Whats a normal hiking breakfast for you?

[denimlabels]

For me it would be a couple bags of cheap oatmeal, a banana, a large pot of hot herbal tea, followed by a couple hand fulls of granola mix with chocolate and about as much water as I could top off the tank with. Then...I start off slow like a turtle and just keep slowly speeding up all day.

What do you do for breakfast on the trail after a few months?

[AlyontheAT2016]

instant oatmeal or grits, coffee, (and a banana if I happen to have packed one), then about an hour later I eat whatever snack I happen to have brought with me. I like to eat when I walk.

[soumodeler]

Poptart to start then snacking all day.

[Northstar]

Granola and powdered milk when its warm. Instant oatmeal when its cold

[denimlabels]

A Poptart? Really? I never understood the concept of Poptarts as a breakfast. Its not really a food as much as processed chemicals made to look like food.

But we like what we like. Im 45 and still a big fan of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches on tortilla. Its one of my favorite foods.

[jenningka]

I usually start of with oatmeal and tea to warm me up, a bar of some sort after I've packed away my camp, and then on with munching almonds as I start my hiking day.

[denimlabels]

Powdered Milk.....Yum! Cant hardly wait!

[rafe]

A Poptart? Really? I never understood the concept of Poptarts as a breakfast. Its not really a food as much as processed chemicals made to look like food.

But we like what we like. Im 45 and still a big fan of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches on tortilla. Its one of my favorite foods.

With you on all of that. PB & J is great any time on the trail. Poptarts, meh. ;)

[Dogwood]

Normal??? Please explain.

Sincerely,
Abby Normal

[denimlabels]

Normal.... you know... A can of sardines and a few fingers of scotch. Thats when men were men. Could you imagine Lewis and Clark eating pop-tarts and fruit roll ups?

LOL:D

[Another Kevin]

Porridge, or granola, or PB and gorp on a tortilla, or if I'm expecting a lazy day, I might even steam bake some muffins (https://www.flickr.com/photos/ke9tv/albums/72157644331682423). Coffee is a must. Fresh fruit if it's my first morning out of town, otherwise Trader Joe's has a nice selection of freeze-dried. I'm partial to the mandarin orange sections, reconstituted.

[The Cleaner]

Powdered Milk.....Yum! Cant hardly wait! Use Nido powdered whole milk.Much better...

[The Cleaner]

Here's a real breakfast.Steel cut oats sweetened with chopped dates.It takes about 15 minutes to cook and you have to have a real stove and know how to clean a pot.33712After some blood tests last summer the Doc said I was "pre diabetic". No more instant oatmeal or pop tarts.I haven't had a soda (Coke & Pepsi) for 6 months now.Get all the sugar out of your system and you'll start feeling better.

[Grampie]

First half of the trail. Instant oatmeal ad coffee. Send half of the trail. Dry Cereal with powdered milk and coffee.

[shelb]

Normal.... . Could you imagine Lewis and Clark eating pop-tarts and fruit roll ups?
LOL:D

I read a book called "Undaunted Courage" that catalogued what they ate on the voyage, based on the journals of Lewis, Clark, and other members of the Corps of Discovery. I don't remember their breakfast; however, I do remember that they were eating about 10-15 pounds of meat a day!

When I have a stove, I eat 2 packets of oatmeal. When I do not have a stove, I eat a protein bar. I plan on having a snack about 1 -2 hours into my hike. Please, realize that I am a section hiker, so I can't advise on those with "Thru-hiker hunger."

[Malto]

Huge variety.
poptarts, granola, other cereal, all with Nido, oatmeal etc. for first breakfast.

then it's been cold mocha or my old standby, Maltodextrin mix the rest of the morning.

[MuddyWaters]

Ist is a quick item, cliff bar, cookies, snickers, granola bar, pastry. Something that can be eaten while walking.

Second, midmorning, is granola/nido when it warms up enough to stop.

Or maybe vice versa in warmer weather. Or maybe not. Depends on circumstances. I really like camping a few miles short of town, and hiking into a town midmorning for bacon/eggs/coffee before resupply. Breakfast is my favorite town meal, drinking coffee after doing without it for a week, relaxing is great. On such morning I totally skip trail breakfast not to ruin it.

[tiptoe]

Souped-up muesli (extra dried fruit, nuts, brown sugar perhaps, Nido) and Tang (heavy, but tasty). That lasts me a couple of hours usually, and then it's time to snack. Small, frequent feedings work well for me.

[GoldenBear]

Wyler's single pack.
http://growingupgabel.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/Wylers-to-go.jpg
Instant coffee with hot chocolate mix.
Two breakfast bars, one with more sugar than the other.

Believe it or not, the coffee is invariably the only heated food I have all day. My appetite for food vanishes while I backpack, and I've never gone out for more than five days. Thus, I'm famished when I finish, but until then I really don't want to eat much.

I used to have instant oatmeal in the morning, but one day I realized I didn't want to eat it.
Bizarrely, I still love oatmeal at home. I'm still not sure why I don't like it on the trail.

[rocketsocks]

Porkroll egg and cheese on a hard roll w/pepper and ketchup, but it depends on where I am, don't think you can get that down south.

[colorado_rob]

Coffee. Cold cereal (granola with Nido whole milk mixed in) them more coffee. Then finally, after all packed up, another cup of coffee. Good to go!

[Odd Man Out]

I have given up on hot breakfasts, although I will boil water for instant coffee. I eat cheese, sausage, and fruit bar.

[Pajj]

One tasty cake brand honey bun. something like 600 calories and 11 grams of protein, plus delicious!

[Traillium]

Coffee. Cold cereal (granola with Nido whole milk mixed in) them more coffee. Then finally, after all packed up, another cup of coffee. Good to go!

Me too! Though maybe a touch more coffee before I start …


Bruce Traillium

[hikehunter]

ovaeasy with dehydrated green/redpeppers, onions pinch of salt and dash of pepper. Sprinkle of precooked bacon. cokked while drinking coffee and Baileys with a biscotti.

[evyck da fleet]

After a few months it was four packets of oatmeal. Unless I could detour into a town in the am and then I'd skip breakfast and either go for a 'hiker breakfast' or a pint of Ben & Jerry's Reese's Peanut Butter Cup. There's nothing like starting off the day with 2400 calories.

[RangerZ]

Beginning of hike - summer sausage on tortilla to reduce weight and eat it before it has a chance to go bad; cold mornings - oatmeal with Nido, Splenda, raisins, dried fruit and peanut M&Ms; warmer mornings - Cherrios (good enough for the Lone Ranger, good enough for me), Nido, raisins - can't pour water on Cherrios so I mix the Nido separately; instant pudding is a hit some mornings; Lara/Clif/Power bars last day to get faster start.

[Feral Bill]

Normal.... you know... A can of sardines and a few fingers of scotch. Thats when men were men. Could you imagine Lewis and Clark eating pop-tarts and fruit roll ups?

LOL:D
They'd be thrilled, especially a few months in.

For me, oatmeal and cocoa, snacks as the day goes on.

[Feral Bill]

Here's a real breakfast.Steel cut oats sweetened with chopped dates.It takes about 15 minutes to cook and you have to have a real stove and know how to clean a pot.A.33712

Everything is better cooked on a Svea.

[Mtsman]

Carnation instant breakfast and powdered milk when packing up then granola cereal with milk when walking out. snacks until lunch when I actually cook.

[illabelle]

We completely dump the idea of "breakfast food" on the trail. It's more about hot meals versus cold meals. We prefer the hot meals while in camp, so those are morning and evening. Breakfast might be 2-3 packets of oatmeal with fruit and nuts thrown in, OR it might be mashed potatoes, or pasta, or vegeburgers, or grilled cheese. On the other hand, supper might be oatmeal.

[daddytwosticks]

Krispy Kream fried apple pie and a hard boiled egg. Sometimes a hot drink like herbal tea or hot chocholate...I gave up caffeine a while ago so no coffee. :)

[egilbe]

Two packages of instant outmeal, some dried fruit, couple cups of coffee, or if im in a hurry, two teaspoons of instant coffee in my oatmeal. Add some ovaltine powder and nido instant milk and im good for a few hours. Usually just snack at rest breaks throught out the day on trail mix, poptarts, beef jerky, stuff like that. Hot meal at camp that night which is usually a knorr pasta side or instant potatoes, more nido milk and herbal tea.

[TexasBob]

cheese, precooked bacon and a tortilla or mini bagel

[Sandy of PA]

2 hard boiled eggs, some cheddar cheese or precooked bacon, and a handful of baby carrots.

[Slo-go'en]

Quick and easy is the what most thru hikers end up doing, which typically means Honey Buns or Pop Tarts.

[Busky2]

Poptarts with peanut butter between them. Yummy Yummy

[Deadeye]

2-3 cups coffee. Granola or muesli w/ powdered milk, and my big treat: an orange. As often as possible I pack fresh fruit and save an orange for breakfast.

[TKE402]

Chocolate Protein shake with Starbucks via instant coffee. Mix and add to my pot with dried blueberries. Next breakdown camp. Next add Honey bunches of oats cereal and chia seeds to the pot. Eat and enjoy.

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[RockDoc]

After trying almost all of the above carbage options and invariably feeling famished an hour later after the insulin spike and crater, I have moved towards fat adaption and changed things considerably. I find that lower carb higher fat fare is more satisfying and provides slow burning fuel. For breakfast, the ideal would be eggs (fresh or dehydrated) and pre-cooked bacon and some other type of real food items like avocado, olive oil, cheese, beef jerky. It's so nice to hike without the "hiker hunger" that I used to struggle with, which caused a lot of gross binging and overeating. I knew there was a better way...

Besides causing hunger pangs in a very short while, oatmeal, poptarts and other starch/sugar options just are not very nutritious compared to real food options. And as we get older many of us can't deal with the demands on our pancreas. At least it is not a good idea to strain that little bugger.

You really don't need all those carbs for energy. Your body fat is a superior source of fuel.

[Brup Bup]

Cup of tea, oatmeal with peanut butter and jelly, or granola. BOOM out the door and moving :)

[BonBon]

Two packs of instant breakfast with two packs of instant coffee stirred in-either two packs of oatmeal or a bowl of something sweet-frosted flakes or cocoa puffs. Makes me happy:)

[Alligator]

Porkroll egg and cheese on a hard roll w/pepper and ketchup, but it depends on where I am, don't think you can get that down south.You can't get that in the south. Can you even get that in MD? Good bagels are hard to find too.

Bagels with cream cheese in the cooler months, oatmeal, poptarts, fried pies, Little Debbies, hash browns, pancakes on occasion, instant shakes. Town breakfast on a resupply is always welcome or after an overnight stay.

[CamelMan]

Quick (1-minute) oats and dried fruit. I'm not sure what'll happen when hiker hunger hits, but probably just more of the same. (I'd prefer not to resort to fat besides some extra nuts and flax or chia. I wonder if there's a consumer lab near the trail where I could get a lipid panel some time in the middle of my thru. My lipids look REALLY good the day after a 25 mile hike but that could be considered cheating...)


Maltodextrin mix the rest of the morning.

I have a couple questions about this--how do you make it, and maybe more importantly, how do you resupply it?

[Roamin]

I am planning a week trip with my young adult/teenage children. I am planning on plain oatmeal with honey for me. I was planning instant flavored oatmeal for the children, but then I saw Grampie's post with cereal and dry milk. That will be the ticket to happy hikers at breakfast!

[QiWiz]

I make up a variety of mixes of cereal, nuts, and dried fruit with different flavors and textures, put into ziplock bags. I add Nido powdered whole milk and sugar if needed. About 5 ounces for the whole lot is about what I have an appetite for once I've been on trail for a few days. I mail these to myself in resupply boxes, but you could make something similar to these in town on the fly easily as well. This can make a cold cereal with cold water or a hot cereal with hot water as I'm in the mood for. I often include a bit of jerky just to have a salty taste to go with the sweet. If I don't feel like the jerky at breakfast, I know I'll eat it later in the day.

[jimmyjam]

two poptarts followed by two more poptarts about 30 minutes later. And then a snickers.

[Lyle]

Last few years I've settled on a granola bar or power bar of some kind and a couple cups of coffee. Quick and easy to prepare and you can eat it while breaking camp - unless your going to hang around camp for a while, then you can just relax and enjoy the morning, without fussing about cooking.

[rusty bumper]

Two pop tarts and water every morning for 5 months...except when I was in town at breakfast time. Haven't had a pop tart since.

[Auto Draft]

First 1/4 of the trail - two or three oatmeal packets.
The rest of the way, I switched to two pop tarts followed by a 9am Gatorade Bar or a Clif Bar. I've only eaten one pop tart in the six months since, but I still get nostalgic thinking about that morning pop tart. It's one of the most accessible food items on the whole trail too.

[1234]

I started the oatmeal packs but they were just to much sugar now it is simple cold water powdered milk an Cheerios, Raisin Bran an granola added.

[TexasBob]

I started the oatmeal packs but they were just to much sugar now it is simple cold water powdered milk an Cheerios, Raisin Bran an granola added.

I used to like cheerios with Swiss Miss hot chocolate mix and cold water, like eating cereal with chocolate milk.

[soilman]

Cup of granola with powdered milk and Carnation Essentials and maybe a honey bun.

[Sethern]

I have been a fan of the Belvita soft bake oatmeal breakfast bars. They taste good and seem to stick with me longer than pop tarts.

[Moosling]

Oatmeal packet mixed with some dry fruit or granola mix and some coffee.


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[Frank_the_cat]

Two packets of instant grits and a cup of instant coffee

[Roamin]

You can't get that in the south. Can you even get that in MD? Good bagels are hard to find too.



BJs Wholesale Club carries Trenton (Taylor) hams - $20 each

[mattjv89]

When I can get instant grits I'll do two or three packets, love me some cheddar grits with hot sauce. Otherwise I'll do oatmeal or cold breakfast. That is some combination of pop tarts, peanut butter, granola, trail mix, protein bar, etc. As for beverages I'll usually do instant coffee with a chocolate carnation packet.

[Cosmo]

Tang, plus protein powder. Can be hot or "room" temperature. There's a variety of breakfast bars out there, many are dreadful. I like the granola+Nido idea, will try it this year.

Cosmo

[sheepdog]

A Poptart? Really? I never understood the concept of Poptarts as a breakfast. Its not really a food as much as processed chemicals made to look like food.

But we like what we like. Im 45 and still a big fan of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches on tortilla. Its one of my favorite foods.
Pop tarts make me powerful.

[jimandlisas]

Nowadays instead of having coffee and instant oatmeal, the mornings are started off with coffee and high protein type granola/peanut butter breakfast bars, followed by hydrating with plenty of water before hiking. If I don't want to take time to boil the water for coffee I just make it cold, since I use instant coffee. Saves time and fuel.

[codrock]

2/3 cup of my homemade maple, honey and almond Granola...add enough boiling water to make it slightly soupy...and my morning cup of coffee and I am good to go for about 4 hours...

[Del Q]

Instant oats, Nido, vanilla protein powder, raw sunflower seeds, some chopper up dried fruit, purified water - in a zip loc

[lonehiker]

Predominantly it is 4 - 4.5 ounces of Frosted Flakes or other cold cereal. I eat this on-the-go throughout the early morning. If I am leaving a decent resupply it may be bulk granola but once again about the same weight.

[Cotton Terry]

I am usually antsy to get on the Trail in the morning, so I just eat a protein bar.

[Strummystick]

Super Protein Breakfast Mix
[just add 16-20oz. water]
(tastes like “Yoohoo “or “Starbuck’s Mocha Drink”)
½ cp Nido inst. whle mlk 320c
1 envelope of “Carnation Breakfast Essentials” 130c
1 daily dose of “ON Gld Stdrd Whey Protein Mix 120c
optional 1 tsp. inst. coffee
[in “snack size zip lock bag]
Packed weight 4.3oz
(570 total calories !!!!!)

[martinb]

Catapillars, ants, whatever's wandering around camp. Oh, and coffee of course.

[saltysack]

I found my new bfast of choice...
Frosted strawberry pop tarts with Justin's honey or maple pnut or almond butter between the two pop tarts. Damn good!


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[4Bears]

If I am not in a hurry to get hiking then some instant oatmeal and hot tea. If I want to get going then whatever looks good in the food bag, from a granola bar to trail mix to peanut butter and cheese in a half a pita and some cold tea made the night before, while I pack up.

[colorado_rob]

I finally found my ideal hiker breakfast, going to have to find a way to pack a couple of these:

[handlebar]

2 packs carnation instant breakfast shook up in cold water while I pack up between 6 and 7 am or if it's cold made into a hot drink. About an hour and a half later 1 package of pop tarts. In another hour and a half during a break, 2 packs "high protein" oatmeal mixed with cold water in the packages. I have to remember to put a spoon in my pocket.

[Smoky Spoon]

Bowl of oatmeal with peaches follwed by a bowl of cream of wheat with Chia granola with almonds and finished with a cup of perpeteum and protein powder mixed in powdered milk. Really fuels the body....when home substitute the cream of wheat with yogurt adding the chia and almonds granola.





For me it would be a couple bags of cheap oatmeal, a banana, a large pot of hot herbal tea, followed by a couple hand fulls of granola mix with chocolate and about as much water as I could top off the tank with. Then...I start off slow like a turtle and just keep slowly speeding up all day.

What do you do for breakfast on the trail after a few months?

[Proton]

Thanks for the tip on dehydrated fruit at Trader Joe's.


Porridge, or granola, or PB and gorp on a tortilla, or if I'm expecting a lazy day, I might even steam bake some muffins (https://www.flickr.com/photos/ke9tv/albums/72157644331682423). Coffee is a must. Fresh fruit if it's my first morning out of town, otherwise Trader Joe's has a nice selection of freeze-dried. I'm partial to the mandarin orange sections, reconstituted.

[Miel]

I finally found my ideal hiker breakfast, going to have to find a way to pack a couple of these:

LOL, and Smith Island Cake.

http://smithislandcake.com/original-chocolate-smith-island-cake-9inch

[Gambit McCrae]

10 MILES BY 10AM is a wonderful breakfast meal on the trail!!!:dance

[shakey_snake]

Peanut butter + bacon tortilla

[Sarcasm the elf]

Am I the only person here that gets near incapacitating, five-alarm heartburn from eating pop-tarts on the trail? Last time I made that mistake was 2010.

[Sarcasm the elf]

As for what I do eat, the answer is not too much in the morning of I am out to really hike. Usually I wake up, am cold and tired, pack up as fast as I can and eat a couple of handfuls of granola or trailmix while I'm hiking. It's not until a couple hours later that I take a break and really eat something.

[blue indian]

Whole grain rolled oats (slow burning carb for long lasting energy)
Protein powder (helps muscles build and recover; also keeps you feeling full longer)
Handful of trail mix (dried fruits for quick acting carbs. aka;sugar)
Carnation Instant breakfast (taste, vitamins, minerals, and calories)

I mix all this into a ziplock and consume!

[Miel]

Dehydrated or freeze-dried eggs, with onions (not freeze-dried) and cheese (Feta, if I come across some). Coffee, coffee, coffee. An orange or some grapes.

[Kolo]

Porkroll egg and cheese on a hard roll w/pepper and ketchup, but it depends on where I am, don't think you can get that down south.
Porkroll, egg and cheese on a hard roll w/ketchup should be the official state food of NJ. +1 on the pepper.

[VITCHELO]

It depends on what you have (lol). I always go for Cereal / oatmeal in the morning. But this hiking expert gave some interesting ideas about food choice for each specific season of the year ... Check this link for more http://sectionhiker.com/what-are-good-backpacking-breakfasts/