View Full Version : Trail name
squeezebox
12-07-2013, 15:37
How did you get your trail name ?
I'm thinking of something I want to call myself, but it seems like a real trail name is given you by someone else.
mrcoffeect
12-07-2013, 16:29
Mine was given. I didn't really want one, but the shoe fit.
Valley Girl
12-07-2013, 17:06
I am a Cali girl living in Texas and still talk Valley Girl:eek:
Valley Girl
12-07-2013, 17:12
Kitchen Sink or Bugs (from post you started) hehe:banana
Starchild
12-07-2013, 17:34
I wrote a longer explanation here, but the short answer is a angelic vision and angelic parents named me on the AT (not trail angels, real angels with wings and stuff).
hikerboy57
12-07-2013, 17:42
How did you get your trail name ?
I'm thinking of something I want to call myself, but it seems like a real trail name is given you by someone else.
best trail name i heard was "stupid"whenever anyone called out to him 3 or 4 heads turned.
I met Young and Dumb some years ago and felt sorry for the guy with a name like that. Other hikers said he deserved it, though. They didn't elaborate.
Traffic Jam
12-07-2013, 18:21
When I'm with my sister, I'm Tennessee Honey, she's Fireball (hmm, I wonder why?). With my family I'm Traffic Jam cuz I'm so slow everyone piles up behind me. ITri is to remind me that no matter how slow I am (biking, running, swimming, hiking) at least I'm out there trying.
How about "Thread Starter". You have to hold the record on the number of thread you've started.
Different Socks
12-07-2013, 18:56
Don't wait to be given one. Sometimes the given name is based on a terrible occurrence to you on the trail. Not always, but sometimes.
rocketsocks
12-07-2013, 19:35
The trail name you give yourself is not the one people will use when your not around...or outta earshot...most of the time. The idioms (not idioms, can't think of the word right now...brain dead) are what it's all about. But hey, start out with a name and if it gets changed to somethin you like...bonus! if not...who cares.
Sarcasm the elf
12-07-2013, 19:46
The trail name you give yourself is not the one people will use when your not around...or outta earshot...most of the time. The idioms (not idioms, can't think of the word right now...brain dead) are what it's all about. But hey, start out with a name and if it gets changed to somethin you like...bonus! if not...who cares.
Were you thinking of superlatives when you said idioms?
Sarcasm the elf
12-07-2013, 19:51
Funny enough, Elf or Sarcasm the Elf was a kind of random username and was never intended as a trail name, but given the number of people who I've met on the trail that know me by it, it might of stuck.
Real trail name is Razorback, though I'm not huge of that one...it sounds like it's tough, but was really a recommendation about grooming habits (fortunately razorback beat out the other suggestion....hairball).
rocketsocks
12-07-2013, 19:53
Were you thinking of superlatives when you said idioms?
Not sure, apparently I dunno that one either.
maybe it was idiorocketsockracy:D
Sarcasm the elf
12-07-2013, 19:58
You mean you moved grin for effect! :D
Trebor66
12-07-2013, 21:54
My Dad gave me the trail name of Trebor which is simply my first name spelled backwards.
Whack-a-mole
12-08-2013, 00:16
I earned my trail name with my flip flop and a mouse at Lance Creek. Given to me by Tetris and Squatch in 2012. Two young men I had a good time with!
rocketsocks
12-08-2013, 02:31
You mean you moved grin for effect! :D
Oops,terrible speller
...meant moved grin efterthefact :D
rocketsocks
12-08-2013, 02:33
I think they call it that construction, like don't instead of do not.
Drybones
12-08-2013, 10:35
Don't wait to be given one. Sometimes the given name is based on a terrible occurrence to you on the trail. Not always, but sometimes.
The most appropriate trail name: a friend from home met me at Fontana, brought trail magic and planned to hike a few days with me. He brought fire wood and a hatchet, was splitting wood and cut his hand badly. He had too much booze in him to drive and I wasn't much better but I drove him to the Bryson City emergency room. On the way over I asked what his trail name was, he said "911", some friends gave him that name when he had to be evacced off Springer Mt when he fell on some ice and got a head injury...thought it was fitting he share that with me on the way to the ER.
Drybones
12-08-2013, 10:37
My wife gave me my name, I'm pretty slim to start with but after 3-4 weeks on the trail dry bones is about all that's left when I get home.
Waitin 4 my trl name
12-09-2013, 14:56
How did you get your trail name ?
I'm thinking of something I want to call myself, but it seems like a real trail name is given you by someone else.
Still waitin' to find mine. I am sure it will show under a rock one day when I am least expecting.
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD
LIhikers
12-10-2013, 20:41
Even though I'm only a section hiker, a friend of mine named me fallsdownalot
I guess you can figure out why
Mac & cheese or spaghetti with a bagel is my favorite.
GoldenBear
12-10-2013, 22:13
More precisely, there AREN'T any rules!
If you wish to give yourself a nick name -- as I did (it's the name of my university's sports teams) -- then there's no rule that says that it isn't yours.
Son Driven
12-11-2013, 01:45
I wrote a longer explanation here, but the short answer is a angelic vision and angelic parents named me on the AT (not trail angels, real angels with wings and stuff).I recall the long versions on how our trail names where divinely given to us.
slbirdnerd
12-11-2013, 09:57
On my first official AT section hike this year in GA, with my 10-year-old son, I kept ending up on my butt on the damp rocks on the trail. Just walking along, then bam, sitting there on the rock. It didn't hurt, it was actually pretty funny... And forever more I shall be: "Rock Slide."
I don't have a trail name. In real life I go by Paul Mags for obvious reasons if you look at my last name. :)
MuddyWaters
12-11-2013, 19:54
How did you get your trail name ?
I'm thinking of something I want to call myself, but it seems like a real trail name is given you by someone else.
If there aint no rules, then there aint no rule against changing it later either.
Plenty have.
if my dad was still alive, he would have given me the trail name "DAMITRICK". It did not matter whether it was correct or not. It was always DAMITRICK
Drybones
12-11-2013, 21:48
if my dad was still alive, he would have given me the trail name "DAMITRICK". It did not matter whether it was correct or not. It was always DAMITRICK
Like Bill Cosby...thought his name was Jesus Christ until he was grown.
How did you get your trail name ?
I'm thinking of something I want to call myself, but it seems like a real trail name is given you by someone else.
I chose my own trail name. Personally, I wanted to define myself. Other people enjoy allowing others to choose their trail name. To some degree a hiker can choose what they answer to and they can definitely choose how they introduce themselves. It is very common to ignore a suggested or given name and accept a different one later.
I think it's a classic "Hike-Your-Own-Hike" issue.