Is there any chance he would go on tundra talk and share the story? I was in camp when he came in with it, dudes a stud.
@downthepipe I don't have it yet, but planning to upgrade from a sedan to an xterra in the next few weeks.
My daughter and I did a month long road trip here in Alaska last summer. We were driving and sleeping in an Xterra. We also had all of our gear for a sheep hunt with us, so it’s similar to the gear set up you will be carrying in Co 3rd season. BTW, I’ve hunted the Co 3rd season twice(both times in wall tents with wood stoves).
Roomwise, the Xterra was ttight but liveable. I’m 6’0” and 200 pounds. She is 13 years old and about 85 pounds.
Two recommendations: remove the rear seats and leave them at home. They take up a lot of space, especially head/foot room. You’ll need a piece of plywood to extend the sleeping area, unless you fill the seat well with gear and level it.
Second, use a 2” piece of rigid foam insulation(the pink board) under your sleeping pad. This will help a ton with keeping you warm, and it will level out the Xterra floor, which is unbelievably unyielding.
Miscellaneous thoughts:
You will need two windows cracked for cross ventilation. The wind deflectors that attach to the door will keep rain out even when the windows are cracked.
A warm bag, or a bag+ quilt or whatever will be fine. The Colorado high country is unbelievably cold during the 3rd season, but it’s still nothing compared to what a lot of guys hunt and trap in.
A water bottle full of warm water placed at the bottom of your sleeping bag would be nice. In an emergency you could start the truck up and run the heater to warm up.(you won’t need to though...)
A dome tent to store your gear in might come in handy.
A single burner stove or a jet boil would be an awesome thing to have.
Two coolers: one for keeping the cold stuff at a consistent cold temp, and another to keep your water, milk, eggs and bread from freezing.
Easy to cook hot food would be nice. A warm meal at the end of a long cold day can really make the difference. You can splurge here as weight won’t matter.
I’m excited for you. Ignore the naysayers. You are going to have a blast.