Archives for February 2020

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I want a trail name. Are trail names only for thru hikers? Because I want one. Or rather, I want to give them to my hiking partners. That’s probably more accurate. I don’t care so much about having one myself, but handing them out, that would be fun.

As my Uncle Ben once told me before he was killed by an escaping armed robber, “With great power, comes great responsibility.” I would not take this naming duty lightly, but I didn’t know if there were established rules, or any guidelines at all for that matter. So I did what any responsible person that needed information would do. I watched a YouTube video.

Atlas and Whipstitch were the video hosts. Cool trail names. I also read How to Get The Best Trail Name Ever, on The Trek blog. According to these wizened you can give yourself a trail name. I decided that would be better than getting one stuck on me that I didn’t like. But I also learned that I could drop one if I didn’t like it. It seemed that the rules were pretty loose, but “unique” and “you” appeared to be common themes.

Giving some of my hiking partners names now, after the fact and off the trail (this may be in violation of an unwritten rule), I’d say I’ve hiked with Doomsayer. I’ve let Jackrabbit take the lead. Sergeant Rock, SkiBounce, Perserverance, Bitterroot, and Sniffles. I’ve backpacked with The Thinker and The Stinker.

But for me? My trail name? I just don’t know. Maybe Lucky. Not unique though. And what if my luck ran out? Would I have to legally change my name to TheHikerFormallyKnownAsLucky? What would those that have hiked with me come up with? Maybe Dumbass. I’ve been called that before but I don’t think they meant it as a trail name.

Maybe I just need to go on a long-distance thru hike to find out. Then again, this all seems like a lot of work just to get a trail name.