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View Full Version : why do people have "trail names"??



prsgtrman
09-04-2011, 13:33
ive always introduced myself as alan. is that not cool?

Raul Perez
09-04-2011, 13:39
It's just a nick name you get on the trail for something silly you've done or something common you do apart from everyone else that you meet. You can even give yourself one it really doesnt matter.

I got mine from falling into 2 lakes on 2 consecutive days and I can do a fairly decent monkey impression and climb trees.... "Water Monkey"

Slo-go'en
09-04-2011, 13:47
It also helps give you a unique handle. Say you start a thru-hike at the peak of the season, there could be 12 Bobs, 9 Johns, 5 Alans, and so on in any given small section of the trail. So, if you have your own trail name when someone says "Hey Alan", 3 heads don't turn around or you know they are talking about someone else and not you.

Jeff
09-04-2011, 13:58
You can answer to any name you choose.

Trailweaver
09-04-2011, 14:48
Gotta admit - "Water Monkey" would be easier to remember than "Alan." Good name, but I think I've heard it before. I certainly haven't heard "Water Monkey" before.

TinAbbey
09-04-2011, 19:42
ive always introduced myself as alan. is that not cool?

I agree that it is not cool. I think it is cool to have a trail name. You certainly can introduce as alan. But a trail name can tell a little bit about you. IMO it shows your having a good time and not taking yourself too seriously.

kayak karl
09-04-2011, 20:17
I agree that it is not cool.
can't agree. my parents gave me the name KARL. if i meet people i say "Hi' i'm Karl Rothenbach and this is my dog Kaia, some people call me Kayak. I'm from Southern Jersey. Where are you from. " :) guess im not cool:rolleyes:

Grampie
09-05-2011, 09:40
A trail name is not required. During my thru I met several thru-hikers who just used their given name.
A lot of folks who partake in doing a serious thru take a trail name to more or less be totaly immerged in a new life style. That life style is the one of a hiking nomad, who has left everything behind and is embarking on a once in a life time adventure. You start that adventure as a new person, not the one you were, so you take a trail name to pepict who you want to be known to by fellow hikers.

WingedMonkey
09-05-2011, 11:43
A trail name is not required. During my thru I met several thru-hikers who just used their given name.
A lot of folks who partake in doing a serious thru take a trail name to more or less be totaly immerged in a new life style. That life style is the one of a hiking nomad, who has left everything behind and is embarking on a once in a life time adventure. You start that adventure as a new person, not the one you were, so you take a trail name to pepict who you want to be known to by fellow hikers.

With the advent and heavy use of "screen names" it seems now that even weekend hikers think they need a "trail name". Most often self supplied.

max patch
09-05-2011, 12:54
I don't need a trail name cuz I don't act like an azz in town.

lemon b
09-07-2011, 06:32
anonymity is what this is about , we'll all equal on the hike.

jlb2012
09-07-2011, 06:37
trail names are useful in annoying those remarkable individuals that insist on knowing your real name

Wobegon
09-07-2011, 08:52
"What's your name?"
"You should know who I am...." -- Ward Leonard

Spokes
09-07-2011, 10:38
anonymity is what this is about , we'll all equal on the hike.

Except, maybe if you're Bruce Springsteen.......

Plodderman
09-08-2011, 13:28
The trail name is my alter ego two weeks out of the year. What is your name? Plodderman What do you do for a living? Hike I enjoy those two weeks every year.

Mags
09-08-2011, 13:57
No trailname... I just use a nick name on trail and in 'real life'. Since I spend a large amount of time outdoors (Even for a weekend warrior), I don't feel the need for two separate names. :) Mags or Paul Mags is heard more often than "Paul" . :)

buff_jeff
09-08-2011, 14:24
I always introduce myself with my first name. There's no need for an "alter ego" or whatever. :rolleyes:

Bigbaby
09-08-2011, 23:01
I introduce myself with my real name but trail names are easier to remember

Pony
09-09-2011, 00:36
I had a trail name for a week before I knew I had one. I never intended to get one, but it just happened. In the Grayson Highlands I had a front row seat to some pony on pony action, if you know what I mean. As luck would have it, my camera was in hand so I took a video. Later that day I showed it to a few people thinking it was funny, not realizing what would happen. A week later sitting around the campfire some people were talking about this guy named pony p*rn. Didn't think much of it until I realized they were talking about me. I then produced the video and everyone laughed for about an hour. Trail names find you sometimes. I quickly shortened it to Pony for obvious reasons, but I think I was in Vermont before people stopped asking if I was that guy named Pony P*rn.

Pony
09-09-2011, 00:37
And yes, Alan is fine.

Chubbs4U
09-09-2011, 01:27
you dont possibly want anyone to know the real you?

Sleepy the Arab
09-10-2011, 17:09
I am who I am.

johnnybgood
09-10-2011, 17:21
I am who I am. Welcome back Sleepy .

hikerboy57
09-10-2011, 17:37
when Im on the trail, I introduce myself as andy.because i try to get out as much as my schedule will allow, Im know at work as "hikerboy". Im sectioning from springer to DWG beginning march 1, 2012, and Ill probably go as hikerboy unless or until someone retags me.You dont have to take a trail name, but one may get assigned to you anyway. in truth, most thrus dont name themselves, its a nickname given by their fellow hikers.

Tilly
09-10-2011, 17:50
I don't use a trail name, and I got lots of crap for it when I was out. It was very annoying.

atrerunner
09-10-2011, 18:25
I'll offer this first-hand observation from 39 years ago: I met two women through-hikers in VA who were NOBO, and they introduced themselves with two Lakota Sioux names (which i don't remember and probably couldn't spell correctly if I could remember). Since they were not Native American in appearance, and i had never met a hiker with a culturally-disonant name, i rudely asked why they had chosen these names, and they replied that their adopted names made them feel "more at one with the Trail". One young lady (the shorter one) had a Sioux name that translated as 'Little Mountain', and the taller woman had taken on a name that translated as 'Bear', according to them. I remember that they also said that they were not signing any of the registers, and that they were avoiding shelters as much as possible. I only met about six or eight of the folks who through-hiked that year, since i started really early, but everyone else i met who introduced themselves claimed a 'real' name, i.e., Charlie, Alex, John, Mark, Joe, Ed and one or two others. I hope that the two self-trail-named women reached Katahdin, but i don't know if they did since i was ahead of them for the rest of the summer.

Ladytrekker
09-10-2011, 18:40
When you are in the woods you leave the crazy I look at a trail name as your alter ego you don't have to be the real world person which in my mine lets you check out leave your shoes at the door and its kind of like Alice falling thru the rabbit hole a whole new world. I got the moniker while on a hike "Rabbitdillo" because in a distance I stated that I see a rabbit hopping until we got closer it was an armadillo jumping over tall grass.

Leah Packard Grams
09-11-2011, 13:22
Water Monkey! That's a good one. :) I like it.

Patrickjd9
09-11-2011, 18:54
With the advent and heavy use of "screen names" it seems now that even weekend hikers think they need a "trail name". Most often self supplied.
A name just has to come to you. I was hiking for over 25 years before I had one, weekend and section. Mine, "Slapshot", came from text messaging back and forth to my wife to follow a hockey game on a section hike a couple of years ago.

camojack
09-12-2011, 03:53
Why do people have trail names? Because they can... :rolleyes:

XCskiNYC
09-21-2011, 19:43
Alan is totally cool. Whatever you want. Nicknames are just a quick, colorful, easy way to remember the many people you'll meet throughout a day of hiking. Some folks get into their heads the sterile notion that everybody has to have a trail name.

MuddyWaters
09-21-2011, 22:42
Some name themselves. Some have names bestowed upon them by others. Some are cool, some are repulsive. They are fairly unique identifiers. More unique that Mike, John, Lisa, etc for sure.

Not really different than giving a boat a name, or a CB handle, etc.

Sometimes a name is what the person feels their alter-ego is. Sometimes it is who they think they will become once on the trail, or who they'd like to become. Sometimes it is who or what they are in real life.

Old Hiker
09-22-2011, 07:17
...........................Sometimes it is who or what they are in real life.

Ow. I resemble that remark. And my trail-name,too! :)

KC7FYS
09-22-2011, 08:10
When I'm on the radio, I'm KC7FYS, 7J1AWL, or XV2OC. Other radio guys can look me up and know exactly who I am and lots of details about me. I guess I gave up anonymity for that. I don't find anonymity to serve us well at all, actually. People tend to do and say things they can't stand behind when they know there's no skin in the game. Over on Hammock Forums I've felt out-of-place saying I'm "Jonathan," but I guess it's going to be that. My wife and mother call me Johnny, though. I don't care for anonymity. Alan, you're cool. Fronkey and Shug and Felchmeister_37--you guys are cool too!

restlesss
09-22-2011, 12:50
I think it is both a fun way to identify yourself but also a good way to get away from the normal living in "civilization" you go to the woods to get away that is one way to do that.

sbhikes
09-22-2011, 13:33
I knew a guy whose trail name was Al.

I thought the trailname thing was really great fun. But now I don't really want a trailname anymore because I feel silly. I'm "me", not "fake me".

Anonymity is the main reason for a trailname. I'm not very anonymous with my trailname anymore, especially now that my mom uses my trailname as part of her own trailname (she's a trail angel on the PCT). So if I want anonymity I can almost get it using my real name. If I want real anonymity I will have to get a totally different trailname.

The sad thing about trailnames is you and your friends disappear after the trail. I will never know how to contact those people I met because I don't know who they really are and they'll never contact me because they don't know who I am either. I guess some people want it that way, but if you don't want it that way, consider letting people you like know your real name, maybe give them a card with your email address or something, so you don't lose all your new friends after the hike is over.