I'm glad to welcome back our friend Adam Salinger from Alpine adventure coaching.

He's going to talk about something that I think is pretty important.

But I let him do to explain. Adam, welcome back.

Thank you. It's good to be back here, Martin.

I appreciate it.

So Adam, when I read over this topic you're going to cover today, I said, well, it's pretty important.

It's something we really haven't talked much about, you know, we talk about gear, we've had people talk

about physical preparation, first aid, but I think you're here, you're doing here is kind of covering

some things that maybe we don't put a lot of thought into when we go out on our backpacking trips.

Yeah, you know, I think we think about a lot of things prior to getting out there,

but I don't think we think a lot about kind of taking care of ourselves physically and

spiritually and emotionally while we're out there and I think it's very important to do that and

it's a it's a key part of the curriculum that I cover in my 12-hour classes and I think it's really one of the keys to overall enjoyment of an adventure and also personal growth on or off the trail. I think that it's important to kind of first

acknowledge that you got to streamline your materials and your gear so your

gear isn't always on your mind while you're out there and I think that it's important to choose the right match for your chosen adventure where you're going the time of year your personal

needs that's all extremely important to your comfort and safety and I know

Martin on the podcast you spend a lot of time discussing backcountry safety and it's got to come first, right?

So I think doing your research is really important.

You don't need the lightest or the most expensive gear, especially when you start out with. You might end up moving in that direction as you become more experienced, but earlier in your backpacking adventures focusing I think on being as comfortable as you can be out there while being as safe as you can in the back country is it's what's truly imperative.

I think you know in terms of simplifying that kit it's it's it's really important to carry as few individual items as possible less to keep track of, less to lose, less weight on your back, you know, less ends up being more basically.

So thinking about being able to carry pieces of gear that serve multiple purposes.

trekking poles obviously for supporting while you're walking, but also, you know, to hold up trekking

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