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saimyoji
04-02-2005, 19:40
Just wondering how each of you got your trail names?

Myself, I don't have a trail name, saimyoji is just a handle I use online sometimes.

Slimer
04-02-2005, 19:55
pollen allergies

Lone Wolf
04-02-2005, 19:56
Gave it to myself

Youngblood
04-02-2005, 20:28
Mine was given to me by another thru hiker about 50 miles into the hike.

Rainman
04-02-2005, 20:43
I don't have one. I guess that's obvious because I'm using my real name. The best nickname I ever had is Hammer, but there's already a Whiteblazer who has that trail name. From everything Ive read people get their trail names from fellow hikers they meet along the way. I'ts been 20 years since I have done any serious hiking and I'm just getting back into it. When I hiked in the late seventies and early eighties people didn't seem to give each other trail names. Maybe I'll earn one this July while I'm walking the LT.

Kerosene
04-03-2005, 23:04
I belonged to a small, all-male a cappella singing group during college that performed about 200 concerts a year throughout the U.S., Canada and the Caribbean. While I was assigned a variety of nicknames by the group (as were most members), Kerosene ended up 'sticking' for two reasons. First, it was a convenient variant on my surname, Karaman. More importantly, it reminded everyone in the group of the time I "went down in flames" with a girl I spent the evening with after one of our concerts. It's been with me ever since. As a long-term section hiker, the opportunities to establish a close bond with other hikers who could provide me with more of a trail-related nickname are somewhat limited.

Here is another thread on this topic: http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/showthread.php

cutman11
04-03-2005, 23:21
I made mine originally as a name to use for the Pogo games website. I usually gave those playing with me 3 guesses my occupation. They usually guessed 1.Barber 2.Butcher 3. Boxing ring guy. If playing with a female, I tell em its cause im so good lookin, but actually, I am a surgeon, hence, the "cutman". I then started using it for my email address, and finally, have had it embroidered onto my ULA P2. So now I must remain cutman, at least until my new pack wears out!

TickPicker
04-04-2005, 18:58
Don't have one yet. Not going on the trail until September so there's plenty of time. I think I want someone else to name me.

Steve
(the land of the dimpled chad)

Footslogger
04-04-2005, 19:19
Gave it to myslef ...

'Slogger

neo
04-04-2005, 21:12
my name is neo,bullet proof and unstoppable,i am also a matrix fan:cool: neo

Robusto
04-04-2005, 21:25
(Just wondering how each of you got your trail names? )

Arabica beans are how you make excellent coffee. The cheap beans are robusto beans.

A friend tasted my coffee on the trail.

Robusto

Jeremy
04-04-2005, 21:34
I was given the name kindman on my first section hike of the AT. It was given to me by a hiker named red-b, who had recently finished a thru-hike. Red, his girlfriend, and I hiked from kincora to laurel falls after a stay at the hostel. At the falls, I had to answer natures call, so I walked up the hill and into the woods. When I came back, red and his girl were nowhere to be found. After sitting on a log, smoking a cigarette, and relaxing for a minute, they showed up. Then after sharing food, smoke, drink, and the like, red asked me if I had a trail name. I said no. He said his grifriend and him were thinking about it, and they gave me the name kindman. They said it was because I shared my wealth with others. Anyways, after they left and went back to kincora, I continued on to the next shelter. When I got there, I found a neatly arranged selection of granola bars, snickers, oatmeal bars, trail mix, and a whole lot of other goodies. There was not a soul at or around the shelter. The snickers weren't melted. I didn't know who the hell left this gift here. Then it hit me. When I was anwering natures call at laurel falls, red-b and his girlfriend were running to the next shelter to leave some trail magic. Or so I think...:-?

"ME & U"
04-04-2005, 21:49
While hiking our flip-flop we hoped to meet with some hikers and somehow be cristened with trail names. No one showed...

We kept hiking on, still no one...
I turned and said, looks like it's just "ME & U" and it stuck.
The jokes are endless. I love "U"... ya I love "ME" too...
Hey, nice to meet you. She's "ME" & I'm "U". (huh):-?
Yo, you seen "ME"?
We definately had people confused.
My daughter hooked up with us to hike Greylock and I called her "U2"...

Tractor
04-04-2005, 21:51
My daughter came up with mine, going north out of Fontana, based on a story I told her of a previous section hike in north GA (around big ******* cedar mountain) in July in a very dry year...... It's true. One can gradually forget the bad bits and end up with just the good memories of past adventures....

BlackCloud
04-05-2005, 12:21
After having a series of unfortunate events befall me over the course of several years, It just doned on me one day ona section hike.

If you can't beat'm, join'm - so I embraced it.

It hasn't helped........:rolleyes:

One Leg
04-05-2005, 12:47
Started out hiking the LHHT in Pa. Ran into a husband-wife couple who started the conversation by saying "Me Tarzan, she Jane, you one leg" The name stuck.

Kerosene
04-05-2005, 19:21
While hiking our flip-flop we hoped to meet with some hikers and somehow be cristened with trail names. No one showed...

We kept hiking on, still no one...
I turned and said, looks like it's just "ME & U" and it stuck.
The jokes are endless. I love "U"... ya I love "ME" too...
Hey, nice to meet you. She's "ME" & I'm "U". (huh):-?
Yo, you seen "ME"?
We definately had people confused.
My daughter hooked up with us to hike Greylock and I called her "U2"...Sounds like a derivation of Abbott & Costello's "Who's on First":clap

Teatime
04-06-2005, 04:46
Believe it or not, I worried about this to the point where I just gave up on it. Then, just before the overnighter with my son, I helped him come up with his, which is "Skyblue". It took him about 30 seconds to come up with that based on his favorite Crayola Crayon color. Well, I couldn't let a 5-year old kid out think me and so I started mulling over trail names again, and then.... it hit me, Teatime. I used to be a big coffee drinker but back in February, I caught Viral Bronchitis and was quite ill. After getting over it, I found I couldn't stand the taste of coffee anymore. I don't know why but I just couldn't drink the stuff. So, I tried drinking tea and found that I just couldn't get enough of it! I even went on-line and bought a Brown Betty teapot and loose-leaf English Breakfast Tea. I drink tea several times a day now. I also have started drinking a little coffee but still prefer tea by a long shot. I also came up with a derivitave trail name: Teapot. Hey, since I am short and stout, why not? If the shoe fits, right? Not! Who wants to be reminded all the time that you are short and stout! So, Teatime it is. Think I'll go have a cup now.........:sun (By the way, fellow tea drinkers, the MSR Mug Mate works great on the trail!)

RockyTrail
04-06-2005, 09:52
I always carry a few teabags they weigh almost nothing. I've always thought that weight-wise it's the most satisfaction per pound you will ever carry on a hike, especially in cold weather. I mean, who wants to drink plain hot water? :)

Mags
04-06-2005, 12:40
Try saying my last name: Magnanti [1]

Thought so. :)

Mags is not really a trai name..it is a family nick name I happen to use on the trail as well.

My friends call me Paul Mags or even just Mags. At work, there are two Pauls..guess what they call me?

My grandfather was Dom Mags, dad is Steve Mags, etc..etc.

No real difference between trail life or the real world for me in terms of names. An 80+ yr old family nickname is quit cool as well.

[1] Originally pronounced Mon-nyan-tee, like lasagna. Americanized pronounced so it rhymes with bag-fan-tea. Yeah..easier to say Mags!

Moxie00
04-06-2005, 12:48
:jump Moxie is a beverage never seen or heard of away from nothern New England. It was invented in Maine as a nerve medecine but soon became a soft drink. In the 1930's there was more Moxie sold in the USA than Coke. It has fallen out of favor but has a small strong loyal following in the northeast. In 2000 my fellow thru hiker, Amtrack, tried it for the first time and said it tastes like Robitussin without any sugar in it. You either love it or hate it. I got my trail name while playing trail angel in 1998. I had tirned 60 that year and decided to celebrate I would climb every 4000 footer in Maine weekends in one summer. When on the AT I always carried cans of Moxie to give to any thru hikers I met. I met and hiked with Nomad 98 and Rascall on Old Spec mountain in western Maine and Nomad called me Moxie a few times, then other hikers started calling me that. I liked the name and kept it. It is intresting that when I thru hiked in 2000 both Nomad 98 and Rascall were out there and iI got to hike with both of them again. Moxie was just named "The State Soft Drink of Maine".

"ME & U"
04-06-2005, 12:52
Hey Mags, what about magnito? I'm sure someone else uses it but ther's lots of Pauls and Doms too.

You got the family thing going on and magnito was a freak about keeping the family thing real.:clap

Mags
04-06-2005, 14:01
Hey Mags, what about magnito? I'm sure someone else uses it but ther's lots of Pauls and Doms too.

You got the family thing going on and magnito was a freak about keeping the family thing real.:clap


Oh I heard it all.. :)

In the early 80s, the kids at school used to say "Hey..you are Magnum PI"..ha ha!
To an 8yr old it was a funny joke. :)

In 6th grade when we were studying the periodic table, I heard more Magneisum jokes than I care to think about!

Along the same lines, (again, picture the 8-12 yr old boy mentality) Maggot, Magnent, etc..etc.

Anyway, after being in this community for 8+ yrs, being active on various hiking boards and doing various long trails, I think I will stick to the name Mags. :)

Mags
04-06-2005, 14:04
It has fallen out of favor but has a small strong loyal following in the northeast.

My maternal grandfather LOVED Moxie. My uncle (again on my Mom's side of the family) loves it , too.

I tried it when I was about 10 yrs old. Must say...YEEECH! Maybe if I tried it now that I am older, may appreciate it more. Or maybe I will say YEEEEEEEEECH! :D

RockyTrail
04-06-2005, 14:34
I live under a rock, so I never heard of trail names until a few years ago. On a trek at Philmont Scout Ranch in New Mexico (I was a crew advisor to a small team of Scouts) we were on a hot, tired day 10 hiking a long rocky ridge known as Tooth Ridge. The boulders kept getting bigger and bigger, some had even been dynamited years ago just to get the trail through, and I kept saying "what a Rocky Trail" and I guess I got stuck with that...:)



P.S. Mags: I wondered if you were a flyer, as every good pilot checks both Mags (magnetos) carefully before takeoff- aviation types would love that name. Great name and story!:banana

Mags
04-06-2005, 14:56
P.S. Mags: I wondered if you were a flyer, as every good pilot checks both Mags (magnetos) carefully before takeoff- aviation types would love that name. Great name and story!:banana


On a similar vein, people occasionally ask if I was into muscle cars because of "mag wheels". Despite coming from the Northeast (and having my last name) the answer is no. :)

Thanks for the compliments!

"ME & U"
04-06-2005, 15:10
Oh I heard it all.. :)

In the early 80s, the kids at school used to say "Hey..you are Magnum PI"..ha ha!
To an 8yr old it was a funny joke. :)

In 6th grade when we were studying the periodic table, I heard more Magneisum jokes than I care to think about!

Along the same lines, (again, picture the 8-12 yr old boy mentality) Maggot, Magnent, etc..etc.

Anyway, after being in this community for 8+ yrs, being active on various hiking boards and doing various long trails, I think I will stick to the name Mags. :)Ya, suppose it's a good one. I got a good laugh with maggot though:jump

LIhikers
04-06-2005, 15:58
My trail name was given to me by a hiking friend. While hiking together I had fallen down a number of times. Then one day she started calling me Sir Fallsdownalot. I didn't like the Sir part of it and now go by Fallsdownalot.

Krewzer
04-06-2005, 23:54
Got it from a Mardi Gras Krewe I belonged to. Took it pretty quick when "Tomato Bob" was mentioned for the third time.

Ender
04-07-2005, 11:58
Got mine from a book. Didn't expect it to stick, but nothing better came along, so I kept it.

Big Guy
04-08-2005, 20:17
My son gave me my nickname years ago before I started hiking and it has stuck. If you meet me on the trail you know why he called me Big Guy

bigcat2
04-08-2005, 20:57
Mine was self appointed because I tend to find the ground more than I would like. I was once standing still on a rock near Cheoah Bald, standing I say, and just fell over. Go figure. I also was able to find a small root w/ my Leki, kick the pole and fall over. I didn't think it was possible to bend one of those things, but it is. Sheesh. It's amazing I find my way along the trail anyways. :D

lumpy
04-08-2005, 23:50
Lumpy. My girlfriend gave me that nickname in relation to how my pack looks(no, not that package), it's how I pack my backpack......it looks like a sack of potatoes.

Smile
04-08-2005, 23:52
I do it alot.

Rainman
07-29-2005, 09:01
I don't have one. I guess that's obvious because I'm using my real name. The best nickname I ever had is Hammer, but there's already a Whiteblazer who has that trail name. From everything Ive read people get their trail names from fellow hikers they meet along the way. I'ts been 20 years since I have done any serious hiking and I'm just getting back into it. When I hiked in the late seventies and early eighties people didn't seem to give each other trail names. Maybe I'll earn one this July while I'm walking the LT.I am updating this posting. I did, in fact, get a trail name during my hike on the LT this summer. So, although I used to use my real name, Michael Hammond, as my Wite Blaze username, the Administrators have graciously allowed me to change my username to reflect my trail name.

On July 1, 2005, the first day of my hike on The Long Trail, I arrived at Seth Warner Shelter, which was already full, during a rain storm. During a lull in the storm I tried to set up my tent. The lull ended and the rain swamped my tent. The folks in the shelter showed mercy and made room for me. Some of those folks included the Forster's, four siblings hiking together. The next day Kenny Forster ("Cotton") started calling me Rainman and it stuck. :clap

Jaybird
07-29-2005, 09:47
my story is kinda boring....but, here it tis...

my name is JAY....& thus, almost all my life...in some form or other...i've been called:



"Jaybird"



actually, i've GIVEN several hikers their trailnames while on the A.T.
(kinda cool)...& my buddy, Model T always says:..."best to name yourself...before someone else tags you with a name you really, really hate...& are stuck with it for 2,000 miles"

Frolicking Dinosaurs
07-29-2005, 10:29
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)

diogenes
07-29-2005, 11:47
i finished a hike a day early, with an extra day's food on my hands, including eggs, cheese, rice, a clif bar, some other bars, and some peanut butter. some thru hikers came along and they were happy to take a bit of it off my hands. we talked for a while, and eventually, due to my interest in art, and the fact that i brought eggs to some egg deprived hikers, they came to the conclusion that my trail name should be...

peggasso

Icicle
07-29-2005, 13:07
Well, my husband made a small little snowman on one of the first days of our hike this year...complete with a backpack and walking stick....there is a pic of it on his trailjournal at www.trailjournals.com (http://www.trailjournals.com/).

Well...my name is a bit more embarassing....we came to a lunch stop on the trail with Dorothy and Toto...I had just mentioned that I needed a wee (pee, piss...call it what you like)....all of a sudden, Bruce Spruce, Bruce Moose, Yardsale and Mouth came down the trail. I was standing there dancing, all of us talking and I said "Yanno it's great to see you guys, but I wish you hadn't shown up when you did, I really need a wee!!"

So my husband goes "Well, as cold as it is today, if you do it really slowly, it'll freeze into an ICICLE and you can just break it off"

We all laughed...so Dorothy and Toto start calling me "Wee" (which I insisted was spelled "WHEEEE") for about a day.

Two days later, Mouth comes up to us and shouts "I have perfect names for you guys: SNOWMAN AND ICICLE"...

So there you go....

Our boys are Blizzard & Frost...so collectively we are the "Snowman Family".

Gadog430
07-29-2005, 13:35
I grew up in Atlanta, and I was visiting my grandmother who lived down near LaGrange, Ga. We were in the Roses Deparment Store one day (which I always thought was interesting since we were both named Rose), and they had this table of Georgia Bulldog sweatshirts. She bought me one. It was an adult medium and I would say I was about 10 at the time. Let's just say...I grew into it. It was retired in 1990 after both arms were cutoff becuse the cuffs eventually fell off. I bet I wore that shirt 10,000 times over the years.

Well, after I had this sweatshirt and since I lived in Atlanta, I figured I should start finding out about this team shirt I had. This started a lifelong LOVE affair with the Glorious and Stupendous and National Champion Georgia Bulldogs football team.

When I started posting on the Internet, I used GAdog430 as a screen name. That's too long to type, so it was shortened to 'Dawg' over time. I have friends that probably don't even know I have another name.

Football season, one month way. GO DAWGS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
My 2 favorite teams are:
1. Whoever loses to Georgia.
2. Whoever beats South Carolina. (Spurrier is a jerk)

Dawg

Curt
07-29-2005, 19:06
Before my thru-hike in 99 I went by various trail names, among them "Lefty" and "Papa Smurf". When I was getting ready for my thru-hike in 99 I decided I needed a trail name that could give the courage I needed to stay on the trail all these months. Thinking about it I remembered that mother was a Corsican and people from the island of Corsica are known by their courage and determination. My mother was not afraid of anything and pain was nothing to her and to prove it she brought 12 children into this world without going to a hospital. I am not stoic and brave like my mother, I only have one child :D and to prove how coward I am I let my wife suffer all the pain, I am more like my father who although very smart he was not that brave. By naming myself "The Corsican" I brainwashed myself into finishing the trail.:-?

peter_pan
07-30-2005, 08:39
Somewhere about 20 years ago my wife, of about 15 years, then hung Peter Pan on me....She saw me as the boy who refused to grow up motocross, enduro rider, mt bike, hiking, camping, canoeing, Scouter, avid fisherman, handball, racketball, and if time were to permit golf, ( though strangely she drew the line on buying clubs... some utterance about the toy box being full. Have time will play.

Pan

Kerosene
07-31-2005, 16:12
I just tore my medial collateral ligament (MCL) playing competitive soccer at age 48. Needless to say, all of my family members tell me it's time to stop playing.