Welcome to episode 102 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 there is power in sharing stories and will tell you why your stories are so important.

Then on the summit gear review a super simple water filter that uses very long and impressive words to keep you safe on the trail.

On today's backpack Hack of the Week, happy Halloween! Now let's get on to Christmas.

And we'll share our experience with rainy past repair and a zipper repair that was beyond our skill level.

All this and that's about it today on the first 40 miles.

On episode 100 we announced a new opportunity

for our first 40 milers and that is the opportunity for each of you to share your stories. And this is inspired by

experiences that we've had through doing the podcast. We've just loved hearing the stories

that people have shared with us, you know,

in written form over Facebook and Twitter.

And then we've had a few chances

to get with people and get their stories in audio form and it's just been amazing.

Even before we invited the first 40-mileers to share their stories with us, I went and collected some stories

while I was at the Outdoor Retailer Show and I asked the people that I talked to two questions.

What was your most recent backpacking experience and what made it so memorable.

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