Welcome to episode 76 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 our family heads out on a spring, being careful to dodge areas of dense population

and rascally weather.

And if you're curious how it all turned out, we'll let the kids share the highlights

on today's top five list. Then on the summit gear review,

a technical throw quilt that looks a lot like your favorite puffy jacket but without the annoying armholes and hood.

Next on today's backpack hack of the week we'll hook you up with the master list

we use before every backpacking trip and we'll wrap up the show with a

little trail wisdom from a precocious six-year-old boy and his tiger.

All this and that's about it.

Today on the first 40 miles.

Well, I have to give some credit to our 8-year-old son who came up with this week's episode title. In fact it was kind of

inspired by our 13 year old who said, hey mom can you play on the road again on

your ukulele? And so I played it as we were hiking down the trail and I think that's kind of what inspired our eight-year-old.

We were on the Rogue. We were on the Rogue River.

...