In photos: Driving Jeeps through the mud and to Starbucks
75 years after marching into battle, Jeep is still an off-road trooper, but also offers a more luxurious side. In Canada, almost 80,000 Jeeps were sold last year - a record - and a quarter of them were Wranglers. That's quite an accomplishment for a vehicle that's loud, slow and thirsty on gas. As Mark Allen, Jeep's chief designer, noted, the Wrangler has been compared to a pair of ice skates: use them as they're intended and they're great for skating, but they make a crappy pair of shoes. We drove through Calabogie and then ducked south on the dirt road to Wabun Lake. Here, we met members of the Eastern Ontario Trail Blazers, who guided the way along a trail called the Rusty Bat that follows the hydro lines high into the hills. We drove slowly and carefully, following the club's Tread Lightly philosophy of leaving the area better than it's found.
The 2016 Jeep Wrangler Sahara does some mall crawling in Kanata.Mark Richardson/The Globe and Mail
A 2016 Jeep Grand Cherokee wades through a mud puddle on the Rusty Bat trail.Mark Richardson/The Globe and Mail
The Rubicon is the most rugged of the three models of Jeep Wrangler, seen here on the Rusty Bat trail.Mark Richardson/The Globe and Mail
Now that’s articulation! A Jeep owned by one of the Eastern Ontario Trail Blazers finds its own parking space next to the Rusty Bat trail.Mark Richardson/The Globe and Mail
Even the luxurious 2016 Jeep Cherokee Overland made it around the Rusty Bat trail.Mark Richardson/The Globe and Mail
Out on the Rusty Bat trail.Mark Richardson/The Globe and Mail
The Willys Jeep MB didn’t come with many extras back in 1944.Mark Richardson/The Globe and Mail
Mark Richardson’s 2016 Jeep Wrangler Sahara tester finds some mud on the Rusty Bat trail.Matt Zambonin
Mark Richardson tries to look the part to drive this immaculate 1944 Willys Jeep MB.Matt Zambonin
Even the Jeep Renegade made it around the Rusty Bat trail.Matt Zambonin
At the top of the Rusty Bat trail, near Calabogie.Matt Zambonin
At the top of the Rusty Bat trail.Matt Zambonin
A pair of Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT’s hurtle around the track at Calabogie Motorsports Park.Matt Zambonin