Guest blogger Christian Coxen believes that traveling is the greatest of learning experiences. There is no better way to do it then in a well-situated rig with the perfect views, adventure and gear. Read about his journey down to the Southwest and back with PAKMULE!

It was the tail end of August–the last of our time to button down the hatches at home and prepare for the longest trip we had ever taken the rig through. We were looking ahead at two months on the road. The trip was planned around the permit that my girlfriend’s dad had gotten for a private trip down the Colorado River through the legendary Grand Canyon. He had entered the lotto in 1995 and it had just been pulled for September 2018. I came trotting along at just the right time in history to get invited to row one of the six boats on the trip. We figured this was the perfect chance not only to experience one of the most renowned rivers on the face of the globe, but also to get the van cruising through many of the places that neither of us Washingtonians had ever been before. We began plotting our planless trip down to the Southwest and back with nothing more than making it to Flagstaff for the put in date, and enjoying life on the slightly rushed trip down as well as the leisurely voyage back.

Come time to load up my van, “Blue”, I realized the time to invest in a trailer hitch gear rack was now. After researching my options I landed on PAKMULE and knew that their product was of the quality I was searching for. When I got it in the mail I had zero hesitation and all the confidence in the world that the rack was all it had snuffed up to be.

Through Washington, Oregon, California, Nevada, Arizona, Utah, Wyoming, Montana and Idaho, not once did I have a lick of trouble with my PAKMULE rack, and I was always thankful for it being there. We spent time in Utah exploring the land of the red rocks around Bears Ears where we found ourselves waking up surrounded by lightning, heavy winds, and torrential rains causing instant flash floods. The trip provided one eye opening experience to the next. By then we were halfway into our month on the northbound section of the trip. We were ready to leave the busy Moab area to see some trees and clean rivers once again. With a quick dash for the Tetons we escaped the desert and slowed our roll to enjoy Yellowstone, the Missoula area, and a short but glorious stretch of Idaho, where our wandering souls were fulfilled.

This memorable trip was made by the landscapes we passed and places we spent time, as well as the folks we met and beautiful wild creatures that inhabit the West. Traveling is the greatest of learning experiences–there is no better way to do it then in a well situated rig with the gear storage dialed to the T.

I now sit in Blue at home in Port Townsend Washington with over four thousand five hundred miles of road, and two hundred and twenty five miles of river behind us with even more confidence in the PAKMULE product than ever. Not only did it serve as a great rack for gear, fuel and firewood, but it became a favorite place to take a seat and watch a sunset, or rig up my rod to fish the next section of stream. Just last week I put the rack to the ultimate test when I got the van completely stuck in the mud after a night of heavy rainfall. We hiked up the road and found a nice fellow with a tractor to yank us out. When I went to hook up the straps, they wouldn’t fit through the eyes given on my hitch receiver, so I ran the strap around the first structural joint in the PAKMULE frame. I was nervous but it gave not a squeak as it pulled ol’ Blue out of a solid foot of thick mud. I’ll never question the strength again after this experience with the rack traveling far and wide, and getting unstuck right in my backyard.