[LadyÆsa]

What do you choose for your breakfast before the trail? Do you choose heavy items, lots of protein, something light, wait to be on the trail....? Personally myself, I'm not a breakfast-in-the-morning kind of person - I always feel ill. I wait for a few hours before I eat just to make sure I hold it down, so for my breakfasts before the trail I often have a mixed berry assortment and a Gatorade while I'm driving to the trailhead, since by that time I've been up a couple hours with my last-minute prep. I just pack bars and snacks for the trail, along with a substantial lunch to make up for it.

[Ski]

as much as I can possibly hold, and then when I get to the trailhead, I'll usually stuff something else in my face. let's see.... last time out I had 4 fried potatoes and a 3-egg avocado and cheese omelette and tea before I left the house, then a latte' in Aberdeen (that's got to be good for at least a thousand calories, right?). then a pint of tabouli and 3 hard-boiled eggs (and more tea) at the trailhead. for some weird reason, I can hike out on an empty gut. last time all I had before I headed out was about half a liter of water.

[Hulksmash]

Are you talking multi day backpacking trip. Or day hike? Generally before an extra strenuous trip i look for something totally overloaded with calories. Anything at the fast food drive through fits the bill. If i know I'm gonna blow 8000 calories in a day I'm not worried about eating a 1500 calorie burger. I do most of my mileage on the first day of a backpacking trip on day one anyway. After that my appetite dwindles and yea i have issues eating breakfast. Usually i try to choke down some oatmeal.

[LadyÆsa]

[outdoorgrrl]

I eat overnight pineapple oats almost every time I head out on the trail. It's filling and it keeps me going for hours before I get hungry again: The night before, stir the following together: 1 c rolled oats 1/2 c crushed pineapple 3/4 c soy milk Top with: chopped fruit chopped nuts In the morning, there's a lovely Swiss-style muesli waiting for you! Yum! I do a trail version of this as well. I dehydrate the pineapple and put it in a bag with the oats, 3 tbsp soy milk powder and some chopped nuts. Add water just to cover the night before and in the morning you have breakfast!

[sarbar]

I eat my daily oats w/ a handmade frappe (I make a strong brewed cold espresso/homemade almond milk). And then drink another latte on the way to the trailhead. Usually with fresh fruit. Then at the trailhead I have a light snack.

[JennieEl]

If I really expect to be hiking or working hard, I will go to a local restaurant for eggs and bacon, etc. (one of those little places that haven't been updated since about 1970 and you wouldn't think of going inside except for all the cars parked out front). For less strenous stuff (or if money is short) I'll fix myself eggs, or maybe just have extra cereal or oatmeal with toast.

[grannyhiker]

I'm a cold cereal breakfaster, whether at home or backpacking. When backpacking, it's grapenuts or meusli (raw) with dried milk, freeze dried berries, chopped nuts. Add cold water, mix and eat. No need to break out the stove. I've never been able to choke down cooked cereal anyway, and I've always disliked eggs. At home I have a homemade latte, but on the trail I skip coffee (don't like it black and it's yukky with dried skim milk). Your mileage, of course, may vary! A lot of thru-hikers start hiking at the crack of dawn and stop an hour or two later for breakfast. I normally don't do that--for one thing, I'm a slow starter. Besides, if my dog can't rest for an hour after his breakfast, it comes back up! The exception would be a very hot day, but then I get up a an hour and a half before dawn, start hiking at first light, stop before noon and spend the afternoon napping in the shade near water (better than trying to carry a 70-lb. dog with heatstroke). Pick the pattern that works best for you. It will probably take some experimenting!

[Magellan]

A dayhike starts with peanut butter toast and a home spun berry smoothie on the way to the trailhead. I usually also throw down a larabar before starting, occasionally just puttin the bar in my pocket.

[Fletcher]

A breakfast sandwich and bananas, usually some coffee and a bunch of Gatorade too.

[Slugman]

I'm also not a morning eater, by preference, I have that queasy stomach feeling in the morning, usually. But I need to eat to hike, so it's been a problem sometimes. Now I usually get up two hours before I want to actually hike, have coffee, try to eat something even if it's just part of a granola bar, then I get all packed up, tent, etc, then I make a real breakfast, and by then I'm ready to eat it. I have a super light frying pan, 5 ounces, a real pan, not some super-thin POS that will burn everything (I have one of those as well, just 2.5 ounces, but it is basically useless). I sometimes make powdered eggs (Ova Easy) which are really good (made from whole eggs) , just like scrambled eggs at home, sometimes I make the Packit Gourmet omelet mix (enough for several people, or divide it up for one person to have several meals), sometimes I just fry up some kind of meat product and wrap it in a warmed tortilla, or any combination of the above. Avoid egg meals that simply rehydrate to eat, they are nasty IMO. The eggs I use rehydrate to the equivalent of raw eggs, then they are cooked, and they are good. I have found a really good breakfast to be a vital ingredient to a strong hiking day. Critical, even. If you don't want to cook, I would suggest a tortilla or two wrapped around some kind of protein/fat combo, meat if you eat that, or maybe peanut butter or similar if you don't. This advice is totally geared towards backpacking. Dayhiking has never been an issue, because by the time I shower, have coffee, drive to the trailhead, etc, I'm OK to eat, so I usually scarf down a sandwich I brought, or maybe a breakfast sandwich I bought if my drive took me past the Sultan Bakery.

[Kim Brown]

I take a Peanut butter, banana and raisin sandwich, and sometimes a home-made fruit smoothie to eat on the way to the TH. Coffee, of course. Sometimes I'll stop at McD's for a breakfast muffin thingy if I'm out of food at home. Which is often. I hate shppping.

[Luc]

if i get up too early, i can't poo, and i'm not hungry. so it's usually coffee & a bar of some kind (don't want to put a load of food on the load of...). if it's a long drive i'll stop for a scone and some fruit or something. if it's not too early, then like magellan, i'd usually go for some protein vs a carb bag, and unlike hulk, my first day is usually my lowest mileage day - so perhaps the first day's agenda might be a consideration for everyone. typically, if it's a day hike, or a weekender, i'd pack a sandwich and bagel for the drive. usually i can handle that. i'm rarely......never at the trailhead at 9am. also, to highlight the individuality of us all, unlike Ghiker, cold cereal (while i love it) leaves me growling hungry in 40min.

[wakerobin]

We usually stop at the Grand Central Bakery in Burien. They have the most amazing biscuits, which they only sell as part of the sausage sandwich. If you get there early they have little quiches still warm out of the oven. We also get a pecan sticky bun and a triple shot Americano to go. Once on the trail I am hard pressed to choke down anything but a mocha or coffee. I try to eat something so I don't turn into a crabby Cathy in the first mile, but sometimes it's a real fight with my gag reflex.

[GrnXnham]

Before a strenuous day-hike, my wife demands extra whole-wheat pancakes--the kind that are so gritty they taste like sawdust with syrup on them. These things tend to stay in your stomach all day long. They feel like a lead weight in there but the good thing is we don't need refueling for several hours.