Trail Names for AT Hikers [Archive]

Rain Man

04-21-2010, 11:05

Manwich

04-21-2010, 11:06

I called myself Totem for a while because somebody thought that was my trail name for some reason.

Then, on suggestion of my friends, I changed it to manwich, because I make and dehydrate manwich (sloppy joes) for section hiking and cook them into tortillas.

Kinda like a frat, without the hazing and hapless idiocy.

Tennessee Viking

04-21-2010, 12:12

How does one get a trail name???

At the Present my is: BTYou can start with quirks or obsessions. Is there one soda that you only drink. Or snack that you always have to eat.

It can also relate to an incident. Did you ever fall in a funny way or in funny place.

Something you always talk about. Something you always where. A game you play on trail.

Then no real meaning at all.

I named myself. Tennesse being my original home state. Viking because my favorite book deals with vikings.

Lone Wolf

04-21-2010, 12:22

How does one get a trail name???

i gave it to myself

Tin Man

04-21-2010, 13:09

Name yourself unless you like being called snores-a-lot or stinky feet... or being forever mistaken for someone who makes alky stoves.

The_Saint

04-21-2010, 13:22

Do not give yourself a trail name as it's pointless and there's no story behind it. It's much better to be given one.

Lone Wolf

04-21-2010, 13:31

Do not give yourself a trail name as it's pointless and there's no story behind it. It's much better to be given one.

your opinion

Tin Man

04-21-2010, 13:43

Do not give yourself a trail name as it's pointless and there's no story behind it. It's much better to be given one.

your opinion

yeah, its simply a matter of who knows you better - you or a stranger

also, hard to lose a bad trail name someone 'assigns' you

The_Saint

04-21-2010, 14:07

your opinion

Maybe so, but when someone asks you how you received that trail name, is it more fun to say, I made it up or give some sweet-or stupid-story about how you received it.

Also, if someone gives you a name, it's less likely that it will be duplicated.

No offense Lone Wolf, as I know you're revered as a God on here, but I met 4 Lone Wolfs this past summer alone. There were probably 20 of them on the trail at any given moment.

For reference, my actual trail name is Saint Peter or Mr. Timebomb the Saint.

Lone Wolf

04-21-2010, 14:53

No offense Lone Wolf, as I know you're revered as a God on here, but I met 4 Lone Wolfs this past summer alone. There were probably 20 of them on the trail at any given moment.

hardly a god. matter of fact there's plenty on here that hate my guts and as far as my trail name, any one is free to use it. it's just a name.

Mountain Wildman

04-21-2010, 14:56

hardly a god. matter of fact there's plenty on here that hate my guts and as far as my trail name, any one is free to use it. it's just a name.

I almost did use Lone Wolf after a favorite movie.

Lone Wolf McQuade

Tin Man

04-21-2010, 15:01

hardly a god. matter of fact there's plenty on here that hate my guts and as far as my trail name, any one is free to use it. it's just a name.

prolly run into more than one david in the real world too. :)

Deadeye

04-21-2010, 15:25

For reference, my actual trail name is Saint Peter or Mr. Timebomb the Saint.

Which kinda proves your point, because now I'm curious about the "Mr. Timebomb" part

The_Saint

04-21-2010, 15:34

Which kinda proves your point, because now I'm curious about the "Mr. Timebomb" part

Exactly what I'm getting at:)

Adayak

04-21-2010, 17:01

This thread reminds me of a podcast on The Dirtbag Diaries called The Adventures of Beansprout - where a guy goes into how he got his nickname from some environmentalists.

http://www.dirtbagdiaries.com/index.php?post_id=586676

Monkeyboy

04-25-2010, 23:13

Just don't call yourself MonkeyBoy......because then I'd have to kill you.... :)

J5man

04-25-2010, 23:32

i gave it to myself

LW picked that one for himself because J5man was already taken. hahaha.:D

I have been section hiking the AT for 2 years and still do not have a trailname. If I get tired of not having one, I will pick one someday but in the meantime I just enjoy being myself.

Rain Man

04-26-2010, 03:38

Do not give yourself a trail name as it's pointless and there's no story behind it.

Gosh, now I have to tell the FOUR stories behind my trail name that they don't exist. Boy, will they be surprised!!! LOL

Rain:sunMan

.

TOW

04-26-2010, 08:07

How does one get a trail name???

At the Present my is: BTMy dog gave me my trail name because I am always towing her around..........

tortoise1

04-26-2010, 08:13

Monkeyboy. Were you on the trail in 96 with ringer?
Just don't call yourself MonkeyBoy......because then I'd have to kill you.... :)

tortoise1

04-26-2010, 08:15

Monkeyboy. We're you on the trail in 96 with ringer? Tortois here.

Nean

04-26-2010, 09:11

Everyone chooses their own trail name.:-? If you don't think so......

your new trail name shall be Dishonest,:eek: perhaps Braindead:rolleyes: or something along those lines.:p And this "better" or "more interesting" one way OR another is pure BS!;) I mean its 100% PURE:), & lacks ANY brain function.:o

I'll just refer to this interesting post when they ask, How did you get the name St. Crappola?:banana
BTW, this is just my opinion (get it?):confused:

Nean

04-26-2010, 09:16

You can start with quirks or obsessions. Is there one soda that you only drink. Or snack that you always have to eat.

It can also relate to an incident. Did you ever fall in a funny way or in funny place.

Something you always talk about. Something you always where. A game you play on trail.

Then no real meaning at all.

I named myself. Tennesse being my original home state. Viking because my favorite book deals with vikings.

I once lived off Viking Mtn. Rd. in Tennessee.:)

sbhikes

04-26-2010, 09:23

I picked my own because I was not the same age as most hikers and didn't want to be given a dumb name that only college kids could think up. Plus I wasn't friendly enough with people to get to know anybody well enough to get a good name anyway. Eventually I stopped using my trail name because it's the real me out there on the trail. I should use the trail name at work instead because that's the fake me.

Monkeyboy

04-26-2010, 09:32

Monkeyboy. We're you on the trail in 96 with ringer? Tortois here.

Nope. Sounds like there's already someone out there that needs to be whacked...........

:D

Nean

04-26-2010, 09:37

Nope. Sounds like there's already someone out there that needs to be whacked...........

:D

There's a joke in there- but I'm not touching it (again this morning):D

Tin Man

04-26-2010, 10:06

Monkeyboy

04-26-2010, 10:13

http://www.ascendancy.net/arashi/Stuffs/funny-pictures-hitman-monkey-drowns-boy.jpg

Gray Blazer

04-26-2010, 10:26

prolly run into more than one david in the real world too. :)

The Blair Wolf Project?

BAG "o" TRICKS

04-29-2010, 16:49

hardly a god. matter of fact there's plenty on here that hate my guts and as far as my trail name, any one is free to use it. it's just a name.

aw comon' Wolf give yourself some credit here. No one 'hates you', they just don't happen to agree with you and can't appreciate your dry humor. Heck if they 'really' knew you, they would agree.., 'you are a god'. I do enjoy asking someone with an unusual trail name where they got it. If they gave it to themselves it's just not the same as earning one on the trail. my opinions

SunnyWalker

04-29-2010, 21:22

Good thought sbhikes. I started with SunnyWalker and may yet revert to that. now my "trailname" is "Chaplain". That I are!

Hoop Time

05-01-2010, 19:42

i gave it to myself

In other words, it was divinely ordained!

***

My 16-year-old, who went on her first serious day hike with me today, wanted to give herself a trail name based on an ID she uses on a basketball message board she is a member of. But she quickly became "Speedboat" after telling me she wanted to stay in front of me because she planned to go fast "like that Speedboat Karl guy."

Hoop Time

05-01-2010, 19:45

Read an interesting Trail Journal entry that mentioned a current though named I-40 who got his name because he was constipated a few days and finally was "cured" while passing under Interstate 40

Raul Perez

05-01-2010, 20:28

http://www.ascendancy.net/arashi/Stuffs/funny-pictures-hitman-monkey-drowns-boy.jpg

Hands down the funniest picture I have ever seen! Epic

MedicineMan

05-02-2010, 05:18

'Eventually I stopped using my trail name because it's the real me out there on the trail. I should use the trail name at work instead because that's the fake me'

This is what I'm talking about--get this woman's book whatever she calls herself or is called by others :)

My oldest daughter named me between Uniocoi Gap and Dicks Creek Gap, I'd heard much worse and didn't protest. I do drugs at work and in my bushcrafting hobby native medicinals are a passion, but the name came from all the crap I take so I can still walk :)

gina811

05-02-2010, 13:17

Say what you want, but I am excited to be given a trail name when I hit the trail. Stupid or not, it will be part of my journey on the AT. Part of the experience on the AT is being shaped by the people and your surroundings, so if I end up with something funny/embarrassing so be it. That being said, I hope I don't get something like "deuce squatter" or "klutz mcgee" or "greasehead". But who knows. It could happen.

To each their own though - everyone is different, and if you don't want to be given one, that is your prerogative. I am an energetic extrovert so I am sure I will get one within a month or so....at least I hope ;)

Thanks everyone for your thoughts and input, it was fun to read.

SOBO 2010 baby! ;)

pfann

05-02-2010, 22:36

Kinda like a frat, without the hazing and hapless idiocy.

I'm pretty sure there's some hazing and plenty of idiocy throughout the trail:D

-pfann

Bear Cables

05-04-2010, 00:05

Because I sing all the time while hiking,making up funny songs to match the hike I have been named "Jukebox"

Nean

05-04-2010, 02:14

I'm amazed that someone would think a nick name would mean it is no longer you or if some numbnuts names you its in some way better or more interesting. Assumptions w/o logic imo.:rolleyes:

Do what ever feels right for you and don't make everyone with a mind of their own inferior.;)

SunnyWalker

12-04-2010, 00:02

Hey Jukebox that's neat. I was on the AT a couple of years ago and started singing a song I heard Johnny Cash sing on a CD. "I've been everywhere Lord, I \'ve been everywhere . . . ". Then I inserted gaps and such like of the AT. Fun fun. Keep singing.

Driver8

12-04-2010, 06:14

I gave myself one and never had a second thought. But I also think it is different for section hikers and thru-hikers.

If you want your own, pick it. If you prefer one be chosen for you, let that happen. As the saying goes, HYOH (Hike Your Own Hike).

Rain:sunMan

I've decided, after thinking about it and mulling a few options, to acknowledge that the Trail itself has chosen one for me, based on the first time I hiked it: Hailstorm.

Within the first mile, the first day I set foot on the trail, I was caught on a beautiful mountaintop in the middle of a fierce, though thankfully brief, thunderstorm, complete with lightning, heavy rain and marble-sized hail. So Hailstorm it is - I note that no one, as yet, has taken it here or at trailjournals.com, though here there is a "hailstones". If I could change my screenname here and preserve my account I would. Any way to do that? If it means chipping in a donation, I'm happy to do that - been meaning to for a while.

TOW

12-04-2010, 07:35

Same way you get one in a fraternity. Someone gives it to you.
that's right and sometimes you even get hazed when get one.......i've been to a few trail naming ceremonies.....

ec.hiker

12-08-2010, 00:14

My name is Jonathan Apple so I can only guess that more than likely the catchy name will come into play somewhere since it has my whol life.

Jonny Apple seed

Apple Jacks

Apple

hopefully it will be something new though!!

Rocket Jones

12-08-2010, 08:09

emerald

12-08-2010, 12:39

You don't need trail names.:)

LoneRidgeRunner

12-08-2010, 14:21

At my age and rate of short term memory loss I'm probably forget who I am anyway with a trail name so I guess I'll just be me..Eddie Gillespie..or LoneRidgeRunner...LoneRidgeRunner fits though because I love the mountains and always hike solo....More than likely when I do my AT thru hike it will be a solo undertaking..Why? Because that way I can go completely on my own schedule at my own pace, get off for re-supply and R and R at my own discretion...Besides that I just ain't much on sharing a back packing sized tent with another man so any hiking partners would most definitely have to be female and unrelated...LOL..But even she will have to agree with my schedule..lol..Now is that picky or what?

LoneRidgeRunner

12-08-2010, 14:32

Originally Posted by Monkeyboy http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/wb_style/buttons/viewpost.gif (http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/showthread.php?p=1004880#post1004880)
Nope. Sounds like there's already someone out there that needs to be whacked...........

There's a joke in there- but I'm not touching it (again this morning):D

lol..:banana

Speakeasy TN

12-12-2010, 06:14

Well I'll hit the trail with a name in place. It was pasted on me by a friend that passed many years ago. No apologies to anybody! RIP "Big John" Ervin

Speakeasy 2011 NOBO

SunnyWalker

02-09-2011, 23:36

He Loneriderunner: how about taking the name: "Picky"??

dragoro

02-10-2011, 00:22

I got named star bucks cause I carry a ton of those single use packets of star bucks coffee.

dragoro

02-10-2011, 00:27

I hiked awhile with a guy that got named facebook cause he was constantly checking and posting on facebook using his phone. He hated the name and tried to name himself particle but it wouldn't stick ( partly cause of me lol).

RossSFCA

11-28-2011, 01:35

God bless www.dirtygirlgaiters.com, because I never realized that when I purchased a pair of pastel pink gaiters with bright red cherries on them (think Katy Perry) that the Yosemite Rangers, PCT thru-hikers, and other folks I met along the John Muir Trail would IMMEDIATELY recognize the brand and that it would become my trail name. I was relieved to learn from PCT hikers Toby Wan and Sprinkles that they had met a girl named "Boy Scout" and a boy named "Girl Scout".

A guy could do worse than DirtyGirl... it's kind of a fun trail name.

See you on the AT in 2012!

Ross / DirtyGirl

jsfarris66

01-10-2012, 18:02

Road !!!!!!

TOMP

01-10-2012, 18:52

You can have any trail name you want but for it to be "official" and recorded there is a procedure.

Where is this official list and what is the procedure?

bamboo bob

01-10-2012, 19:03

I think I may be in the minority but I think you should be named and you can reject the name if it's too moronic. I have to say that i really dislike names from movies and TV shows. I think there are way to many frodo's etc out there. Just saying...

Theosus

01-10-2012, 20:53

How do you get stuck with a trail name you hate, I wonder, unless you just keep running into the same people... You could just show up the first day and say, "my name is -----" and make up a story behind it. I guess it's easier for section hikers to ditch a bad trail name, theres little chance of them running into the same people. I was showing my pack to a guy at work the other day who is interested in hiking. I had loaded it with my stuff, and thrown in some extra things just to puff it up a little, and show how much it would hold. He said "you've got everything but the kitchen sink in there". I'm not sure I would want to be called Kitchen Sink... besides, there's probably a few of those already...Besides, I've been Theosus since I played dungeons and dragons in the 80s, before email and my first car, oh yeah, and girls. Those were fun once I found out about them. Dungeons and Dragons was cheaper though.

Papa D

01-10-2012, 21:54

Giving yourself a trail name doesn't work -- back in the day, I was given a trail name that didn't even stick too well. Papa D was a joke that sort of goes like this -- I like to think of myself as youthful and as fit as anyone half my age - a bunch of teenagers that I was hiking with picked up on this and came up with the name "Papa" (I do have one cool little kid to my credit) to sort of pick on me. My name, Drew, is the "D" part. They thought calling me "Papa" put me in my place relative to them.
The best name that I gave anyone was "Cletus" - I hiked with "Cletus" in '85 - he was a fraternity boy who romanticized about being a truck driver (like Cletus Snow (Jerry Reed) in Smokey and the Bandit) - he's now a lawyer. Recently, we named a friend Pig Pen (like as in Charlie Brown's friend) - stuck like glue.

Lone Wolf

01-10-2012, 21:57

Giving yourself a trail name doesn't work -- i called myself Lone Wolf back in 87. so much for that theory

Papa D

01-10-2012, 22:15

i called myself Lone Wolf back in 87. so much for that theory

We're going to have to get together for a beer and a game of pool at Quincy's before too long Lone Wolf - you keep blowing my profundities all to hell - hope you play 9-ball.

Old Hiker

01-10-2012, 22:48

Where is this official list and what is the procedure?

"I'm sorry, I can't tell you. You aren't a monk."

KeyWest

01-11-2012, 02:01

Hike your own hike....sure you can pick your own trail name, but that's super-lame. If you've got to ask and rationalize it, you already know it's lame.

Hike the trail for an extended period of time and you will get one. Hang out with other hikers and you'll get one. Be sociable. The second someone tells me they gave themselves their trail name, my weirdo-red-flag goes up.

I got Key West because I hiked from the Key West. This guy got "Witchdoctor" because he was always chewing on roots, plants and stuff. Aussie got his because he was from Australia.

Bottom line, everyone knows your trail name comes from other people.

Lone Wolf

01-11-2012, 06:09

Hike your own hike....sure you can pick your own trail name, but that's super-lame.

The second someone tells me they gave themselves their trail name, my weirdo-red-flag goes up.

Bottom line, everyone knows your trail name comes from other people.hahaha. this is pretty funny

mudhead

01-11-2012, 07:10

We're going to have to get together for a beer and a game of pool at Quincy's before too long Lone Wolf - you keep blowing my profundities all to hell - hope you play 9-ball.

He prefers pocket pool.:p

KVKV

01-11-2012, 12:45

Why is it "super lame"? Someone else chose mine but if could have thought of something I liked, I'd have named myself. Besides, it's hardly a necessity, a few thru hikers I met never had one.

Listen to Lone Wolf, he's the voice of reason around this place.

KeyWest

01-11-2012, 15:03

I totally agree it's not a necessity. The most badass hikers I've met don't have one because they could care less. Take a look at these completely made up case studies:

Case A: John informs his friends that he's now going to go by "Terrowin" after his character in WoW and midevil hero. He feels it best describes his unique personality.

Case B: John slides across some ice and flails his arms around wildly before he eats it. His friends dub him "Boitano."

Worst case scenario is you hike 2000+ and don't get a trail name. There are two types of people who don't have trail names: 1. Not-Really-Hikers 2. Guys that have done upwards of 5 thrus in their lives and don't care.

Be #2.

BoiledPeanut

01-11-2012, 16:47

Why do you ask Mr Two Dogs Copulating?

Carl Calson

01-11-2012, 22:28

Maybe so, but when someone asks you how you received that trail name, is it more fun to say, I made it up or give some sweet-or stupid-story about how you received it.

actually, i met a hiker named Two Medicine last year and he made up this amazing story about how he got his name from an eagle on a vision quest that he took on some indian reservation. we were all amazed at how awesome it must have been.......and then he admitted that he made the whole thing up. it was pretty cool, really.

Carl Calson

01-11-2012, 22:29

sorry, i have to paste the letter "r" because it's missing on my keyboard. screws most of my posts up somehow.

louisb

01-11-2012, 22:35

My new trail name is Beezow Doo-Doo Zopittybop-Bop-Bop

--louis

Kookork

01-12-2012, 03:16

My new trail name is Beezow Doo-Doo Zopittybop-Bop-Bop

--louis

Once I tried to call your trail name when e were in Georgia,by the time I finished it we were in Main.Do you remember?

English Stu

01-12-2012, 05:13

Just needs a bit of thought. I think there is a convention about awkward names. If your trail name is Itchy B*lls, remember in 20 years time in an airport lounge someone might shout out. Hey 'Itchy B*lls is that you'. I carried a black and red umbrella early on and just missed being called Julie Andrews.

louisb

01-12-2012, 09:55

Once I tried to call your trail name when e were in Georgia,by the time I finished it we were in Main.Do you remember?

Well I was going to use Supercalifragilisticexpialidociousbut I figured that was too common a trail name. :p

--louis