Welcome to episode 183 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 planning a family backpacking trip with another family who has never been backpacking before.

What can we do to give them a great introduction to the wilderness?

Then we'll share a story from a listener about his introduction to the wild woods and backpacking.

For today's backpack hack of the week, a 10-card, 17-gram microgame that will provide minutes of fun on your next backpacking trip.

Ooh minutes of fun!

All this and that's about, today on the first 40 miles.

So one of our friends just in passing said to me,

hey, my wife and I are thinking about doing some backpacking. And I was like, oh, that's great. We would love to help you.

And then I saw him at a meeting that we had for a field trip that our youngest was going on along with one of his kids and both of us were going as chaperones.

And after that meeting he told me the same thing that they've gotten some gear and they're getting ready to go backpacking.

They had bought packs for the two of them and maybe a few other pieces.

I think they were working on sleeping bags and maybe a tent, kind of getting some pieces together to do that

first backpacking trip. And I said, well, let's do it. Let's do it together. Let's pick a weekend on the calendar,

...