Logged 800 miles in the 4R over the last 4 days. We took a trip to the Michigan Upper Peninsula to try dog sledding, snow shoe hiking, and exploring ice caves. Pics below (not of the truck, it's filthy), but this thread is for the adventures anyway.
First, the truck.
This was my first time driving it on the highway. I was really pleasantly surprised by the power and overall performance. It's surprisingly eager to downshift for a 5 speed auto, and the broad torque curve makes passing pretty easy. I also crested 1k miles and floored it for the first time, surprisingly
adequate. So incredibly adequate for the type of driving we do. Towing might not suck as much as I assumed, but TBD. I found the truck to be remarkably comfortable and a great road trip companion. Wind/road noise is definitely there, but nowhere near JL/JT levels. Fixed roof is the way to go for something like this IMO. The computer claimed it got 18.9 MPG for the entire trip. Most of the miles speed was around 70mph, with 4x4 on lower speeds and blasting through snow. Better than I expected, but I didn't hand calc it because
But really, this trip was enabled 100% by the truck. What?
It's a beast.. It snows FEET at a time in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Most of the place is nothing. No stores. Barely any hotels. No civilization really. They barely plow the streets, so most people are cruising around in 4x4's. LOTS of Toyotas, and when I asked a local about that he said "we don't have a lot of money, so when we buy something, it needs to last a long fucking time. Toyota and Honda all the way".
This is not Trumplandia, in fact most people don't talk politics or vote. They like living in a remote location and just care about maintaining their way of life. Incredible tenacity to survive, it was quite humbling and motivating to be hanging with these folks.
We stayed in a hotel built in 1890 by the railroad and moved a mile in 1925 when the railroad shut down after a mine closed. It was the only place to stay and restaurant within 40 miles. The first night there, it snowed a foot. We needed to drive 45 minutes from the inn to the dog sled kennels. They arranged a bus for us, but it got stuck on the way, we so our guide asked what vehicles we had and if we could drive ourselves. I told him we had a 4R and his eyes lit up. Questions about trim, specs, etc...they're apparently legendary up there. Two couples in our group had FWD Murican crossovers, and our guide driving a Tacoma suggested they ride with him and us. The dude was head over heels for our 4R, and he wasn't the only one. We took a couple and turns out the guy has been looking for an army green 4R for months but can't find one. I told him how we found ours and he wouldn't stop asking questions. He even asked to buy ours, but I declined. Non-stop 4R talk, I think the wives got sick of
It was hilarious how ZFG the truck was in deep snow. Like a foot deep wasn't even there. I followed the guide in his Tacoma, and he told me to try to knock down the route behind him to make it easier for folks in AWD vehicles behind us. No problem. Everyone got to the location without issue. The truck was truly in its element. 5/7
The adventure...
Dog sledding
The dogs are Alaskan Huskies. Not an AKC breed because they're only bread for size (small, 70 lbs max), energy, and longevity (they can live up to 17 years) rather than appearance. They all look different, but surprisingly small. Big dogs require big food according to the owners, so "real" sled dogs are smaller (40-60 lbs) but little workhorses. They LOVE cold weather and live outside 24/7. They've got barrels with straw inside to sleep in if needed. Quite amazing animals, we're in talks to take a retired one in the next few years possibly.
Me and my team:
We did a "short" 10 mile run through the trails. The dogs ran the entire time other than a 10 minute break 5 miles in where the picture of me was taken above. Amazing animals, amazing experience.
After, we drove 40 minutes in deep snow to get to Tahquamenon Falls State Park and snowshoed ON TOP of 4 feet of snow to get to the largest waterfall east of the Mississippi that isn't Niagra...
I've seen this in the summer, but not in the winter. We had a guide from the state Department of Natural Resources who took us through off trails to talk about wildlife, trees, and the falls. Apparently in some years, the ice build-up on the bottom can get tall enough to cover the falls, but water continues to flow underneath. It was 25 degrees, which was pretty warm relatively for the time of year and area. BTW, falls are brown/amber due to tanins from trees falling in the river and rotting. It's not dirty, it's actually extremely mineral rich.
The next day, we drove to check out Ice Caves. There's sandstone ledges that constantly leech ground water, and in the winter the ground water freezes and create caves...
Then we drove closer to lake Suprerior and found another water fall in Munising, MI:
Then we went to Lake Superior...
systems.
I got a Carvana quote on the 4R...
Mechanical shifting is 
a few first gen immigrant on DFD, resident turk, and ex nazi egg lover now driving a middle class mom mobile.
I didn't know and figured I'd save pages worth of "why is the truck so filthy" or "ZOMG there's an inch of ice/snow build up on the grille, you're lucky it didn't explode" comments.
Journey managed to make it without getting stuck. Dude clearly knew how to drive in the snow too, which helped.
was quite informative.
