My brother and I take a couple weeks off from work every summer and go backpacking through the foothills of the Cascade Mountains. We have a strong disdain for technology despite the fact that we both work for an IT company, so it’s a good opportunity to disconnect and reacquaint ourselves with nature. Since we carry our packs with us everywhere, we bring nothing but the essentials: backpacking tents, emergency rations, tools and a few other miscellaneous lightweight supplies.

It may seem irresponsible to head into the great outdoors with such minimal equipment, but my brother and I were both Eagle Scouts and spent time in the Marines, so we’re well versed in the ways of the wild. Much of our food comes from fishing, which is one of our favorite activities on these journeys. On particularly good days, we dry some of the fish to save for later when they may not be biting.