[contour5]

On the trail breakfast is 2 packs of oatmeal or 2 eggy burritos. Plus coffee, which is a Trader Joes instant with cream and sugar, and a Tasters Choice, mixed together in an 8 oz cup. Gave up the french press because it was a hassle and a mess, and then gave up the Via because it's a rip off and it tastes like acidic dryer lint. But if you mean car breakfast, like driving to the TH breakfast, that's a whole nother level of culinary consciousness. Frequently no fewer than seven or eight multiple-shot espresso beverages, Starbucks breakfast sandwiches, Mcdonalds breakfast sandwiches, fruit, cheese, quarts of watermelon juice, hard boiled eggs, crackers, bagels, bags of cheap pastries, giant greasy burgers with fries, more coffee, sodas, chips, whole packages of pre-cooked bacon, chinese take-out dinners, microwave burritos; there are no rules or limits. I eat pretty much continuously while driving toward the trail head, stopping frequently to get more food. Sometimes I collect so much food on the way out of town that I'm forced to car camp several days in order to consume it all. I've missed entire hikes due to over-breakfasting.

[Hiker Mama]

I like a solid breakfast like eggs and cheese with toast before my day hikes. I almost always snack on the way there, anyway. And drink my coffee. On the trail I'll just have oatmeal (old-fashioned, not instant) with dried milk and cranberries/raisins/brown sugar/cinnamon. I don't want to do much work then. And coffee of some sort with cocoa in it.

[Magellan]

[cc11]

I take a bong hit and drink a 22oz beer then im ready for trails. Breakfast, no thanks.

[pimaCanyon]

I eat when I'm hungry. I'm not usually hungry right after getting up in the morning, so I'm not in the habit of eating something really hearty for breakfast. (Eating when I'm not hungry does not work for me, I end up feeling sick.) If I plan to get in the car and start driving soon after getting up, I'll take something light to eat when I finally do get hungry, like a bowl of blueberries and yogurt. If the hike's gonna be a workout with lots of uphill at the beginning (like most hikes in the mountains in WA), I'll take 2 or 3 hard boiled eggs with me in the pack. At some point early in the hike, I'll get hungry, maybe really hungry, out come the eggs and little salt, and they'll keep me going for quite a while. But on the whole, I find that I may need to eat every couple of hours while I'm hiking, so I make sure to have lots of snacks and 2 or 3 lunches in the pack.

[Stefan]

I perform better before noonish if I eat before I get to the trailhead. what I eat: banana some meat apple juice whole grain bread of some type after eating this stuff, I also find that when I arrive at the trailhead I need to lighten my load.

[fox212]

I can definitely relate to the early-morning queasy feelings. I just try to eat something that I am especially comfortable with, like oatmeal or scrambled eggs and bacon and bacon (for some reason the queasy feeling is amplified by certain foods that I love at any other time, like beef ). Although, there is a recently-legalized option that ignites my apetite, no matter what time of day A lil bit o that before breakfast, and I might even eat the plate

[ldyblade]

Pre dayhike breakfast- 2 eggs, turkey sausage, toast and coffee. Solo backpacking breakfast- 2 packages of instant oatmeal and coffee. Solo backpacking 2nd breakfast- Gorp, dried fruit, and Mojo bar. Backpacking with Rumidude breakfast- hashbrowns with onion and peppers, or biscuits with sausage gravy, or pancakes, and coffee...

[Flatulent Elephant]

Same as my usual "light" breakfast--a piece of toast and a banana, or oatmeal and a banana (and sometimes with caffeine-free tea). I have no reason to suddenly eat a heavy load just before hiking unless I want a food coma. I've come to realize that not one food over another actually gives you more energy, i.e. something with lots of protein has no different result in the amount of energy or sustained energy. And forget drinking a bunch of water, that can easily bring on nausea or at the very least, more gas and bathroom stops. What seems to work best is small snacks throughout the day and minimal water (unless a hot day).

[hiker1]

I have to eat something substantial like banana, hot cereal if I have time, otherwise cold cereal, toast and egg if time, juice, coffee. Then bring energy tidbits like Power Bar energy blasts or Honey Stingers on the way uphill, along with energy drinks watered down by half with beetroot puree. Coming down after lunch on top, nothing more at all.

[SallyMander]

I also have problems eating in the morning. If I'm waking up for an alpine start for a glacier climb, I really struggle, and not enough sleep + rushing means I can barely get anything down. Granola bars aren't the best for me (usually too much sugar), so I've found that nuts are the way to go. I buy an assortment of nuts in bulk (cashews, filberts, pecans, and walnuts most recently) and mix them. I keep a big bag in my pack and a small one in my pocket so I can constantly snack. Also, I've started to drink chocolate milk for quick and easy calories and protein. At home, I mix approximately 5 parts dry nonfat milk with 1 part cocoa and 1 part sugar. Then, in the morning I mix it with a few cups of water. It's easy to get down and fairly high in calories. I buy my own ingredients to control the amount of sugar and fat, and I can change the ratios around. At night, it becomes hot cocoa mix!

[Treehugger5]

I found out the hard way this last week that just because I can go run 7-8 miles on an empty stomach, or hike the trails at the end of my street, does not mean I can start a tough backpack on one packet of quaker oats and a hard boiled egg. It's a miracle I had any food left after the hike in. Note taken.

[coldrain108]

Food is fuel, I'll eat a big pile of food before I leave the house. Eggs, bagel, hash browns, bacon. Chase it with tea and maybe coffee if the tea doesn't do it. A banana on the way and then a Kind bar or the like as I'm walking away from the car. That will get me a couple of hours on my feet before I break into the lunchables. I can actually go almost all day if I have the right breakfast, but I'm not going anywhere w/o that breakfast. I can ignore lunch cravings indefinitely without any repercussions, but w/o breakfast I'll be bonking in minutes...nothing says you're having fun like headspins and the dry heaves on the side of the trail. I like having a little jet propulsion for the early part of the trip. Anything with soy in it will provide the needed chemical combinations.

[nuclear_eggset]

It varies, but I do like eating pancakes, because I can pack the leftovers to have when we get to the trailhead. (Peanut butter and jelly pancake sandwiches, yo!)

[Sourstraw]

I drink a smoothie in the morning before I leave ... banana, frozen berries, protein powder. If I'm on a backpacking trip, I swear by Mazama Bars. They are the only bar I've found that makes me feel satisfied without bothering my stomach. I suffered from queasy-backpacking-stomach for years ... oatmeal literally makes me gag on the trail. Those bars are the best things I have ever had!!