Breaking camp in the morning

[Deadeye]

I'm in the 60+ minute camp. I like a big breakfast and 2 cups of coffee, but then I can pack up and go pretty quick. If I'm in the hammock, I can enjoy that second cup of coffee while lounging, then the hammock & tarp get packed up last.

[jomo1983]

Mornings are a mixed bag. I'm mentally anxious to get down the trail, and physically ready to rack out another hour. Then I sling my pack and realize I have nowhere to go and all day to get there.

[English Stu]

In camp have out only the essentials that you need in the morning; food and walking clothes- if you you haven't slept in the clothes :-). Do as much packing as you can the night before. If you are going to cook have stove etc prepared. Packing therefore should be sleep gear, sleeping bag and shelter, kitchen stuff if cooking, toiletries and first aid kit.
I have an energy bar and a cup of water before setting off.
I find it better to break camp quickly and early then walk on; an hour or so later at a nice spot make breakfast; the kitchen gear and food is at the top of the pack.
I avoid and practice having no OMFAT i.e Old mans Fannying About Time ; that is where the time usually goes. Always pick up an item and pack it into stuff sacks, not pick things up and put them down up many times, wondering where does this go. Put items directly into stuff sacks and place them near the pack not on the ground to be picked up again. With the stuff sacks sequenced near the pack these can be quickly put in all in one go.

[peakbagger]

I dont really have a choice, at age 63 my bladder somewhat controls what time I get up.

When sectioning the AT, I figured 1/2 hour if I was in shelter, 1 hour if I was not. That included heating 3 cups of water for oatmeal and hot chocolate. One a recent backpack our group seemed to average a bit longer but that may have been different people's morning routine.

[Deadeye]

You can do it in 40 minutes - great! I can't do much better than an hour and 40 minutes, but I've stopped worrying about it - I like my breakfast and coffee. If I have to get going early, I set the alarm and sleep in a tent so I don't bother others. My tardiness is only a problem when I'm hiking with someone, which is rare.

[heavy]

It depends so much on the conditions and my mood. I tarp, prefer to cowboy camp, and don't do much clothes changing though. Sometimes breakfast and coffee feel like a hassle and I'll dump an instant breakfast and instant coffee into cold water and hit the trail. Other times I'm liable to let the dew dry off of the tarp, have a morning campfire and shoot the bull with a buddy. 15 minutes - 3 hours depending haha. When I was on the PCT last spring and we were hiking early to avoid heat, I'd munch a probar during the cram ritual and skip caffeine altogether. Maybe even 10 minutes under those conditions.

[Night Train]

Like a few others on here it really boils down to my mood or better yet my motivation. When I first started section hiking I was regimental in every aspect of my hike, including the morning routine. It was just something that worked for me being new to backpacking. Present day being more experienced in the craft, I am sooooo much more flexible with the morning routine and the overall hike in general. I am probably in the one to two hour window for breaking camp.

[Leo L.]

During my recent hike at the Arctic Circle Trail, we could cut down the morning routine (breaking tent w/out breakfast) to roughly 30 minutes, due to my daughter being very helpful in storing away the tent.
It might have helped a bit that most mornings it was on the chilly side, you dont laze around much when shivering.