Check out this interesting device....

http://themule.com/

Quote:

The M.U.L.E. Nicole Davis | 03.2005 For his solo hike through Death Valley last summer, Melvin McCoy brought a folding chair and table, paper and pens, a machete, darts, a full larder of food, 8 gallons of water, a one-man tent, and Creedence Clearwater Revival on his Walkman--"by far the best walking music ever," says the 52-year-old mortgage broker from Memphis. "No matter how many times you listen to it, you still don't know what that guy is singing." Like John Fogerty, McCoy is pretty hard of most people to understand: After all, he set out to lug 100 pounds through 113°F heat and sandstorms. He is the anti-Thoreau--a man who walks far from home but leaves nothing behind. His secret is the M.U.L.E., his codeword for the Multi-purpose Uniaxial Liter Enginery, a one-wheeled, 6-foot-tall steel dolly outfitted with a back harness and brakes. He devised and patented the M.U.L.E. in the 1980's after a friend complained of sore knees on an Oregon backpacking trip. So far, winning converts hasn't been easy. Remember McCoy's 1992 Walk Across America? Hardly anyone else does either, which might explain why he dreamed up last September's desert trek. To ease the way, he sprayed an 8-gallon tank with insulating foam to keep his water cold, opining that "it's demoralizing to drink hot water in the desert." If nothing else, give McCoy this: He walks the walk. He pulled his load 149 miles in just 7 days, coming away with only a few busted toenails and a lingering cough from a sandstorm. He figures his success might be enough to revolutionize backpacking, or at least sell a couple of M.U.L.E.S.s ($700; www.themule.com. "Compared to an ATV or a pack animal," says McCoy, "it's a bargain."

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