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Kookork
03-29-2013, 10:53
I plan to thru hike the AT in 2014 and I want to choose my trail name. some of you know me from my posts and some don't but all of you can help me choose the trail name that fits the bill.

Here are my suggestions:

One and a half men :
Because I hike with my dog and he is male.

Whirling Dervish:
I look like Dervishes when I grow a long beard and I am Iranian originally where is a land of Dervishes.

Peach Black:
I just like the meaning it conveys , it seems kind of profound to me.

Ronin:
Ronin (浪人) is the word used to describe a kind of samurai (http://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samurai) without a master (http://simple.wiktionary.org/wiki/simple:master).
I lost my friend and climbing master and partner in a rock climbing accident while he was opening a new route on a very notoriously famous vertical wall in Iran years ago. I still miss him.

treesloth
03-29-2013, 11:18
I'm confused. I thought Kookork was your trail name. :-)

"Ronin" is cool, but if used, prepare to explain many many times how this name came about when you are asked. If it helps you to remember and honor your friend, then so be it. If it's a bit painful to talk about, well, then I'm sure you understand how many times the wound may be re-opened.

Why not let it be given to you?

Either way, sorry to hear that about your friend.

Kookork
03-29-2013, 11:44
I'm confused. I thought Kookork was your trail name. :-)

"Ronin" is cool, but if used, prepare to explain many many times how this name came about when you are asked. If it helps you to remember and honor your friend, then so be it. If it's a bit painful to talk about, well, then I'm sure you understand how many times the wound may be re-opened.

Why not let it be given to you?

Either way, sorry to hear that about your friend.

Thanks for your response. I have the same concern about the Ronin .
I was mourning for him for quite some times but then I found out the best way to honor him is remembering his free soul and his achievements than the way he died. We never expected him to live long. He was pushing the envelope too far all the time . RIP

I am open to given name either but till that moment I prefer to have a trail name.

Ps: Kookork is my Iranian trail name if you wish . Kookork means "Mountain Bird" in one of the Persian Dialects. My friends gave that name to me after a solo long climbing trip when I was 24 years old.

BuckeyeBill
03-29-2013, 12:08
Canadian Iranian

flemdawg1
03-29-2013, 12:19
I'd keep Kookork. Of course it will prob be mangled in use to Coo-coo. If you can live with that, go w/ it.

MuddyWaters
03-29-2013, 12:24
I'd keep Kookork. Of course it will prob be mangled in use to Coo-coo. If you can live with that, go w/ it.

Most would just call you Kook or Kooky or KooKoo

Kookork
03-29-2013, 12:29
I'd keep Kookork. Of course it will prob be mangled in use to Coo-coo. If you can live with that, go w/ it.

In another forum some call me Korky !! Here some called me kookoo

I had no problem with Coo-coo if I was like that bird. I am a loner though but I don't use other bird's nest to lay my egg there!!! kookork is very difficult to remember.

Dogwood
03-29-2013, 12:40
There are no set rules for obtaining a trail name but IMO it's most often bestowed to you by others. Be careful of what trail name you allow yourself to take on. It is up to you what trail name you finally adopt. I've had more than a few people call me Dagwood as in the cartoon character. I usually tell people how I got my trail name if they look at me in an odd that doesn't compute way when I say it. I'm a plant geek(Landscape Architect, Horticulturalist) who explained to more than 100 AT thru-hikers the trees they were inquiring about were dogwoods. Some one started calling me that and since my personality is similar to the traits of dogwood trees and dogwoods always have been one of my most beloved native trees I allowed myself to be labeled with this trail name. For example, Ronin can sometimes be defined as being a paid mercenary. Ever see the movie Ronin starring Robert DeNero.

One and a Half Men is going to garner comparisons to Two and a Half Men and maybe having some questions your sexuality:p

Whirling Dervish has been taken by other hikers and is also the name of a musical group.

Peach Black is an original.

Kookork
03-29-2013, 13:08
There are no set rules for obtaining a trail name but IMO it's most often bestowed to you by others. Be careful of what trail name you allow yourself to take on. It is up to you what trail name you finally adopt. I've had more than a few people call me Dagwood as in the cartoon character. I usually tell people how I got my trail name if they look at me in an odd that doesn't compute way when I say it. I'm a plant geek(Landscape Architect, Horticulturalist) who explained to more than 100 AT thru-hikers the trees they were inquiring about were dogwoods. Some one started calling me that and since my personality is similar to the traits of dogwood trees and dogwoods always have been one of my most beloved native trees I allowed myself to be labeled with this trail name. For example, Ronin can sometimes be defined as being a paid mercenary. Ever see the movie Ronin starring Robert DeNero.

One and a Half Men is going to garner comparisons to Two and a Half Men and maybe having some questions your sexuality:p

Whirling Dervish has been taken by other hikers and is also the name of a musical group.

Peach Black is an original.

Thanks for the post Dogwood. It is funny hearing about the sexuality thing but I am not worried about it. I do not look like gay people especially when I grow a long beard!!!. I am actually a little scary with beard( Osama Bin laden type):D.

I am a wood enthusiast too. I know many types of North american trees also . My character is more like a hickory but I love the black cherry wood. My favorite exotic wood is Jobillo.

I have a YouTube video about my wooden model A-frame cabin I made couple of years ago. It was my first wooden project and I fell in love with woodworking:



Here is the link( it is boring and lengthy and if I make it today it will be very short and to the point) but it has had 25000 viewer so far.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D4eMRUEQZIY

moytoy
03-29-2013, 13:14
..Mountie..

Kookork
03-29-2013, 13:17
..Mountie..


nice but my friend has a Golden Retriever who bought it from Vermont and named him Mountie!!!!

moytoy
03-29-2013, 13:21
So you would be named after a dog. There are worse things:D

Feral Bill
03-29-2013, 13:23
Canadiranian?

treesloth
03-29-2013, 13:40
In another forum some call me Korky !! Here some called me kookoo

I had no problem with Coo-coo if I was like that bird. I am a loner though but I don't use other bird's nest to lay my egg there!!! kookork is very difficult to remember.

Don't be so sure that it's difficult to remember. Personally, I'd stick with it; it was bestowed upon you on your home soil, it's totally unique, and if I might say so, kinda cool. Definitely more original than 'Treesloth'... I just happen to like them a lot, so I use that name on forums and for other online guises. Or, stick with that until someone bestows one on you that you like better. You can always come back to Kookork if you don't like any assigned names. I plan on getting mine bestowed.

I'm also no stranger to losing friends to high-risk activities. Or what some consider high-risk... Years back one of my skydiving mentors died on a base jump when his canopy opened off-heading and he slammed into a rock wall. :( He'd almost definitely still be with us today if he just stuck to skydiving.

Kookork
03-29-2013, 14:00
Don't be so sure that it's difficult to remember. Personally, I'd stick with it; it was bestowed upon you on your home soil, it's totally unique, and if I might say so, kinda cool. Definitely more original than 'Treesloth'... I just happen to like them a lot, so I use that name on forums and for other online guises. Or, stick with that until someone bestows one on you that you like better. You can always come back to Kookork if you don't like any assigned names. I plan on getting mine bestowed.

I'm also no stranger to losing friends to high-risk activities. Or what some consider high-risk... Years back one of my skydiving mentors died on a base jump when his canopy opened off-heading and he slammed into a rock wall. :( He'd almost definitely still be with us today if he just stuck to skydiving.
Sorry about your friend. Skydiving is relatively safe but base jumping is truly high risk. The same is about climbing which is relatively safe but rock climbing is high risk especially opening a new route. I prefer hiking which is safest and doable for longer years if not till death.

treesloth
03-29-2013, 14:06
Sorry about your friend. Skydiving is relatively safe but base jumping is truly high risk. The same is about climbing which is relatively safe but rock climbing is high risk especially opening a new route. I prefer hiking which is safest and doable for longer years if not till death.

Agreed on all points - especially about skydiving. The dangerous part of skydiving was always driving to and from the drop zone. These days, I echo your mantra about hiking. :) Peace!

Spirit Bear
03-29-2013, 14:28
My trail nameis pretty gay but it fits and once yours fits you will know it.

I encountered 6 black bears last year hiking the GA section of the AT. Whenhiking this was one of 3 fears. the other two were getting bitten by acopperhead or rattlesnake, the 3rd was and is lime disease. But getting mauledby a bear was on the top of the list. After encountering my 6th bear I overcamethe fear and realized these creatures are magnificent and it is such a wonderto see one on the trail in the woods. Why the Indians put bears so high up ontheir list of great creatures.

Then I was watching national Geographic’s top 10 photos of 2012 and one of themwas titled the spirit bear. It is a rare white bear that lives in British Columbia,they are black bears but are white. I'm a an old middle aged white guy withwhite speckles in my beard and I took on the spirit of the bear once I overcamemy fear of them.

The name stuck. My girlfriend called me spirit bear after the show as we wentout for a bite to eat as a joke, it stuck and I feel good with the name.

I am also a dorky guy too kind of like a napoleon dynamite level at times, Ifeel I am and it sounded like some name he would give himself if he werehiking. I could see him with a tee shirt of a bear looking up at the moon andhe says yea I’m spirit bear.

So it fits for me.

You will know your trail name when it comes, it fits your personality weatheryou give it to yourself or not.

Most say a hiker must name you but my take your trail name is whatever you wantit to be, it is who you become when hiking on the AT.

Peace.

Spirit Bear
03-29-2013, 14:30
The woman who currently holds the world record for hiking the AT gave herself her name, Odyssa. So that theory of a hiker must give you your name, take it with a grain of salt.

rickb
03-29-2013, 16:22
Don Cherry. Sort of like Don Juan, only completely different.

Hungry, eh?

Tried, eh?

Big ****ing bear, eh?

But I like the one you have now, too.

Kookork
03-29-2013, 17:27
The woman who currently holds the world record for hiking the AT gave herself her name, Odyssa. So that theory of a hiker must give you your name, take it with a grain of salt.


Jennifer Pharr Davis is the current record holder of AT and she is a nice woman. She is not the ambassador of AT nor her points of view decides about the things like trail name for me. I guess Trail name has been around when JPD was not even born. I respect her record and her personality but will not dismiss things that she does not believe.

The problem with given trail name is when it comes from some incidents that has no meaning and does not convey the personality of the hiker. For example there was a guy with trail name "Rat Bucket " in one of the AT videos who was named rat bucket when he found a dead rat in the bucket(his bucket??) one morning in a shelter or Trauma who was named trauma since he encountered a series of incidents ( not self inflict) for a short period of time.

Actually Trauma is a very cautious and considerate hiker with great knowledge to avoid any trauma.

For me a trail name should convey something about my personality or something deeper than a dead rat in a bucket and does not matter it is a given name or a chosen one.

Ps: I love your trail name. It is spiritual and is given to you for good reason.

Kookork
03-29-2013, 17:30
Don Cherry. Sort of like Don Juan, only completely different.

Hungry, eh?

Tried, eh?


Big ****ing bear, eh?

But I like the one you have now, too.

so Kookork is a nice one,eh?

rocketsocks
03-29-2013, 17:42
Most would just call you Kook or Kooky or KooKooI did once, My apologies Kookork it was underhanded and dirty lowdown :) Also sorry to hear about friend, that blows! never easy to loose a friend. I'd have to give this some more thought, your a Doctor too, right? if yes a Doctor of what, i mean what type of medicine do you practice, maybe the body needs to know a little more about you, what are you passionate about? Wine, poetry, virtue...as you choose:)

Cookerhiker
03-29-2013, 17:43
I like Kookork in that it's advantages are (1) uniqueness - no other Kookorks out there, and (2) appropriate for you given its origin. The problem is on the trail, people won't remember it and it will inevitably get shortened or even changed to something like "Kook" or "Cork." So on your hike, introduce yourself as "KK" (pronounced "Kay Kay"). You can always say it's short for KooKork.

kayak karl
03-29-2013, 18:04
KK works just fine :D

Dogwood
03-29-2013, 18:09
Regardless of what trail name you come up with those are some VERY fine picks of Iran. Always heard there was great beauty in Iran. Well, you captured that fact in your pictures! Those skies look so clear and bright blue. Great sunsets and nice mountain ranges too. I would really like to see better relations between the U.S. and Iran, Iraq, Vietnam, N. Korea, Russia, Venezuela, Cuba, S. Africa, and China. Some AWESOME scenery, wildlife, and trekking in all those places.

Cookerhiker
03-29-2013, 18:10
KK works just fine :D

Oops, I forgot it was taken.:o

Cookerhiker
03-29-2013, 18:15
Regardless of what trail name you come up with those are some VERY fine picks of Iran. Always heard there was great beauty in Iran. Well, you captured that fact in your pictures! Those skies look so clear and bright blue. Great sunsets and nice mountain ranges too. I would really like to see better relations between the U.S. and Iran, Iraq, Vietnam, N. Korea, Russia, Venezuela, Cuba, S. Africa, and China. Some AWESOME scenery, wildlife, and trekking in all those places.

Dogwood, have you ever seen this quote?

"After all, I don't see why I am always asking for private, individual, selfish miracles when every year there are miracles like white dogwood." ~Anne Morrow Lindbergh

Kookork
03-29-2013, 18:37
I did once, My apologies Kookork it was underhanded and dirty lowdown :) Also sorry to hear about friend, that blows! never easy to loose a friend. I'd have to give this some more thought, your a Doctor too, right? if yes a Doctor of what, i mean what type of medicine do you practice, maybe the body needs to know a little more about you, what are you passionate about? Wine, poetry, virtue...as you choose:)

Wow One Sock, no need to apology. You are definitely one of the WB members whom I can not get upset with and one of my favorites.

Yes ,I am a general practitioner and worked as a medical doctor for years in Iran and a few months in UK but not here in Canada. I am not passionate about medicine. It was a common mistake for the time I entered the University entrance exam that almost everybody with the highest score used to apply for medicine ,so did I. My place was 313th among 285000 volunteer for that year.

My real passion is writing and literature and wildlife and science. I like blue collar type of jobs and I enjoy to do landscaping and being a handyman. A true loner who is very social and funny when with the crowd .

Have been in the war for 18 months( mandatory in my country not voluntary) when My country was in war with Iraq and I was a prisoner of war for a very short period of time. I love gardening and I am a bird watcher(Once I was an avid hunter ) but now I have issue killing a fly.Still an angler though when necessary but not for fun.

Hiking is what I love especially alone. I bend every law that does not make sense to me but never break it. I am a survivor in general and an underdog who enjoys being underdog. Once I hated losing any competition but these days I accept the loss easier while I still love winning fair and square.

You do not find me in liquor store frequently but I enjoy drinking wine and beer and gin. My friends say I am way funnier and happier when drunk.

Kookork
03-29-2013, 18:46
Regardless of what trail name you come up with those are some VERY fine picks of Iran. Always heard there was great beauty in Iran. Well, you captured that fact in your pictures! Those skies look so clear and bright blue. Great sunsets and nice mountain ranges too. I would really like to see better relations between the U.S. and Iran, Iraq, Vietnam, N. Korea, Russia, Venezuela, Cuba, S. Africa, and China. Some AWESOME scenery, wildlife, and trekking in all those places.

If you ask me I wish there was no boundary anywhere in the world and we were educated and civilized enough to act like a global village. Every corner of this planet has something to offer.

Kookork
03-29-2013, 18:47
KK works just fine :D

You are not suggesting that I add one more K and make it KKK? Are you?:banana

rickb
03-29-2013, 19:52
and I am a bird watcher.

There have been a number of hikers named after birds over the years, but I am pretty sure there has never been a hoopoe. You could be the first.

Has a nice ring to it, I think. Better than Spruce Grouse, anyway. And far more exotic.

Cookerhiker
03-29-2013, 21:06
There have been a number of hikers named after birds over the years, ...

My trail bud Northern Harrier is named after a bird...and no one he met on his '04 thuhike knew what a "northern harrier" was. Don't think there's any other Northern Harriers (hikers that is) out there.

budforester
03-29-2013, 21:20
I like Korky. It is similar to your "real" trail name, has a nice ring, would not raise many questions of origin, and would be easy for Americans to pronounce.

rickb
03-29-2013, 21:51
Whirling Dervish is really not bad at all. I actually like it a lot.

Too bad bad you have not been coopted into some of the odder pastimes of the great white north. You haven't been have you?

Becuase a Curling Dervish is not someone you would never forget.

MuddyWaters
03-29-2013, 23:27
I would really like to see better relations between the U.S. and Iran, Iraq, Vietnam, N. Korea, Russia, Venezuela, Cuba, S. Africa, and China.


We once did have excellent relations with Iran.
Prior to the fundamentalist regime change in the 70s, which banished all western influences.
It is really difficult to be friends with people that hate you.

A co-worker of mine is Iranian and was living there as a teenager when that occurred
His father was a university professor
He remembers his family being afraid to go outside their house
He remembers seeing his neighbors hanging dead from trees in their yards
They got out, and came to the U.S.

BradMT
03-29-2013, 23:41
Trail Names are for lame-brains... that's a good name.

Hairbear
03-30-2013, 12:29
sand in shoes ,so you will always remember where you came from. Might help the home sickness thing too.

Hairbear
03-30-2013, 12:29
sand in shoes ,so you will always remember where you came from. Might help the home sickness thing too.
Help you remember that all trails lead home.

rocketsocks
03-30-2013, 12:45
Wow One Sock, no need to apology. You are definitely one of the WB members whom I can not get upset with and one of my favorites.

Yes ,I am a general practitioner and worked as a medical doctor for years in Iran and a few months in UK but not here in Canada. I am not passionate about medicine. It was a common mistake for the time I entered the University entrance exam that almost everybody with the highest score used to apply for medicine ,so did I. My place was 313th among 285000 volunteer for that year.

My real passion is writing and literature and wildlife and science. I like blue collar type of jobs and I enjoy to do landscaping and being a handyman. A true loner who is very social and funny when with the crowd .

Have been in the war for 18 months( mandatory in my country not voluntary) when My country was in war with Iraq and I was a prisoner of war for a very short period of time. I love gardening and I am a bird watcher(Once I was an avid hunter ) but now I have issue killing a fly.Still an angler though when necessary but not for fun.

Hiking is what I love especially alone. I bend every law that does not make sense to me but never break it. I am a survivor in general and an underdog who enjoys being underdog. Once I hated losing any competition but these days I accept the loss easier while I still love winning fair and square.

You do not find me in liquor store frequently but I enjoy drinking wine and beer and gin. My friends say I am way funnier and happier when drunk.just a first thought, a popular cartoon when I was a kid


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tEVsRLhet2k

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tEVsRLhet2k

kayak karl
03-30-2013, 13:24
You are not suggesting that I add one more K and make it KKK? Are you?:banana
i have signed KK&K for Kaia my dog. left the & out once and didn't hear the end of it. :)

Kookork
03-30-2013, 14:16
There have been a number of hikers named after birds over the years, but I am pretty sure there has never been a hoopoe. You could be the first.

Has a nice ring to it, I think. Better than Spruce Grouse, anyway. And far more exotic.



Kookork is a species of Partridge but as big as a medium Turkey. They live close to snow on top of the mountains all year long.


Whirling Dervish is really not bad at all. I actually like it a lot.

Too bad bad you have not been coopted into some of the odder pastimes of the great white north. You haven't been have you?

Becuase a Curling Dervish is not someone you would never forget.



NO, I have not been .
The thing with whirling Dervish is that I can not whirl to be honest, It gives me a long lasting vertigo!!!



We once did have excellent relations with Iran.
Prior to the fundamentalist regime change in the 70s, which banished all western influences.
It is really difficult to be friends with people that hate you.

A co-worker of mine is Iranian and was living there as a teenager when that occurred
His father was a university professor
He remembers his family being afraid to go outside their house
He remembers seeing his neighbors hanging dead from trees in their yards
They got out, and came to the U.S.


I was 11 years old when Stupid Islamic revolution happened. I do not recall or heard of anybody being h hung in their yards. Even the top ex- government and military were jailed and executed in jails. It was a very harsh and scary time for many but being executed in their yard seems way far fetched or very uncommon if any.
Iranian people have no grudge against USA but the Islamic government has. The government is supported by 10 to 15 percent of population (fundamentalists ) and not by the entire Iranian.


[QUOTE=One Sock;1452059]just a first thought, a popular cartoon when I was a kid


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tEVsRLhet2k

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tEVsRLhet2k[/QUOTE (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tEVsRLhet2k%5b/QUOTE)]




when I was a kid, we used to watch Tennessee Tuxedo and Chamli and we loved it.

Oak88
03-30-2013, 16:16
Maybe just start your trek in 2014 and let the trail name you, as you walk fellow hikers will find an appropriate trail name.

Star Walker
03-31-2013, 03:32
Dont make your own. I believe it should be given to you. Star Walker was given to me by some fellows I met. Three days in a row I wouldnt get to the shelter until 12-1am. I enjoy taking in the sights :)

daddytwosticks
03-31-2013, 07:05
Iranwalker.
CanRan (Canadian-Iranian).
SandMan.
:)

10-K
03-31-2013, 08:16
I always thought "Trail Name" would be a good trail name...

"What's your trail name?"
"Trail name."
"Yes, what's your trail name?"
"Trail name."

Kookork
03-31-2013, 08:45
Iranwalker.
CanRan (Canadian-Iranian).
SandMan.
:)

How about : iran which is ipod version of Iran and means I ran :).

Kookork
03-31-2013, 08:51
I always thought "Trail Name" would be a good trail name...

"What's your trail name?"
"Trail name."
"Yes, what's your trail name?"
"Trail name."
Past winter my brother went for two days hike on AT with two of his friends( Franconia Ridge). My suggestion for his temporary trail name was" Editor's choice" since many of his gears were chosen from that list.!!!!!

daddytwosticks
03-31-2013, 11:10
Hey Ke-mo-sabi..."Toronto Tonto". :)

Kookork
03-31-2013, 11:30
Hey Ke-mo-sabi..."Toronto Tonto". :)

This is a great trail name.

Rasty
03-31-2013, 11:33
This is a great trail name.

Tonto is silly in Spanish

QiWiz
03-31-2013, 11:38
I'd keep Kookork. Of course it will prob be mangled in use to Coo-coo. If you can live with that, go w/ it.

+1 - I like Kookork, especially once you explained it. Beware of shortening it to just Kook.

johnnybgood
03-31-2013, 12:16
If for no other reason, your current name opens conversation with other hikers that want to know how "Kookork" came about.

Now , just think of it this way , you would be spreading knowledge from GA-ME ...and that's why I would keep it.

Groomez
04-01-2013, 09:15
How long have people been giving themselves trail names? I was always under the impression growing up that a trail name was given to you, like a badge of merit along the way. I have a nick that was given to me in the Army and it stuck forever but if someone ends up ordaining me with a new one, I'll gladly accept it.

Cookerhiker
04-01-2013, 20:16
I always thought "Trail Name" would be a good trail name...

"What's your trail name?"
"Trail name."
"Yes, what's your trail name?"
"Trail name."

Was it the movie & book Catch 22 where there was a "Major Major?"

Who's on first? What? He's on second. Who's on third? I don't know. Right. (Today is Opening Day for most MLB teams).