Welcome to episode 147 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 dried the dehydrated Food episode.

The surest way to lighten your food load is to extract all the water from it.

We'll share our dehydrating successes, some graceful fails, and some tips to help you dehydrate your own food.

Then for the summit gear review, we'll share a fun tool for making beef jerky, and today's backpack

hack of the week is an easy way to use that tool to bring your favorite Chinese takeout

on the trail. All this, and that's about it. Today on the first

40 miles. Well, if you're just getting into backpacking you may think that the easiest way

to take dried food on the trail is just to buy those packages of freeze-dried food on the shelves of your favorite outdoor store?

And you probably noticed that they're kind of pricey.

And so maybe you've wondered, is there a better way?

Is there a way to bring food that's lightweight and still calorie dense?

And maybe have a little bit more control over what foods come on your backpacking trip? This episode today is all about

dehydrating your own food. Dehydrating is a method of food preservation that's very old. In fact it's probably one of the first

methods of food preservation and it's almost impossible to mess up which makes it a great DIY adventure for backpackers.

And some backpackers go big on dehydrating.

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