I could try and rearrange all this info to make it look like I knew a lot about the Toyota Trekker, but since I was first introduced to these beauties from this post on Jalopnik, I’ll just repost it here. One day, I will be a subscriber to this magazine, but for now, the Subaru is doing just fine. Unreal:

Several years before the 4runner was introduced to the world an odd collaboration between Toyota and Winnebago produced a little known compact SUV conversion called the Trekker.

Production numbers vary depending on who you ask, but its generally agreed upon that somewhere between 1000 and 1500 Trekkers were produced between 1981 and 1983. 30 years later Trekkers are even rarer than when they were new which is why we were so intrigued to find a pristine example listed for sale on Ebay.

Trekkers were originally sold and marketed as Winnebagos. The motor home company received partially built Toyota trucks and sub-contracted out construction of the fiberglass body before completing final assembly. After final assembly they were available for order to Toyota dealers.

Exact Trekker history is sketchy at best and there are several different versions of the exact story of these trucks. Some point to Toyota dealers talking Winnebago into producing the trucks, while others suggest the company won the right to build the trucks directly from Toyota’s Japanese HQ.

Regardless of how it came about it’s clear from examining this very original 1981 example that conceptually the Trekker was an early version of what would become the wildly popular first generation 4runner. Because they were specialty vehicles when new Trekkers came equipped with pretty much any option you can imagine on a 1981 Toyota truck, but underneath the hood of the notoriously bullet proof 4 cylinder 22R engine remained.

It’s nearly impossible to find any Trekker considering how few were made when new, especially an example as original as this one. It’s understandable then that the price of obscure old Toyota SUV ownership isn’t exactly cheap. This well kept example has a listed buy it now price of $16,500.

Alaska Wakeboarding Teaser from Catchin’ Air Tv Show from UpDown Productions on Vimeo.

A teaser edit from episode 4 of catchin’ air. Andy Hurdman wakeboards through an ice field well waiting for the wind to pick up. You can download the show at http://hydrusmedia.spinshop.com/

Music – “Magical World”–Bassnectar remix

I recently found this webisode series on Youtube about a man named Masa, a successful travel writer with an MBA that has decided to live off the grid in a small community on a remote B.C. island called Haida Gwaii (First Nations’ name for were the Queen Charlotte Islands. The community is called Tow Hill and it’s right on the beach and full of amazing creative cabins, built with mostly found materials.

Masa is currently in day 319 of his year on Haida Gwaii, he’s built his cabin and trying to live a subsistence lifestyle, gathering as much food as he can while it’s in season; hunting or growing. He uploads video updates 3 times a week to his YouTube Channel and posts long thoughtful blog entries to the RADx website and his Facebook Page. I encourage you to follow his project and slowly get to know him and his journey as he truly has put his money where is mouth is and left a busy career to sample a totally different lifestyle.

Go Masa!

I’m a big YouTube fan and use it as my main entertainment source, I even watch it on my TV in HD. That’s the easiest way I catch Masa’s videos so I encourage you to subscribe to his YouTube channel and you’ll be notified each time he uploads.

Here’s his first video if you want to start off right:

Cool Neighbor cabins

Masa visits Richard and Frances Riley, neighbors and cabin builders themselves to check out their digs. The couple explains how they’ve put together their own comfy home using recycled materials and timber they found on the beach.

Keep coming back for updates as Masa documents his epic adventures for radX.ca. His new video diary will be published every Tuesday, along with a weekly written blog.

The Chevy Blazer and its GMC Jimmy clone were early modern SUVs. Maybe their width kept them from being better received by the public, as the 1991 Explorer later was. They became popular as support vehicles in public service departments, and Police Chief Martin Brody (Roy Scheider) drove one in “JAWS.”

Recreational Vehicle fever was in full pitch in the early and mid-1970s. The GMC Motorhome looked like a spaceship had landed and sprouted wheels, and used the front-wheel-drive transmission from the Cadillac Eldorado and Oldsmobile Toronado, initially powered by the Oldsmobile 455 cu in (7.5 l) V-8.

On a more compact level, in 1976 and 1977, Chevy sold the Blazer Chalet and GMC offered the Jimmy Casa Grande. Every one I saw was tan and brown like the one here, but other colors were available.

They were essentially factory slide-in campers bolted onto the Blazer/Jimmy with enough ’70s-colored graphics to make the Brady Bunch feel right at home. When properly equipped, they had two bunks, a refrigerator, 2-burner stove, a sink, a dinette, 5,000 BTU gas heater, and drapes.

The ad says it’s “The Blazer You Can Live In,” but some sort of restroom facilities might be desired for a more permanent residence.

Now this is what he doesn’t show but I think he’s using a metal stock tank, a kinda small one that’s probably heated with a fire below. The stone and cement work he’s done up there is impressive, I only wish he’s post more videos!

I’d like to setup something like this at Camp Taint outside the sauna, but the project is a ways out.

I used to have a 6′ round, 4′ deep Snorkel hot tub that I got used off Craigslist but I never got our water system out at the property to work so it never made it out there… My neighbor didn’t really like me running that thing in my backyard in the city so I eventually put in back on Craigslist and got twice what I paid for it. Which was still a steal for how much they cost new. Someday I hope to figure something out that doesn’t cost that much since it would only be used a few times a year.

Raphael's smoke shack - Breckenridge

My latest project is to find all the “smoke shacks” or “huts” hidden in the woods inside ski areas. I know there is usually at least one hidden shack or shanty built by skiers and snowboarders hidden inside almost every ski area. I know of a few local ones but have only found one so far. Don’t worry I won’t be posting the location of any. That would leave them open to destruction by the “Man” and that’s no fun for anyone plus finding them is half the fun.

I’ve seen one at Stevens Pass but didn’t bother to hike up the hill to check it out. It’s hidden in plain sight and I understand that’s it’s inside the spray painted rock I saw. A few guys were smoking in front of it when I looked up to spot the landing for a friends jump, that’s the only reason why I saw it. I have ridden right past it for 20 years.

My next smoke hut to find is the one at Snoqualmie Pass, I hear it’s 3 stories tall and has a new window. I’ve got some foggy directions so it’s going to be fun to find one day when the snow isn’t so good. Lots of people know about this one.

Check out these 2 videos below about this smoke hut in Colorado. It’s just out of bounds at Breckenridge. This one is a tree house, built with all natural found materials from the area. It must be pretty strong judging by how many people are inside it in the video.

Other Smoke Shacks from around the country.

Got a photo of your smoke shack? Is it the best around? Send it to me! I promise I won’t ask where it is. Upload photos to Solar Burrito’s Facebook Page.

Snowboarding to Colorado 420 Smoke Shack – Loveland Pass, CO

The tree bach was built by a group of friends in Palmerston North, New Zealand. It was constructed largely in the dark of the night as most of the builders had full time jobs during the day. It consists largely of donated materials or from rubbish laying around Jono’s parents farm. – The Best Hut

They just completed the custom propane heated bath tub for the tree house or bach as they call it. Also I’m really impressed with the radio controlled draw bridge! Fun stuff guys!

Custom Propane heating system for hot tub

Mike Basich Area 241 cabin

Mike Basich is Off the Grid in what he calls Area 241. In this final episode of the rope tow segment, Mike gets the mothership up onto his property and preps the trees with shivs. With a little help from his friends the DIY specialist gets his new rope tow system in place at a record pace and just in time for an evening debut run. Enjoy and stay tuned for more Off the Grid segments with Mike Basich coming soon!

Sad way to start off 2012. If you’ve been watching the television, you might have heard about Margaret Anderson, the Mount Rainier Park Ranger that was shot down and killed on New Year’s Day. Rangers had set up a checkpoint between the Longmire and Paradise areas in the park to ensure that drivers had the proper tires and tire chains for their vehicles.The gunman, now identified as Benjamin Colton Barnes, blew through the checkpoint and then sped toward an area called Paradise where Anderson and another ranger had parked their vehicle to serve as another roadblock. Barnes jumped out of his car and opened fire, killing Anderson and missing the other ranger.

Authorities found Benjamin Colton Barnes’ body yesterday, face down in a river in the park. Read more here.