High Sierra Topix

I'm in the powder breakfast camp too mostly (partially as my throat does not work so well- especially in the mornings).

A Via is always nice to start.

Like others I use protein and carb powders - and most recently add raw organic cacao, which is not sweet but adds a nice depth of flavour.

CAMERONM wrote:I was using the Packitgourmet smoothies for a few years until I figured out that I can get equivalents from Amazon for less money, and also buy the basic ingredients in bulk. They are essentially protein power, milk powder, yoghurt powder, vanilla, maltodextrin, some kind of fruit power like strawberry, peach or mango, and you can throw in freeze-dried fruit chuncks. A full Packitgourmet smoothie delivers 430 calories.

Cameron,

Great idea. I've enjoyed the packitgourmet smoothies, but they are too expensive. Do you have specific parts/quantities for your homemade smoothie recipe, or did you just eyeball it to taste?

Do you have specific parts/quantities for your homemade smoothie recipe, or did you just eyeball it to taste?

The ingredients are on the packages, sorry I can't find mine at the moment, I think I left it in the box with the ingredients. There are a variety of online recipes, google "backpacker smoothies", but you can also buy bulk pre-made smoothies. I tried a strawberry one that is too sweet and tastes nasty, but this peach one is close to the Packitgourmet one:
https://www.amazon.com/Instant-Smoothie ... mango&th=1

I mix a pack of Carnation instant breakfast - Needo powdered whole milk (not 1%) - and a double shot of instant espresso. I'll have that and an instant oatmeal and I'm good to go in the morning.

I backpack with my wife, who is up early as exhausted early. I had to change my backpacking with her because I had to problem hitting the trail at 9a and hiking until 6p, but it didn't work.

I mixed carnation instant breakfasts with the powdered peanut butter and shook them up in a water bottle that I kept in my bearbox. I warmed up water and poured it in a glad tuperware that was sealed shut with my own oatmeal mix, and put in a custom reflectix cozy. I also used a catfood stove which cooled quickly so we could be packed and be ready to go in less then 30.

2 hours later for our first break, we would eat the oatmeal, then have a late lunch and early dinner (instead of a snack between lunch and dinner)

I highly recommend getting a dehydrator. My nesco one was cheap, and I would dehydrate bananas, strawberries, and peaches. You can mix with chocolate, almonds, and either the instant fruit & cream packs or use powdered milk and instant oatmeal to reduce the sugar.

I would also dehydrate low day lunch meat, canned chicken, shrimp, imitation crab meat, and grind turkey mixed with bread crumbs. I know that's not breakfast, but the dehydrator is well worth it...

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Over the course of 37 yeas I tried just about all types of breakfast. I had 2 kinds of breakfasts. One for layover days and one for hiking days. For the last 6-12 years my hiking breakfast was just my logical choice. For me (and I think everyone) I wanted the most energy for the least digestion demands. That would be sugar. The best way to go for me was (believe it or not) a breakfast of Gatorade. After starting my day like this I had to drink it (sugar) all day until I my lunch break or arrival time.

Do not count me in as "everyone". A sugary breakfast is the LAST thing I want. Sugar spikes my blood sugar, just to crash it a few hours later. I do better on complex carbohydrates for a long slow "burn" that lasts most of the day. In fact I never bring sugared drinks when backpacking. Good old fashioned oatmeal mush, or Malt-o-Meal, lots of nuts, dried fruit and Nido are my go-to breakfasts, at most a teaspoon of sugar. As for digestive challenge, what would do me in would be cold summer sausage and pop-tarts (from PCT blogs, this is a common breakfast). To each his own.

Wandering Daisy wrote: As for digestive challenge, what would do me in would be cold summer sausage and pop-tarts (from PCT blogs, this is a common breakfast).

And then people wonder why I've been stocking up on summer sausage when this is the winter.

Daisy
You mentioned sugar crash as though I didn't adress that issue. I addressed that issue.
Also you mentioned what was the LAST thing you wanted and I never said anything about what someone might want to eat. We run on blood sugar.

My blood sugar does not crash because I feed it a steady supply of long lasting complex carbohydrates. I do not feel the need for sugar, because my diet prevents the sugar crash in the first place. Relying on simple sugars, sets up a vicious cycle of blood sugar ups and downs. That's my metabolism. I simply questioned your statement that "everyone" feels as you do. I only see simple sugar as an emergency measure if you failed to eat properly. I rarely "bonk", but I do have a few glucose tablets in my first aid kit.