View Full Version : nicknames on the Trail.
How does some one get a nickname or trail name.:o
Lone Wolf
08-21-2007, 09:30
How does some one get a nickname or trail name.:o
i gave mine to myself
Crazy Legs
08-21-2007, 09:36
Some are self-named, others are named by fellow hikers on the trail. The later is usually a result of a part of your personality that stands out. Be it something you say a lot, something you do/did, or a myriad of other things folks use to create nicknames - which in turn is all a trail name is.
Frolicking Dinosaurs
08-21-2007, 09:44
The Dinos were nameless when they started. When asked we would say we were nameless - just a couple of dinosaurs (what the grandkids sometimes call us teasingly) frolicking down the trail. It wasn't long before we started being ask if we were the frolicking dinosuars....... the name fits. We are often called he-dino and she-dino these days as well.
Have a last name with too many odd vowel and consonant combos; make it hard to spell.
Have the nick name used for over 80 years in your family.
Also have a good friend make a way cool graphic before you leave for a trail and then putting it on a t-shirt also helps.
:)
TJ aka Teej
08-21-2007, 12:05
How does some one get a nickname or trail name.:o
You hike, meet, and make friends with other hikers.
You'd have to be an anti-social loner not to get a trailname! :D
rcunigan
08-21-2007, 12:52
I was an assistant chemist to an older bald chemist. The plant people called be Beaker and it has followed me to the trail. I even was given a stuffed Muppet puppet of Beaker.
sir White Wolf
08-21-2007, 12:59
I started out as White Wolf in 2000. As I was hiking I ran across an Ex-English service man named Steve. We Ran into each other at the Fontana Dam Hilton and he Knighted me with a hiking stick henceforth to be known sir White Wolf. (a minor Knighting so I use a little s in sir)
The Weasel
08-21-2007, 13:00
How does some one get a nickname or trail name.:o
There are several threads about trail names. Try "search" for "trail names" (use plural, in quotes). I'll look for them later if someone doesn't beat me to the punch.
The Weasel
I just took my last name and made it my trail name, it was what a lot of people in my life call me, so I figured it would work for my trail name.
I have also been blessed with giving out a trail name, his name is snickers, and that is because every night of the backpacking trip I was on he had a snickers bar, and refused to share.
Kirby
Nearly Normal
08-21-2007, 23:08
Most are given though something people see or relate to you.
There was one dude that parked his bare butt on the Springer plaque and got renamed "skidmark".
I dought he adopted it but he'll aways be the guy that did the deed.
I saw a guy recieve a care package from home that included dried squid.
His hiking buddy named him "squid jerky". Don't know if it stuck.
Nearly Normal
stranger
08-24-2007, 20:55
I got mine in 1995 because my hiking partner was slower than me so we would spend large amounts of time without seeing each other, when he caught up to me he would always say "hello stranger", so it stuck.
Most are given though something people see or relate to you.
There was one dude that parked his bare butt on the Springer plaque and got renamed "skidmark".
Haaaha. That's funny! :D
Wonder who that was? :-?
SGT Rock
08-25-2007, 04:30
Sometimes people pin them on you. If you like it, you keep it. If you don't, then keep hiking until something geets pinned on you that you like.
Honestly some folks have some stupid ones - but who am I to tell them that?
You need a trail name?
7Sisters
08-25-2007, 05:29
This came up in another thread. Here's how I got mine.
My wife and I were in Monument Valley on vacation and we got up a couple hours before the sun rose to watch the stars and look at the sun come up. One of the constellations we really enjoyed looking at was the 7Sisters. It was an incredibly great moment during a tremendous vacation.
I chose this trail name as a way to remember that special moment/vacation and as a way to stay connected to my wife while I'm on the trail.
My non-hiking Mardi Gras "Krewe" friends gave it to me. Or more precisely, I decided to use it after "Tomato Bob" started floating around me...and I didn't want to be called "Tomato Bob" for the rest of my life.
You got to careful when hiking the AT. There's more dangers than just venomous vipers, bad news bears, dueling banjo's lookin' for a pretty mouth, compounded factures, hell freezing over blizzards in July, love sick moose in scorching heat.
Hey!!! If you don't believe me, just ask "Old Fhart"! :p
".....Well, he must o' thought that is quite a joke
And it got a lot of laughs from a' lots of folk,
It seems I had to fight my whole life through.
Some gal would giggle and I'd get red
And some guy'd laugh and I'd bust his head,
I tell ya, life ain't easy for a boy named "Sue....."
......J.R. Cash (given name, 1932-2003 )
...........aka, John R. Cash (the air force wouldn't allow just initials)
...........aka, Johnny Cash (stage name, gave himself)
...........aka. "the Man in Black." (by adoring fans)
Tennessee Viking
08-26-2007, 00:28
How does some one get a nickname or trail name.:o
True. A lot are self named. A lot of people use either their everyday nicknames, internet/gaming nicknames, nicknames from their hobbies and jobs. But you will eventually get nicknamed by other hikers because of unforgettable events, books, foods, or anything silly.
Mine is one of my internet names. Buliwyf, originally is from the Michael Crichton book "Eaters of the Dead," one of my favorite books/movies. It is Viking for 'Bee Hunter' or 'Bear.' I like it because its very unusual and hikers will ask about it.
True. A lot are self named. A lot of people use either their everyday nicknames, internet/gaming nicknames, nicknames from their hobbies and jobs. But you will eventually get nicknamed by other hikers because of unforgettable events, books, foods, or anything silly.
Mine is one of my internet names. Buliwyf, originally is from the Michael Crichton book "Eaters of the Dead," one of my favorite books/movies. It is Viking for 'Bee Hunter' or 'Bear.' I like it because its very unusual and hikers will ask about it.
I was nicknamed at my work as "The Dude" because I look and sound like "the dude" on the Big Lebowski. I don't think I will take that one with me.
Truth be known, I am "The Dude" in real life. ;) That movie was written about me, I think.
Wasn't there about a DOZEN "dudes" on the trail this year?!! :eek:
This agression won't stand. :confused: Maaaaan...
The Weasel
08-26-2007, 04:10
Aus-
Glad to know The Dude abides.
The Weasel
sasquatch2014
08-26-2007, 08:22
There is that famous fottage of Bigfoot walking through the stream bed up in the NW. Well a few years back during a canoe trip in the Adirondack Mts I was striding to the lake for quick dip sans clothing next thing I know there was a bright flash of light and I was forever frozen in megapixels as Sasquatch the great white ape of the north. Thinking back on it now I really need to work on getting some sun on the undercarrige it could blind someone, oh or used to signal for help! Theres always a positive.
SGT Rock
08-26-2007, 08:28
If you plan to start with a trail name, try "Tooka Chinchilla" I always thought that one would be obscure enough that only a few of us would ever get it.
Miss Janet gave me my trail name: "That Guy". She couldn't pronounce my orginal trail name: "fehchet". Miss J. and her children kept calling me: "fetch it". I didn't know what I was supposed to go after. Anyway, "fehchet" was to be "the chef" spelled backwards when I signed up for a Yahoo account back in the 90's. "teh chef" works. FYI.
Tennessee Viking
08-26-2007, 22:02
I was nicknamed at my work as "The Dude" because I look and sound like "the dude" on the Big Lebowski. I don't think I will take that one with me.
Truth be known, I am "The Dude" in real life. ;) That movie was written about me, I think.
Wasn't there about a DOZEN "dudes" on the trail this year?!! :eek:
This agression won't stand. :confused: Maaaaan...
Just hope no one ruins your rug (sleeping mat),
kyhiker1
08-26-2007, 22:52
My trailname(Mountainfire) was given to me as a result of bad sunburn to my head after I had shaved the hair off during a very hot and dry summer of 1997.