Welcome to episode 117 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

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 rubbish the Backpacking Trash episode.

We'll answer some questions about trash on the trail,

then share our top five favorite pieces of trash we've found over this past year

while hiking and backpacking. Then on the summit gear review

we'll let you in on a fisherman's secret for containing little bits of refuse.

For today's backpack hack of the week, a quick hack that will keep your pots, pans, and mugs clean.

And we'll wrap up the show with a little trail wisdom from someone who considers all trail experiences to be gifts.

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

I think one of the big shifts in our mindset

over the past 10 years, maybe even longer, has been this idea that trash doesn't just disappear.

I know a lot of public facilities they'll have two trash cans, one will say recycle, and the one right next to it will say landfill.

Because they want you to make that mental shift in your mind that what you're throwing in

the trash can, you know, even though you can't see it anymore, it doesn't disappear.

And the same thing goes for trash on the trail.

What you don't use or, you know, the wrapper that you take off of something won't just disappear once you take it off.

You have to have, I guess a management plan for it and know exactly what you're going to do with that trash while you're on the trail.

So one of the big questions that I had on my first backpacking trip was,

...