View Full Version : Has the nature of Trailnames changed?
RenaissanceMan98
02-05-2005, 02:12
Hi all,
I've been reading lots of posts on lots of forums lately, and wondering if the nature of trailnames has changed dramatically?
I've always felt that trailnames grew out of the fact that on the trail you were far from the limitations/expectations/prejudgements placed on you by your "everyday" world. That out on the trail you were free to be a new you, or a true you, or someone entirely different, and that the trailname you ended up with was something unique to you and your experience on the AT.
As such, it always seemed to me that, trailnames, in order to be separate from your prehike life, would find you on the trail. Events, places, pleople would come together in a way that would suggest a name that suited you in that moment, and that would become your new moniker.
Nowadays it seems almost everyone has chosen a trailname BEFORE they even step foot on the AT.
Please note: I am not saying this is wrong/bad. I just think that folks are doing themselves a disservice by choosing their own trailnames before their hike begins. Of course, others will disagree with me. :)
I simply want to encourage folks to not be married to the name they have chosen pre-hike, or even to forgo it once they hit the trail and let a new name "find" them. If you allow this to happen, you may find that your name does not project onto your hike, but, rather, represents a moment or experience that you treasure.
I'm sure one aspect of this apparent change has been the prevalence of forums, where folks must choose a name to post under, but I know that this trend began well before such forums were widely accessed.
So, what do you think, with the abundance of forums where folks choose a posting name, with the apparent trend to pick your own trailname before hiking, has the very nature of trailnames changed?
If so, is this good or bad or neither?
If so, what is their purpose/meaning now?
Lone Wolf
02-05-2005, 06:11
I chose my own. It's a non-issue.
RenaissanceMan98 wrote:
I simply want to encourage folks to not be married to the name they have chosen pre-hike, or even to forgo it once they hit the trail and let a new name "find" them.
I almost got labled "Felix Unger" just because my pack, ballcap, t-shirt, and shorts all happened to be a "color coordinated" green.
Also, some GUYS tried to call me "Sexy Legs"...it would have been okay had it not been guys trying to name me that.
When I did my shakedown hike in '02 everyone I met had a trailname so I felt pressured to come up with one ASAP.
I wouldn't worry too much about trail names. If you use one before you start, then that's fine, but if a trail name comes along while you are hiking, then that's fine also.
On the other hand, there's the name that you parent's gave you at birth. There are some who are happy with that also.
baseballswthrt
02-05-2005, 09:39
Many people pick their trail name pre hike, and many wait and get named on the trail. I haven't thought of one for me yet, and no one has named me yet, so I am just...
Agree with Lone Wolf...IT DON'T MATTER!
Guess it's also important to remember, like many things on the Trail, to be flexible. No harm in reinventing yourself (and your trail name) a few hundred miles up the path.
Footslogger
02-05-2005, 12:08
If you have an idea for your trail name before you leave cool ...otherwise just let it happen. I started my wife's thru-hike with her in 2001. I had no trail name and by the second night I was dubbed "Toot" because of a rather noticeable "off-gassing" tendency. When I was getting ready for my own thru-hike in 2003 I was interested in loosing that former identity. I named myself "Footslogger" after stumbling into the word and doing some research into its origins.
In the long haul I don't think the nature of trail names has changed, at least in the 20+ year period I've been paying attention to them. For most it seems to be about how you want to be known by the hiking community. Just remember that your trail name does stick with you after your hike. What might have seemed like a funny nickname for 6 months might get old after a while.
'Slogger
AT 2003
DMA, 2000
02-05-2005, 17:02
Good story toot.
I remember lounging one hot afternoon in a shelter, and receiving a couple of visitors from Warren Doyle's group. One asked my name, I told him, and he petulantly replied, "I meant your Trail Name".
Like a fella can't go by what his parents chose, just because he's hiking.
The Old Fhart
02-05-2005, 19:31
One guy I hiked with just went by his initials. I told him he should have put a little more thought into his trail name which was PMS.
DMA, 2000
02-05-2005, 20:22
That's like when Vlade Divac first came to the Lakers and a local columnist suggested that no one would steal his monogrammed towels.
I think that it was kind of fun waiting to see what moniker I was going to end up with. I think that it would be worth letting the name chips fall where they may and if you don't like what you end up with, then just change it....
Slaughter
02-06-2005, 18:01
I liked the "waiting to see what would happen" mode of trail-naming (like I would have chosen "Slaughter" off the top of my head), and that gave the name more meaning for me on the Trail. What really got on my nerves though was running into people who seemed shocked and amazed that I hadn't been named or thought up one myself (and this happened several times even though my name comes from Slaughter Gap in GA)...for some reason these guys felt it was their duty and right to name me because I didn't have a trail name yet. Grrr.... but that shouldn't scare people away from waiting to see what their name will end up as. :sun
trailmedic
02-06-2005, 22:00
havent been given a trail name yet , havent been on the AT yet . going in march so I have decided to just let it happen , think it adds to the experience more ! by the way ,,, great forum ~
I "sorta" chose my own. Baldy has been my nickname for years, so I just decided to use it as my trail name. If someone gives me a new name on the trail, that's fine. But until then, Baldy I will be.
GolfHiker
02-12-2005, 10:04
Interesting post! Choosing a trailname is certainly not scientific. We all seem to come by our name in different ways. One thing I have noticed.. While I know all of my hiking buddies by trailname, more often than not, when hiking together we address each other by our real names. For all of the various forums we participate in, it's strictly trail name, but in person, not always so. Just an observation.... Anyway, I have always thought it was cool to have a trailname, which seems to separate our bpacking community from the rest of the world, and that's a good thing.:clap
i've been known as "JAYBIRD" all my life...it wuz a NO-BRAINER for me....
& afterall...my buddy: MODEL T (http://www.ModelT.net) says...."if you dont pick your own trail name......somebody else might pick it & it might not be one you particularly care for..." :D
My hubby was given his name on the AT in 95. He shortened it to Ridge, the original name started out to be "RidgeRunner" (because of the fast pace he usually walked) He also said theres probably a bunch of hikers with the same name and that it really was too long.
While I've been on this site i've been using "Hikerwife" I like it better than what my husband calls me, it's certainly a little more proper. I would sign up as a wb member, but I don't do much hiking anymore and when he returns, there goes the computer. hikerwife
What happens if one changes his/her trailname here on WB, can you change it and every post you've done previously reflect the new name?? Just asking.
I use Plodder here because it is easier to type with one finger than Pinhead while stuffing my face.
What happens if one changes his/her trailname here on WB, can you change it and every post you've done previously reflect the new name?? Just asking.
If we change it here on WhiteBlaze then it will get changed on every post that you ever made here.
How nice to see this subject discussed without any nastiness. That's the biggest change that I've notice. I once hiked with some folks who would not call me by my trailname. They looked down their nose at me for picking my own name- on the trail. How very uncool. They had been Given theirs and that was THE WAY; never mind they CHOSE to change names they didn't like, then CHOSE to keep the name they did. Never got that one figured out...
Nothing tops the editor at a small org. out West that did an editorial on this subject back in the late nineties. Used words like cowardice and unaccountable; nevermind he'd never been on a LDH or ever would. Even went out of his way to insult ALDHA for having trailnames in their directory! Saved the best for last: the stated purpose of that org. is to promote fellowship and communication :datz
Seems folks finally got it figured out, it doesn't matter- trailnames are fun!
If we change it here on WhiteBlaze then it will get changed on every post that you ever made here.
Thanks, this is good to know. hikerwife
I was always Oldkathy before. Then I joined the Red Hat Society. I don't feel so old any more. This year I changed my trail name to Red Hat. It's much more fun!
Kerosene
04-27-2005, 18:09
I was always Oldkathy before. Then I joined the Red Hat Society. I don't feel so old any more. This year I changed my trail name to Red Hat. It's much more fun!The Red Hat Society Official Web Site (http://www.redhatsociety.com/): Organization of women who meet for tea wearing red hats and purple dresses.
Wonderful! :sun
The Red Hat Society Official Web Site (http://www.redhatsociety.com/): Organization of women who meet for tea wearing red hats and purple dresses.
Wonderful! :sun
I'll be able to join in 3 years. One has to be 50 to belong.
Moon Monster
04-27-2005, 22:27
I say those who wait and let one be given to them AND have a good story behind their companions' choice have the ideal situation. For me, I wasn't too impressed with the creativity of those leaving Springer around me. There were lots of colors of one's shirt or animal that one saw yesterday or how fast one hikes sorts of names. When I got to Maine even, it seemed fully one third of the new SOBOs had "Moose" in their trailname. I wound up picking my own in part because I was fairly alone in Georgia, I didn't have opportunities around other hikers to pick one up.
SGT Rock
04-27-2005, 22:42
Sometimes the trail name someone gives themselves says so much about them that the name another would give them doesn't tell the whole story. Of course this is because sometimes the name they give themselves is so much a function of a desire of self identity instead of what others truly see them as. I remember last year the name I was told for another hiker and the name he told me he had. The difference was amazing :sun:
fiddlehead
04-27-2005, 23:08
I was given my trail name in 89 and after using it all these years have come to prefer it to my real name for a few reasons. #1, i am more a fiddlehead than a glenn! People who know me usually agree with that. The name was picked by others to fit me. 2/ If we all went by our real names, too many times, when you were in conversation, people would be asking: "Dave who? Brian who? which Bob? but trail names are a catchy way of remembering someones name. Especially if it fits them well.
I wonder why Warren Doyle would never allow himself to be labelled in this way. Warren? I'm sure we could come up with some fantastic names for you! fh
ps. when hiking with "rainman" on the pct in 96 across the mojave desert crossing, we had our only rain of the 1st 800 miles! Appropriate name !
ATSeamstress
04-27-2005, 23:13
I've used Ragamuffin for years in memory of Rich Mullins. Well, he's been gone for 7 1/2 years now so I've been thinking maybe it's time to get something just for me. I thought about Caboose because when I hike with others I usually bring up the rear. However in 2009 I'll be thru-hiking solo so the Caboose thing doesn't quite fit. Maybe I'll just start out and see what happens. If nothing finds me within a month or so I'll just be Ragamuffin.
I thought about Caboose because when I hike with others I usually bring up the rear. However in 2009 I'll be thru-hiking solo so the Caboose thing doesn't quite fit.
Little Engine? (I think I can, I think I can) :)
Also, in case you don't remember... Thi little engine that could was female. :)
ATSeamstress
04-28-2005, 23:40
I'll give that one some thought, Auxtexs. Sometimes I even say that on the way up the mountain . . . I think I can, I think I can . . .
Little Engine? (I think I can, I think I can) :)
Also, in case you don't remember... Thi little engine that could was female. :)
Maybe I'll just start out and see what happens. If nothing finds me within a month or so I'll just be Ragamuffin.
That's how I ended up with my name... I started with Ender, just because, and nothing else ever really stuck (though there was Pie'd Piper, but that didn't take). I think the reason is that I introduced myself as Ender. If you are going to do that, just give your real name... otherwise people will just stick with the name you give them.
Not that I don't like Ender... it works for me.
The Cheat
04-29-2005, 15:24
My eight year old son wants to walk the entire AT. He thinks it's a great way to get out of school for 6 or 7 months. :)
Anyway, my kids and I are walking one of our local trails this past weekend and he says, "While we're hiking my name is Smokey Eel." And my daughter says, "And I'm Princess of Hiking!" So I asked him if he wanted a nickname because they do that on the Appalachian trail. It turns out he has no clue what a trail name is, he just thought he was coming up with a brand new great idea.
So, I'm not sure if he's pretty smart for coming up with that idea, or if all hikers are just acting like eight year olds. :rolleyes: :D I suspect it's both.:cool:
Buckingham
07-19-2005, 11:26
Technically me and my buddy had our names before the hike, they were code names we used in high school whenever describing any illegal activities in note passing. It was on our first hike, 12 years ago, that we met Riff Raff and Medicare Charlie, and discovered the hiking nick-name thing. It was just natural to carry over our already existing psuedonyms.
soulrebel
07-21-2005, 06:27
What if you've got a name from your previous endeavors? What if you don't like that name and people still call you that b/c it is sooo appropriate...(nothing inflammatory)?
I ask b/c my wife has a pirate sounding name that befits here ability to constantly lose toenails from running... Help me out!! she thinks she's getting a new trail name--- I tell her it's the pirate name and that's that... Lol--who wins?
I ask b/c my wife has a pirate sounding name that befits here ability to constantly lose toenails from running... Help me out!! she thinks she's getting a new trail name--- I tell her it's the pirate name and that's that... Lol--who wins?
Who wins? Well, she wins of course. She always wins! :cool:
Seriously though, she should have a name she's happy with. It's her name after all, and one she actually has some say over. (side note: tried giving my friend the trail name sasquach because it looked like he was wearing a sweater even with his shirt off. He didn't like it, so it didn't take. It was fun trying to make it stick though...)
Frolicking Dinosaurs
08-03-2005, 11:52
Our trail name is a combo of what we we were called as a nickname pre-trail, something we called ourselves on the trail and other hikers naming us.
When we started section hiking and talked with other hikers, they often asked about our trail name. I'd explain we didn't have one - we were just a couple of happy dinosaurs frolicking down the trail. It wasn't long before people started asking if we were the the Frolicking Dinosaurs they'd heard were on the trail. The name Dinosuars was given to us by outr grandkids.
A few folks have taken to calling me the Wounded Dinosaur since I've been back out on the trail with two canes (recovering from a broken hip and femur - not from the trail - was hit head-on by a drugged driver last August)
My "trail name" is my real name. The last name is Magnanti. Try pronouncing it. [1] I thought so!
Pop was Dom Mags. Dad is Steve Mags. People call me Paul Mags and often just Mags. My two younger brothers are called Steve Mags and Joey Mags by their friends. At work there are two Pauls..gues what thy call me? My "Trail identiy" and my "real identity" are pretty much one and the same at this point in my life. The outdoors is such a large part of my life that there is no real difference. Yeah Mags works.
[1] In Italian is is pronounced Mon-nyan-tee, like lasagna. "Americanized", we pronounce it Mag-nan-tee. Rhymes with bag-fan-tea.
I'll be able to join in 3 years. One has to be 50 to belong.
I won't be able to join for a long time yet, but RedHat has assured me that I can be a pink hat until then!! ;)
Sorry to hijack...but I grabbed a ride with RedHat (in a borrowed truck that we had trouble driving!) from Erwin to Johnson City a few months back. We had a while to wait for my Greyhound, so we went to a bookstore to have a look around.
OMG it was REDHAT DAY and they had cakes, muffins, chocolates and a dozen or so women in purple dresses with red hats!
Our RedHat was in her element!! It was a great thing to witness! :)