Well, I have a friend who had multiple fusions in his back who asked me how he should go about backpacking. After looking at all the options he decided to get some goats. He can't carry weight on his back at all and can hardly hike with a day pack.

The options I presented to him were the Dixon roller pack, pack animals, etc. There are places that rent pack animals to try them on for size or as an interim plan while working up to carrying a backpack again.

The Dixon roller pack is a weird looking contraption found at dixonrollerpack.com.
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"In the beginner's mind there are many possibilities. In the expert's mind there are few." Shunryu Suzuki

http://hikeandbackpack.com