200K-Mile Subaru Outback and Crosstrek Conquer Moab Trails to Prove You Don’t Need a Jeep
No trailer queens here, either, as both Subarus drove roughly 18 hours each way before and after. The post 200K-Mile Subaru Outback and Crosstrek Conquer Moab Trails to Prove You Don’t Need a Jeep appeared first on The Drive.
If you’re discouraged by huge 4x4s that never leave the pavement, then maybe this will give you a boost. There are people out there who take even the most unsuspecting vehicles off-road, and they don’t need 40-inch tires to do it. Milton Salguero and Carey Lando are proof, as those two just got back from a Moab four-wheeling trip where they tackled famous trails like Hell’s Revenge, Fins and Things, and Top of the World in their 200,000-mile Subarus.
Really.
You could argue that Subaru owners are more adventurous than most folks, but these two take that a step further. They’ve driven their Crosstrek and Outback where many Jeeps will never go, not because the cars are more capable but because they aren’t afraid. And there’s no animosity from the Seattle Subie drivers—they just like to go places.
“I think the Crosstrek rolled over 206,000 or 207,000 [miles] on the trip,” Salguero told me over the phone. “I got it when it had 49,000 miles in the summer of 2019. Within the first year, I lifted it and put tires on it. And here we are, four or five years later, and she’s definitely a little bit of a different beast than she used to be. But still kicking, still rocking, you know, having a lot of fun with it.”
I actually wrote about his Crosstrek and Lando’s Outback last year. They were some of the first Subies with “regeared” CVTs, a mod they made to help with low-speed rock crawling. That was thoroughly put to the test during their Moab trip, in which they not only conquered some serious obstacles but also drove 18 hours each way. Talk about tough.
First up was Hell’s Revenge. It’s a roughly 6.5-mile trail that the Bureau of Land Management says is “recommended for only very experienced drivers with advanced equipment.” Apparently, that means a couple of weekend warriors in their Subarus. Salguero notes that their cars “did that just fine, no problem,” as it’s mostly steep climbs on slick rock. He even drove Hell’s Revenge a few years back when his Crosstrek was closer to stock.
Anyone who’s been to Moab knows this trail, and while it’s not the most difficult, it’s still a real test.
Then it was time for Fins and Things, another place you’ll find crawling with Jeeps on any given day. It’s a 10-miler with lots of ups and downs as you overlook the La Sal Mountains. OnX Offroad rates it as a level six, but again, Salguero said it was “not too bad at all,” adding that the Subarus “did that no problem.”
It was a different story when they took on Top of the World. Of all the trails they tried, it was the trickiest, and Lando’s car wasn’t able to complete it. Salguero told me that her fourth-gen Outback suffers compared to his Crosstrek when it comes to approach angle. There’s a U-brace underneath that limits clearance pretty drastically—between two or three inches—although the Outback is running the same suspension lift as the Crosstrek. Nevertheless, Lando was able to wheel her car about 80% of the way up the trail.
To Salguero’s knowledge, his is the first Subaru to ever conquer Top of the World. It’s tough for me to verify that, but I can tell you I’ve never seen another one posed for the iconic photo.
It’s obvious that these two love wheeling anytime they get the chance. Salguero said they just got back from a trip to Johnson Valley in Southern California not too long ago, another long-distance trip from Washington state. “They’re just awesome, awesome vehicles to road trip with and then experience what nature has to offer, and all these awesome trails,” he said.
Whether it’s pop country or Japanese anime soundtracks blasting through the speakers, you can find Salguero and Lando cruisin’ across the West. Heck, you might find them anywhere in the country because to them, mileage is only a number. I’ve got to give them massive props for doing what so many built 4×4 owners won’t, and that’s taking their rigs wherever they want.
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