Welcome to episode 128 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're on the trail in a hiker camp at E. Cola State Park in Oregon.

We'll get input from the kids about our spring break adventure.

Then we'll head back home and review a piece of gear that we brought with us on the trail.

And we'll share a backpack hack that will turn leftover dinner into dessert. All this and that's about it. Today on the first 40 miles.

This has been a long wet winter. We've said that before, but the last time we got out on an overnight

backpacking trip was in early October of 2016. It was a two-nighter that turned into a one-nighter because it was so wet.

Yeah, that was a cold wet trip, and every day since that trip has been cold and wet, and we could not stay inside any longer

and decided on the very last couple days of spring break

that we were going to take advantage of this opportunity and the last couple days happened to be,

I'm going to say less cold and less wet.

Yeah, that's a good way to put it.

In fact today we've actually got some sunshine, so that's some kind of miracle, I guess, for this winter.

Burn break miracle.

Yeah, but we were just getting so antsy to get out. It's been so long and you can do it year round, but it is easier in the

summer. We still love the benefits of backpacking and we still get those benefits when we get out in the

winter even though it's harder to do.

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