Welcome to episode 190 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 what you may have thought of as an essential piece of

backpacking gear isn't as indispensable as you think.

Today we're going stovless and we'll share some delicious ways to ditch the stove for your next trip. Then we'll are some

sneaky vegetables added to stitch the stove for your next trip.

Then we'll test a whole food energy bar

that has some sneaky vegetables added.

And we'll share a through hikers' go-to container for soaking their meals.

All this? And that's about it. Today on the first 40 miles.

As we're preparing for some of our summer trips,

I keep looking for ways to lighten my pack.

And besides doing a complete gear overhaul and purchasing all new

ultralight equipment, I think there are some other really clever ways to cut

pounds. That's right, pounds, not just ounces, while actually

saving money. And the idea that I keep coming back to is stowveless cooking. And we actually talked about this quite a while ago back in

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