Welcome to episode 48 of the first 40 miles.

If you're new to backpacking, or if you're hopelessly in love with someone who wants you to love backpacking,

then this podcast is for you.

We'll talk about the essentials, how to lighten your load, and how to make the most of your time on the trail.

I'm your host Heather Legler.

And I'm Josh Legler.

And this is the first 40 miles. Today on the first 40 miles, what are those crazy

backpackers up to next? We'll find out when we check the news for stories.

On today's summit gear review, find out what happens when we ditch the traditional mummy bag.

On the backpack hack of the week, we'll teach you an ultra light hack for shoes to wear around

camp. And we'll wrap up the show with a little trail wisdom from a poet who

must have spent a little time on the trail. All this and that's about it. Today on the first 40 miles.

Well a few episodes ago we spent some time chatting about our preparation for our

upcoming trip to the Willawas in Northeast Oregon and the Eagle Cap

wilderness. We took our trip in September and I guess what I can say is that it was completely different than what we planned for, right?

Yeah, our expectations did not match reality.

So what happened was as we discussed we were watching the

forest fire reports and everything was going okay with the fires. We were also

watching the weather report and that was not going so well and

it turned out that we were going to be in a situation where we could possibly be hiking through a foot of snow in the higher elevations.

And so I think it was Friday night before our planned Monday morning departure that Steve, our group leader said well here's the latest forecast a foot of snow if you

guys still want to go we'll go but we might want to think of going somewhere else. And so we had about 24 hours to pick a new

...