Origin of your trail name?

[markc7]

Just outside of Caratunk, Maine this June, I was attacked by a red-tailed hawk. Dive-bombed, as it were.

[Drybones]

That is funny. Maybe we can start a thread called the backpacking trip from hell. I'll bet we'd get some really good stories there.
Okay here's my trailname story. It's pretty plain and simple. My wife and I had been hiking quite a few years all over the place. AT, FNST, PT, lots of small ones, just about whenever we could. We knew about trailnames at the time just didn't have any. Every time we'd get ready to go on the trail I would say I'm gonna drink me a quart of milk cause I ain't gonna get any out there till we get back. No big deal, it became standard procedure. Then as soon as we'd get back it would be the first thing I'd get. Standard procedure, no bid deal. Then one time were on a 7 day in the Big South Fork in Kentucky. We're hiking out on the last day and all I'm talking about is when we get to the top how I'm gonna go get me a big old milk. My wife finally says will you shut up about your damn milk. You ain't nothin' but a big old milk baby. In fact that's what I'm gonna call you. That's your trail name. Milkbaby. Milkbaby,milkbaby,milkbaby. And that was it for a long, long time. Eventually somehow it developed into milkman. To this day I still follow the standard procedure and it's the last thing I drink before I get on the trail and it's the first thing I get when I come in. And, if your hiking with me there will be times when I drive you crazy talking about it. To the point to where you'll say will you shut up about your damn milk. And then I will, (for a while).

I kinda like Milkbaby.

[dancingbear]

I have a birth mark on my arm that looks like a dancing bear and one night on my first AT hike with my dad he gave me the name and dancing bear has stuck ever since

[Darwin13]

I'm on the younger side so my friends that come with me are youg as well and thus stupid. I seem to be the only one of them that is always able to figure the problem out or rig something up or find a reapply or ride or something. So one day my friend said I Darwin'd something (I think it was something to do with a shelter.) so it stuck. Plus I like to think that I am ever changing.

[fudgefoot]

Care to guess how I got mine?

Here's the story from that ill-fated section hike in 2002:
We had only a short 3.3 mile hike to get to our destination for the evening – Morgan Stewart Memorial Shelter. After a moderate climb, we reached the top of Mt. Egbert on Depot Hill and spotted the shelter. A thru hiker and a couple of section hikers were already occupying it. There was a nice tenting area so we decided to pitch the tent. We filled up with water at the hand pump and cooked dinner.

After dinner, I headed back the trail to the privy and then into the woods to take a leak. Walking through the woods to get back to the trail, I felt my right leg sink into what I thought was a small pothole. Now this was no peepie step – we’re talking full extension, plant the foot, and try to push off. Only problem was, the more I tried to push off, the farther in I sank. I don’t think I’ll ever forget the moment when I realized the full gravity of my predicament – I had stepped in the old privy hole! I extracted my foot (I was wearing Teva sandals) and looked down to see my worst fears confirmed – my right foot and lower leg to mid-calf were covered with a thick coating of crap! I yelled to Krueser who was lounging obliviously near the shelter: “Fred, get over here, quick!” After he had finished doubling over with laughter, we headed down to the pump and began the lengthy clean-up process. Fortunately, this shelter had a good water source. An hour and many liberal applications of soap later, I felt reasonably clean. When they relocated the privy, the least they could have done was seal off the old hole!

A wonderful breeze was blowing on top of the mountain that evening. Laying in the tent, I remarked to Fred that this incident had “trail name” written all over it. After years of hiking, I still didn’t have a trail name and it was beginning to wear on me. We kicked around several possible options. As I was drifting off to sleep, I muttered “Fudge Foot” and a trail name was born. Sometimes you get to choose your trail name, sometimes the Trail chooses for you.

[Miami Joe]

Mine came when I decided I want to become part of the AT hiking community, I was inspired to go to the AT and ask the AT itself if I would be accepted. I chose the closest point to my home and went, as I approached that spot I started asking if the AT would accept me into the community, and kept asking as I got closer I spoke words not of me, while not exact as i forget the exact words it was 'yes I fully accept you and welcome you, as a parent names their new born child I give you the name Starchild' and for the next 2 days the name Starchild was echoing though my mind.

At that time I also had visions of what is best described as a intersteller AT that our AT is only a part of, a path that angels travel from star to star as we travel the AT, and is they who are good intention behind all the good that one may experience including the blessings that inspire and empower real life trail angels.

Peace

Best post ever!

My trail name is "Blackberry" because, well, I like to stop all day on the trail and eat blackberries.

[Miami Joe]

A new AT friend, Fresh Ground, was asking my hiking buddy, Birdman, how I could walk uphill so fast. My buddy said it must be easier for me since I don't have little peanut legs. When they caught up Fresh Ground explained I was now Walnut Calves. It got shortened to Walnut. I don't even know how big walnuts are. I tried to break it but the fact that I hate nuts only made it stick that much more. I've embraced it now and I have some walnut-shaped wooden beads hanging on my pack.

Nice! And Go Rebels!

[BirdBrain]

I do not feel comfortable expressing how I received my name. I will tell how my hiking partner got his instead. I have been hiking since I was a teenager. Back then I would have called it running in the woods. For the past few years I have been reconnecting with one of my sisters. We sail, hike, and vacation together several weeks each year. I am a bit off the wall and her husband if very calm and balanced.

One night I saw a show on the AT on Netflix. Little did I know he watched the same show that night. The next time we met, we practically finished each others sentences about seeing the show, wishing we could go, and the hope of talking the other into going. It was settled on the spot that we would section hike the Maine portion.

What followed was a ton of research. We found out about the trail name thing from the show. I read about carrying an avatar somewhere. My sister collects elephants. There are hundreds in every form in her home. When I presented the idea of carrying an avatar to him, it was obvious what he would carry. To prove the point, we posed the issue to my sister. Without hesitation, she stated that he was to carry one of her "Ellies". I immediately dubbed him Ellie Luggah (the ah being meant to capture the way us Mainers pronounce words ending in er).

I will let Ellie Luggah tell my story if he chooses. I will say this much: 2 other names were suggested before Bird Brain. 1) Raven Lunatic - I love all birds and would get the Ravens of Maine to call back to us while we were hiking and my sister would say the lunatic description would fit. 2) Seagull Whisperer - From an encounter on Appledore Island where I was being attacked by numerous Blackback Seagulls. I felt that the latter name was too long, but after seeing the Rodent Whisperer on here, I feel differently.

Anywho... it's Ellie Luggah and Bird Brain from Maine. Ayuh.

[HikerMom58]

Great stories from one of the BEST threads ever!!
Fudgefoot.... oh SNAP!!!

BirdBrain... gotta love that northern ME accent... Ayuh!

[DaveSail]

I had mine prior to any " event " on the AT . I shouldn't have mentioned it , but now it seems to have " stuck " ! Trail Angel Mary used it at the
2010 " Gathering " at Concord University , in Athens West Virginia . Then , ALDA printed it in a number of publications , so I guess I'll use it .

I was in the US Air Force from '57 to '61 . At Stewart Air Force Base . Next door to West Point Military Academy , on he Hudson River , in New York .
My squadron First Sargent was going over to West Point and Sky Diving with their club . I always thought that would be fun , and asked to go along .
He said I couldn't , as we were Air Force and they were Army ! But , he said I could start a club on our base . So I did . It turned out to be the very
first Sky Diving Club in the whole Air Force !!

Anyway , the army guys had a tradition of making making the last jump of the day into a farmer's field , bordered by a street on which there was a bar.
When my landing - acuracy got good enough that I was allowed to make that jump with them , I joined them . All of us sitting at the bar . They called -
out their orders : Bud , Coors , Schlitz , Heineken , Yuengling , etc. When they got to me I said : " Ice Cream " . All these macho Army Guys laughed
and laughed . At our " First Jump " Dinner my Place Name Card read : " Ice Cream " . That was my name from then on . Even on a Liberty Pass in NYC
I would turn around wnen a Vendor hollered out : " Ice Cream " !! So , I guess I'm stuck with it . And I DO eat a lot of Ice Cream ! Great at Concord U.
as they had an " All You Can Eat " FREE Ice Cream Machine !!

David V. Webber

[Tharwood]

I do not have one yet... I am willing to bet it will be some how related to snoring..... From what I am told , I would not be allowed in the shelters due to my snoring... It is REAL bad....not as bad since I quit smoking last January 2012. But still very bad ...according to same... Guess I will just have to wait n see.

[Mountain Mojo]

People alwayz called me Magic, then Mountain Magic cause I can usually be found wandering somewhere in the mountainz. My boyfriend callz me Mojo instead of Magic, hence Mountain Mojo lol

[Another Kevin]

My trail name - if I have one - hasn't found me yet. There's one that I wore in the mid-1970s, but it doesn't fit me any more, rather like everything else I wore back then. If you know a guy named Kevin who wears a trail name, that's not me, I'm Another Kevin.

[StylinLP38]

In the last year of local hiking every weekend I was never given a thru-hike name. But back in 99 when I was on team phoenix at LazerQuest (we won the nationals) I went by the name of Vagabond. For 2 years thats what most people only knew me as. My teammates knew my real name but still called me that. Made a name for myself with that name appearing on the score boards would strike terror in the other participants which I enjoyed heh. I had good team tactics and make others laugh. But I prefered to roam the mazes alone and squaring off others. Suppose I felt like a hunter. One day listening to Metallica song "where ever I may roam" I found the perfect name that fit my lonely solo competitive style. Sad but true. Vagabond.

Roamer, wanderer
Nomad, vagabond
Call me what you will

Wherever I may roam

[S'more]

I don't have a trail name, yet. I go by S'more here because of my long time involvement in Girl Scouts ( and TONS of hiking and camping with them). I guess I could have chosen Thin Mint which would have worked. Someone here- he that shall not be named - has suggested Snowball.

[S'more]

Great stories from one of the BEST threads ever!!
Fudgefoot.... oh SNAP!!!

BirdBrain... gotta love that northern ME accent... Ayuh!

A-yuh, yah do.

[BirdBrain]

I do not have one yet... I am willing to bet it will be some how related to snoring..... From what I am told , I would not be allowed in the shelters due to my snoring... It is REAL bad....not as bad since I quit smoking last January 2012. But still very bad ...according to same... Guess I will just have to wait n see.

Help a man in need. He has confessed his unique trait. Give him a name.

[StylinLP38]

Help a man in need. He has confessed his unique trait. Give him a name.

Smokeless

[HikerMom58]

Help a man in need. He has confessed his unique trait. Give him a name.

How about Royal Rumble R&R for short.

[joshuasdad]

42 is my self selected name. Since I have hiked half the AT without getting a new one, I am sticking with it.

Way long ago it was my number in my (engineering) fraternity, picked because of Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, which was a popular book at the time. I now plan to finish the AT at age 42, near Forest Service Road...42.

I'll stop there.