About Us

MEET LJ WILDE

Father of 6, inventor, engineer and founder of Huckleberry Hiking

When LJ Wilde found out his third child Luciana would be confined to a wheelchair her whole life due to a rare genetic disorder, he refused to quit exploring with his family.

For years, that meant hauling Luci in a backpack. But by May 2019, it was a two-person job to get her into the pack. Even worse, Luci’s discomfort in the pack meant LJ had to boost her up by the bottom of her feet throughout the hike so she could tolerate the trail.

The end of the trail?

“As I walked, I wondered if this would be our last hike as a family on those kinds of trails,” LJ said.

Not ready to give up, LJ leaned on his engineering expertise to conceptualize what would become the Cascade Cart. He bought basic materials hoping to be ready for a fall backpacking trip.

But life got in the way. The backpacking trip didn’t happen. The raw materials gathered dust in his garage.

Two years later, he decided to get rid of the parts along with the guilt of not finishing the project. While hauling the parts to his trailer to take them to the dump, something inside told him just to “finish the dang thing.”

Pathfinding

So he reversed course and bought additional tools to be able to finish it in time for a family trip to Grand Teton National Park and Yellowstone. He painted the pieces the day they left and did some testing. Luci approved.

Throughout the trip, people, sometimes pushing wheelchairs, literally ran him down to ask where they could get one of the carts. He told them he made it, kindly turned them down to make another and moved on. He didn’t have time to make another no matter how disappointed people were.

The conversations with people who needed a cart like he had ate at him. But with commitments to God, family, health and employment chewing up his time, something had to go. Employment was the only thing he could see living without, so he quit a successful 11-year career to open up time for Huckleberry Hiking.

Even that committed, he found it was harder than he thought and nearly backed out, seeking a job and side engineering gigs four times in the first eight months.

Sparking a Wildefire

In June 2023, a stranger who met him on the trail posted about the cart on Facebook. The woman didn’t have a massive social following, but her post caught fire. Soon thousands knew about Huckleberry Hiking and were sharing their hopes with him:

“Thank you for not quitting!”

“Cheering you on from Oklahoma!”

“Keep up the great work and thank you for all you’re doing for our kids!”

“Please keep going on this Huckleberry Hiker wheelchair because it meets a need for many many families and kids.”

“I can imagine that this is not an easy path and that your family has…had to sacrifice a lot for this, but I hope that you…keep on going!”

At that point, LJ smashed the rearview mirror and really went all-in. Since then, it’s been a parade of product testing, development and learning that has led to the Cascade Cart.

It opened up the world for Luci, and it will do the same for many thousands more.

Please share the Huckleberry Hiker with anyone you know who needs it.

If you know people at nonprofits or companies that serve the adaptive community, please reach out to us through this campaign so we can get in touch.

It’s our mission to make mountain trails more accessible to everyone and need all the help we can get to make it happen.

How We Break Barriers & Make Memories

The Huckleberry Cascade Tandem Hiker is the first in a line of products designed to break barriers and make memories.

Our Mission

Make mountain trails more accessible
to everyone.

Our Vision

Whether you have one who needs your legs, two in tow, or three miles with a heavy load, we aim to provide innovative products that break through mobility barriers and enable togetherness and wellness in outdoor adventure.

Our Value

We value the safety, success, and personal fulfillment of each customer, team member, and partner of Huckleberry Hiking. We are committed to fulfilling our mission on principles of integrity, quality, environmental kindness, and exceptional customer care.