18 / 72
Abraham Lake, AB
Cadomin, AB
Cadomin, AB
Cadomin, AB
18
THE ACCESSORY DREAM GUIDE
Elk Island, AB
Abraham Lake, AB
Ernie’s inspiration to become an
off-roader and to get out and en-
joy the great outdoors was his
province: “Alberta is what inspired
me to build the Jeep and go on
adventure.” Who can fault that
brilliant logic? Alberta’s Rocky
Mountains, rolling parkland, vast
prairie landscapes and hoodoo-
filled badlands provide enough
scope and variety for a lifetime of
off-road exploring.
Ernie’s 2012 Jeep Wrangler Unlim-
ited Sahara is named Vagabond
Expedition. His love of Jeeps was
not a long term dream, but rather
something that just happened: “I
had been renting various vehicles
as “daily drivers” for quite some time
until I rented a Jeep for the first time.
After a week of renting, I bought a
Liberty and after a month of owning
that, I sold it off and treated myself
to a new Wrangler back in 2012.”
With so much to see and do in this
province, it started “stock” and I
expanded as I came across various
obstacles I wanted to conquer or
situations I wanted to make easier.”
Ernie loves his Tepui Tent. It has
really changed camping for him:
“My Tepui Tent has to be my
favourite item to date. It takes less
than 2 minutes to open up to be
ready to sleep in and closing up is
almost as quick. No mud to wipe
down and no sleeping gear to
pack up separately. It saves time
when making camp and stirs up a
lot of interest in the Jeep (and in my
adventures).”
When asked what his toughest
challenge has been so far when it
comes to his adventures, Ernie had
a true enthusiast’s answer: “Men-
tally, my toughest “obstacle” is
returning home. As far as “physical”
obstacles while on adventure, I do
pick and choose my trails carefully
since I am out solo the majority
of the time, so I have yet to experi-
ence anything too extreme.”
He had such well-thought-out and
well-written answers, that we
decided to ask him for his advice
for first time off-roaders: “Go off
road with those that have experi-
ALBERTA