Welcome to episode 207 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, we've dredged up as many scary things as we can for this Halloween episode.

Cougar attacks, mysterious items in hiker boxes,

dead cats, and the scariest thing of all.

Hiker stink.

Then we'll wrap up today's episode

with a quote from a zombie.

Actually, it's just a quote from someone's posthumously published journal.

They're dead, but they're alive.

But they're dead.

All this, and that's about it.

Today on the first 40 miles.

Well, over this past summer, in the Pacific Northwest,

there were two fatal cougar attacks.

The first one was a cyclist in Washington State,

and then the next one was a woman hiker in Oregon. And having the two fatality events so close together led me to believe that this kind of thing happens all the time.

...