or anything? I believe I read along time ago we need a license or gate key for New Idria..

Your image didn't look like Old Coast road. haha Have you went to Old Coast road recently? I went a few weeks back and it was closed because of the recent storms.... :/
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Old Coast road was from last August.
Sadly I did not log my route through Panoche hills. But I did not need any key. I believe the gate does get closed during the summer season but is open most of the winter. I went in October.
 
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theoutbackdream

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escape_the_paradigm said:
Old Coast road was from last August.
Sadly I did not log my route through Panoche hills. But I did not need any key. I believe the gate does get closed during the summer season but is open most of the winter. I went in October.
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Darn. Was hoping if there was any update on old coast road.. Been wanting to go back there.

Glad to know that you didn't need a key and the gate may close during the summer. I might try to plan something out there.. :)
 
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escape_the_paradigm

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My ARB 2000 awning and Yakima shovel mount came just in time for my Mendocino National Forest trip so I spent Thursday making some brackets for the awning to mount it to the side of the Yakima Loadwarrior basket and than headed out to Mendocino to test the setup out.

Mendocino National Forest was amazing and we found a Camp site with the most amazing view.
Here are some photos from this weekends adventures:

Finally testing out new sleep platform with a 3 inch foam mattress:


The ARB awning has been a great addition to the setup. Love how fast it deploys.


Successful dutch oven pizza experiment:




And finally got to visit the Glass Beach at Fort Bragg. Its sad that people keep stripping this beach of all the glass.


Side note: the awning is much heavier than I though and it would have been much easier if I had a second pair of hands to install it, but some ratchet straps and carefully spaced towels helped get the awning in place.
 
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Steve

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escape_the_paradigm said:
but some ratchet straps and carefully spaced towels helped get the awning in place.
Click to expand...
That's exactly what I did, both with the Outback and then the 4Runner. Worked like a charm.

I find it funny that your photos, just like every one of mine with the awning deployed, have sunshine under the awning itself, and the shade way off yonder. :) Gotta get that good evening light.
 
escape_the_paradigm

escape_the_paradigm

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Steve said:
That's exactly what I did, both with the Outback and then the 4Runner. Worked like a charm.

I find it funny that your photos, just like every one of mine with the awning deployed, have sunshine under the awning itself, and the shade way off yonder. :) Gotta get that good evening light.
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Haha yep, it worked great during the day, but as it got cold in the evening we moved to the campfire anyways
 
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Young Satchel

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Great photos! Looks like a fun trip. I get so jealous of the west coast landscape sometimes.

My ARB 2000 just arrived Friday too! Excited to Install it along with the Fourtreks mounts I got from Steve.

When I lifted the tube to bring it inside it was waaaaay heavier than I expected. Maybe my wife will lend a hand with the install, otherwise it'll be ratchet straps for me too! Follow up question: how easy/hard is it to deploy with one set of hands? My 2 and 4 year olds are a wee bit too small to help me [emoji16]


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
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