Necessity is certainly the mother of invention, but a parent’s love and desire for their child to be happy is a much more motivating factor. That’s the case with Huckleberry Hiking and its founder, LJ Wild, who wanted more for his daughter, who lives with a rare disability, and subsequently created a hiking platform that could not only take her on family treks into the backcountry but also create something hunters would be eager to try.
Why? Because what started as a Cascade tandem hiking cart for his daughter has evolved, or perhaps morphed, is a better phrase, into the RookTruck, which is basically like a cut-in-half e-bike that straps to your back like a backpack, and helps you carry even the largest loads and in the roughest places.
I definitely could have used it last year…
Photo by: RukTruck
The story begins with LJ’s daughter Lucy, who was born with a genetic problem and now lives life as a paraplegic. company siteAlso had a very in-depth conversation about the company by our friends gearjunkie. According to the outlet’s reporting, “As a native of Utah, Wilde grew up in an outdoorsy family that loved to hike in the mountains together. When they got married and started having children, they carried on that tradition — then along came their third child. Lucy was born with a rare genetic disorder that left her paralyzed.”
Like, when Lucy was little, Wilde used the same backpacks we all use to take her into the woods and backcountry with the family. But as she grew older, those objects became less useful, and did not offer the capacity or structure needed for Lucy and LJ to explore comfortably. And, given how expensive off-road and backcountry wheelchairs and carts are, they were out of the question.
talking to gearjunkieWild told the site, “Suddenly, I was at this turn of the road where I thought ‘Either I have to stop doing this with my family, or we have to leave her at home with someone’. I thought they both sucked, and I wasn’t willing to accept either of them. Thus, Huckleberry Hiking and its Cascade Tandem Hiking Cart was born.
The idea is simple at its core: a cart that’s attached to a backpack-like yoke, with an off-road-style bicycle wheel on the back, and a seat in the middle for Lucy and other kids who need a little more assistance in the woods. It also has some suspension, a brake system for downhill sections and an optional electrification system for those who need some help or want to go further. And that last part is the branch the company now sells to hunters and other backcountry explorers.
Below stoptruck bannerThe concept is the same, although it’s aimed at people like me who go into the woods to hunt. Basically, it’s a cut-up e-bike like the Cascade, but instead of a seat for Lucy, you’ve got a truck-like bed for hauling out meat, sheds or your camping gear.
According to RuckTruck’s site, “As the team worked with national parks, outdoor professionals, and backcountry crews, a new challenge became apparent. People needed a better way to carry gear. Backpacks were limited. Traditional carts couldn’t handle rugged terrain. Sleds were inefficient. So the team returned to the engineering principles that made the Cascade Cart successful and re-imagined the platform as a powerful backcountry freight tool. The result is the RuckTruck – a rugged, purpose-built gear hauler designed for work and adventure where wheels typically can’t go.”
The e-Assist version – there is also a non-powered version – offers up to 5.5 hours of runtime and the torque needed to get the user in, out and forward when you had to use only your legs and a backpack in previous situations. Last year, when packing out my mule deer, I would have liked something like this, because the trail wasn’t too bad, requiring four trips totaling about 8 miles to packout and some steep climbing. Raktrak could possibly take that one trip.
As far as price goes, the e-Assist model isn’t cheap, with an MSRP of $2,800. You can get $1,000 off if you don’t want power, but come on, you definitely want power. But it shows you what the power of a parent wanting the best for their child can do. They could move heaven and earth to be happy, healthy and enjoy their lives, no matter what.
