Hail to the Hikermobile! It has served me well for many years now. It has gone many miles in search of adventures and trails and campsites. It is, like me, showing the wear and tear of the years. I have joked with folks saying that its stickers are now what’s mostly holding it together! It got its name from a custom-made license plate that Maggie gave me one Father’s Day.
The Hikermobile is a 2005 Ford Escape XLT with FWD. I got it when it had right at 100k miles on it. I’m sure it had been wrecked at some point, probably run through the auto auction so that it came to a used car lot in Lenoir City, TN. The paint job was not necessarily the best and certainly hasn’t improved. Its exterior is Golden Ash. I don’t know where they come up with names for automotive paint colors. It would be just as easy to say ‘tan.’ The interior is about the same color—cloth seats. The 60/40 back seat folds down or can be removed completely which has often been done for the sake of taking gear camping. It has been a serviceable vehicle. It’s never left me on the side of the road, although I did need to get some help to change a tire in Kentucky one time.
Makes me think it would have been good to have had a log of all the places it’s been. I know for sure that it’s been in Tennessee, Kentucky, North Carolina, Virginia, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Colorado, Arizona, Utah, Idaho, Wyoming, Montana, Kansas, Missouri, Ohio, Indiana, Michigan and Illinois. That’s 23 states—almost half the country. Pulled a camper through a bunch of those. Have camped in the Hikermobile in lots of those as well. I don’t have stickers for all those states—sort of wishing I had thought of that earlier in its life.
I do have lots of stickers from Tennessee State Parks. Here’s the list of Tennessee State Parks in which it’s served as camper and/or supply vehicle: Roan Mountain, Warrior’s Path, Davy Crockett Birthplace, Big Ridge, Cove Lake, Frozen Head, Harrison Bay, Hiwassee/Ocoee, Norris Dam, Red Clay, Burgess Falls, Cedars of Lebanon, Cumberland Mountain, Edgar Evins, Pickett, Fort Loudon, Indian Mountain, Booker T. Washington, Panther Creek, Seven Islands, and Savage Gulf. So that list has 21 parks in it.
While I wasn’t collecting stickers on a big camping trip out west, the Hikermobile did make it to numerous National Parks and sites: Gateway Arch, Mesa Verde, Four Corners, Grand Tetons, Yellowstone, and Rocky Mountain. I didn’t have a Parks Passport book for most of those either. Live and learn. It’s been all over the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
It towed a pop-up trailer all over the country without complaint. Scott and I did 17 states in about as many days. We had a tin of homemade cookies that lasted the whole time. We would each have two after each meal.
It towed a U-Haul north and south. Was almost home on a long drive down from Michigan when the trailer blew a tire and I had to wait for U-Haul to come get it fixed. One of those adventures in moving I always talk about.
Another time we were getting ready to move some stuff when I got to the U-Haul dealer and the lighting wouldn’t work. Luckily there was someone else there who had some experience and we took the wiring out and got it all hooked up to be legal. Put us way behind schedule, but again, always an adventure!
The roof rack has been well-used on numerous occasions. Lots of knots, shall we say. There’s a container of cordage that rides regularly in the back.
One thing I always enjoyed about the Hikermobile is that the lights would shut down after a few minutes so that it didn’t drain the battery. Cannot count the times that the doors/hatch stood open at camp while I was doing tasks. That happens less so these days since a Trash Panda (raccoon for those who do not know) got inside and swiped a dark chocolate bar and got away with it one night near Chattanooga.
It’s only got one fog lamp now. The other one got broken and my mechanic at the time was concerned about how much a replacement would cost. So he said it would be best to go to a junkyard and try to find one. Never deemed it important enough to put in that kind of time. I always sort of wished he had just ordered the part and fixed it.
Naturally at 20 years old there are a couple little dents and dings. The paint is wearing off from when the hood was replaced following its accident before I got it. Rust is starting to show—as in real rust, not me!
One other thing is that the only way to get in the Hikermobile is the key on the driver’s side door. It surely had an electric fob at some point in time, but I’ve always had to open it manually. Many are the times that I’ve been thankful that I never got hit on that side. Knock on wood!
It overheated on me on the way back from a camp back in June. I stopped to let it cool off. Being the Hikermobile I had several different water bottles that I could use to fill it up. I kept thinking of Briscoe Darling in his first appearance on the Andy Griffith show when he was filling his radiator at the memorial horse trough—“This machine is half-mad with thirst!” Got it to the mechanic who discovered a leaking coolant reservoir. He cautioned me that if it did it again, it could well be … you know, sometimes, they just go! I took the hint. It’s holding at the moment, but it’s also nearing the end of its run.
There’s a part of me that knows it may not be long now before the Hikermobile is ‘put out to pasture.’ Conventional wisdom says to trade or sell it while it’s still running. Emotions say that it’s been a good and faithful partner on more adventures than I can easily recount. Up and down hills and mountains, through green gaps and Rocky Mountain passes, down long stretches of Interstates, bouncing through dirt roads, finding the hard-to-find trailheads, moving furniture, hauling recycling, taking me on the journey of life for these last few years. There will be Hikermobile 2.0 at some point. Right now I’m relishing the last days of the original!
Character in the Making 