Greg Scherer could star in a Subaru brochure. His Arkansas-bred lifestyle of fly fishing, canoeing and biking New York’s remote watering holes is exactly why the Crosstrek was built. As he tells it, though, his perfect automotive match emerged out of heartbreak.

During Christmas of 2017, Greg was involved in an accident that totaled his beloved 1999 Honda Civic. Thankfully, there were no injuries, but the cost of repairs far outstripped the value of the loyal manual Honda. Pressed to find a replacement in limited time, Greg did a little soul-searching.

“While I loved my Honda, I was taking it beyond its limits,” Greg recalled, “at times being asked on a trail, “How did you get out here?” I knew I needed something much more capable in capacity to pack gear and deal with terrain.”

Greg remembered how he had eyed his friend’s 2014 Crosstrek finished in advertorial Khaki solid paint. After considering the amount of gear toting, snow plowing and puddle fording on his favorite lesser-traveled paths, Greg made a decision.

His nearest dealer was 45 minutes away. He had to know for sure the car he wanted would be in stock before he asked a friend for a ride.

“I’ll admit that initially I’d planned on getting an automatic due to the amount of traffic I dealt with,” said Greg, “but when I found out that they had the color I wanted in the trim level I wanted, and it also happened to be manual, I knew the stars had aligned for me to have another manual.”

In his first three years of ownership, Greg’s clocked 77,000 miles on his Cool Gray Khaki example. One scroll through his adventure-oriented Instagram feed proves he’s not afraid to use his car.

“My build philosophy for the car is to only replace as needed,” Greg said. “My initial enhancements came in the way of a roof rack to carry bikes, gear and my canoe. Next came an off-road-worthy set of wheels and tires once I reached 75,000 miles on the originals. I’ll keep taking it step by step as things progress naturally, and we both get older together.”