alternative to jogging stroller....

[SW Rick]

Vaugh, what is that? Like BLM, National Parks, etc? Examples please because I had no idea about that regulation! Thanks

From wilderness.net:

"Prohibitions and Conflicting Use

Why are motorized equipment and mechanical transport prohibited in wilderness?

The Wilderness Act states "...there should be no temporary road, no use of motor vehicles, motorized equipment or motorboats, no landing of aircraft, no other form of mechanical transport..." Where motorboat and aircraft were used before a wilderness was designated, the Wilderness Act, the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act, and other laws allow use to continue. Mobility-impaired persons, or persons with disabilities, may use wheelchairs in wilderness. Motorized wheelchairs, which are suitable for indoor use, (i.e. battery and electric motor driven) are also allowed under provisions of the Americans with Disabilities Act.

The Wilderness Act makes exceptions for wilderness managers to use motorized equipment and methods of mechanical transport, but only "...as necessary to meet minimum requirements for the administration of the area for the purpose of the Act (including measures required in emergencies involving the health and safety of persons within the area)..." Where possible, managers try to use traditional tools, skills and methods of travel, even if they may be more costly or time-consuming. Exceptions where managers may use motorized equipment or methods of mechanical transport might include search and rescue, fire fighting, or fish stocking if it occurred before an area was designated.
Why are some non-motorized devices such as hang gliders, parasails and bicycles not allowed in wilderness?

Hang gliders and bicycles are considered mechanical transport, methods of transportation prohibited by the Wilderness Act. Both hang gliders and parasails are forms of aircraft, which are prohibited from landing in wilderness. All tend to intrude on the wilderness experience of other visitors. The Wilderness Act recognizes the wilderness resource as a place that "...has outstanding opportunities for solitude..." In most cases there are opportunities for these activities to take place outside of wilderness."

[Vaughn]

Beat you to it, Rick...

And no, I never took the triplet stroller into a wilderness area...

[Brian C. Miller]

What I really hate are when those rules are applied to mining sites. Come on, a mining area is a wilderness site? Hello? I hate that. Yes, if you are doing mining, come in with the biggest equipment you have and tear everything up. If not, you have to walk. It's nuts, truly nuts.

Hey, I have the solution: a four-wheeled walker! (aka rollator) It's covered under the disabilities act, and you can hang your camera bags from it, or if it has a seat, put your bags on it. You just need one that works well on trails. I think I'm going to redo my Wike trailer...

Another idea is a custom pack which is suspended from crutches. And why not? This is something I'd like to have, LF or not. I have a bad back, and there's a limit to what I can do now. I don't see anything commercial, but there is at least one custom backpack maker.

[Vaughn]

Yes, strong mining/economic interests under the Mining Act of 1872 has maintained access to wilderness areas. The Wilderness Act probably would not have passed without compromising with the mining industry.

I don't know what one has to do to be officially classified as disabled -- some sort of paperwork, I suppose. Thankfully, wilderness trail specs do not have to be ADA compliant! What a logistical nightmare that would be!

What I need is to get a trailer for my bicycle for the 8x10 and pod. The single wheeled ones would work on trails (non-wilderness, of course). I have temp. access to a two wheeled one (for hauling kids), but those are too wide for trails, but it would be good for old roads, etc. I toured in NZ with a 4x5, but did not need a trailer for that. But in my dreams I see myself bike touring in Iceland with the 8x10!

[Brian C. Miller]

I have a BOB Yak, and the problem with the single-wheel trailer is that when it is really loaded up it makes the whole bike unstable. I have hauled two car batteries on one trip and three gallons of liquids (milk and laundry detergent) plus groceries on another, and while the trailer is well within its limits, my bicycle starts shaking badly. That trailer is not for dense material.

Toting an 8x10 along with your gear should be fine on a BOB or similar trailer. There is also Tony's Trailers, with a seatpost mount for better stability.

[Vaughn]

Thanks, Brian for the link -- lots there I had not yet put thru my head yet. The total weight of my 8x10 gear is about 60 pounds. With rear panniers I could put some of that weight on the bike instead of the trailer (lens, holders, tripod head, meter -- 10 to 15 pounds perhaps.)

Perhaps I need to reconsider my needs -- their two wheel cargo trailers might be more practical for long camping trips and taking the 8x10...or perhaps I need to re-think the 8x10 and do such traveling with just the 5x7! Or invest in a lighter weight 8x10 system, LOL!

[Joe Forks]

Just one question, are we positive a stroller or deer cart qualifies as mechanical transport?

Thank goodness for all the private property I have access to in Texas.

Also, I may have to visit those very few trails in NM that allow ATV's then with the big "guns" (camera).

[Rick A]

A friend gave me a wheelchair for hauling my gear around town. It folds and fits easily into the rear of my Cherokee for trips out to the local state parks. I never get hassled about it, I'm handicapped, and have use of the big parking spaces.

[deadpan]

http://www.humpalumpa.com/

or

http://www.wheeleez.com/

look really interesting...haven't quite saved enough/ got enough need to justify at the moment but they look ideal

[Vaughn]

Just one question, are we positive a stroller or deer cart qualifies as mechanical transport?

Thank goodness for all the private property I have access to in Texas.

Also, I may have to visit those very few trails in NM that allow ATV's then with the big "guns" (camera).

Yes.

But don't worry, it is only wilderness trails that do not allow wheeled transportation devices - and there is far more non-wilderness areas than wilderness areas, with much of that non-wilderness as photogenic as wilderness. More than you can photograph in your lifetime.

I had a fellow working on my wilderness crew who was pissed that his grandfather could not visit the wilderness because roads were not allowed. By the end of the summer he finally came to realize that this was as it should be. If roads (or jeep trails) were allowed in the wilderness, then his grandfather would still never get to be in a wilderness -- as there would no longer be a wilderness left to see.