Welcome to episode 177 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, if you're a beginner backpacker,

you are on the threshold of one of the most thrilling adventures of your life.

We'll help you navigate this new adventure with confidence.

For today's summit gear review, a monthly subscription service that will keep you excited about

backpacking all year long. Today's hack will help you repurpose a Pringles can and we'll leave you with some trail wisdom from our favorite

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

In one of our recent episodes, we kind of went off script.

We had a really loose fun episode where we just kind of had a conversation and our top five list reflected that because we talked about the top five things that we probably wanted to include in upcoming episodes.

So we just kind of chatted about things that had been on our mind.

And for number five on that list, I suggested that we should always make sure that we keep a focus on beginner topics

The things that someone needs to know before their first trip because the more experienced we get the easier it is for us to take those things for granted

and forget that we had those questions when we first started. Those beginner

thoughts that you have the concerns the, the worries, the flood of information that comes at you

when you're learning something for the first time,

we don't want to forget that.

And we have been backpacking now together for about three years

...