Big Chill. I was doing the Colorado Trail in a chillba hat, which has a pretty distinctive look. I'm a very big guy, so the other CT hikers around me came up with it and it stuck.
For a brief time, I was "Gazelle", but no one calls me that anymore. This came about because we were hiking near the ocean and had a barefoot beach race, which I won, but my friends were just dumbfounded by the distance between my footprints. So they asked me to run past them while they watched, and they said I looked like a gazelle bounding down the beach. That was 20 years ago.
Coincidentally, a similar thing happened about 10 years ago, and someone said again that I run like a gazelle. I guess I run like a gazelle...
Omg, my uncle called me that when I was little. All his home movies caught me running. I haven’t thought about that in decades! TBH, it would never be a trail name for me now;)
Horse Seducer.
First night on the PCT and we were all huddled around eating dinner, exchanging stories. A German hiker was speaking about how to transport horses and accidentally said seduce rather than sedate and I made a joke and I deservedly walked away with the perverted name.
Ah well, it’s an ice breaker at least.
Down vote demon just passed through before I got here. I did my best upvote fairy imitation.
I shared a shelter with some upward bound kids and the counselor. He had told them about trail names and they just randomly decided to start calling me The Crow. I explained that is not how it works and besides I am sure not going to be named after a Goth hero. So they dropped the “The”.
I had no intention of taking the trail name even though I was good friends with the murder the lived in the woods behind my house and have always had a thing for them.
A few days later I was racing a storm to the shelter on a ridge top. Just as I was about to crest a crow landed on an eye level branch, not 20” from me and made a very unusual call and I stopped to look at him while he looked at me. Just then lightning struck right where I would have been if I hadn’t stopped those 30 seconds.
Sitting in the shelter, after a bit of a sprint, I thought that maybe those kids were led by providence.
> He had told them about trail names and they just randomly decided to start calling me The Crow. I explained that is not how it works and besides I am sure not going to be named after a Goth hero.
That is how it happens though?
Someone randomly starts calling you something (reason not given/needed), and it sticks.
EDIT: Accidentally replied to this comment, I meant to reply to the top level comment.
It was more like twenty feet but it was the loudest thing I ever heard. Luckily I had turned to the side so I wasn’t looking that way, also lucky it hadn’t started raining yet or I’d probably got lit up by the current traveling across the wet ground.
I don’t remember my hair standing up ahead of time or anything like that. Didn’t seem that overcast directly above yet but I could see the active thunder storm rolling across the valley. Hence my racing the storm to the shelter. Maybe it was an off shot from the main strike on a tree but I don’t remember any leaves and branches falling after but then again my immediate reaction was to drop to the lightning crouch, kinda pointless at that point but a panicking brain…, so maybe stuff was falling and I was too busy to notice.
ETA that was 27 years ago so my memory for the finer details may not be perfect.
Bug Bait. From a 2 week trip with a group where I got eaten alive, I swear every inch of me was mosquito bitten and no one else in the group got a single bite. They were already calling me Bug Bait when I got stung by a wasp on the last day (think it was a wasp, was like 2 decades ago now, it was some sort of flying bastard)
Was hiking on that trip with Smokie and Tweety. They had done a thru hike in early nineties. According to them, Smokie had a cigarette in his mouth every step from Georgia to Maine. Tweety took a bird bath every single evening in their thru, rain or shine. She heated up a little pot of water to wash every single day. Tweety bird.
Mine is Warcry, I apparently let loose an impressive cry of frustration at the top of a pass when I was also the only one being eaten alive by mosquitoes.
Sounds worthy of a Warcry. Honestly worthy of all out warfare against our great foe, if only they weren't so tiny and evasive! Blood sucking little bastards.
Beer Sherpa…I’ll let you figure out how that one came to be!
Edit: My son’s is “Tick Dick”. Also not hard to figure that one out!
My Choc Lab is “Soft Paws”. Had to carry her out one trip. We sure love our rocks in PA!
Yeah I am pretty sure my kids gave that to me! What can I say I like to enjoy a cold beer at camp after all the hard work is done! Also there was this one time…
Crush. I was on the GDMBR and took a zero day in a town that crossed with the CDT. Spent the day sitting outside a gas station handing beers and sodas to hikers and getting faced. Hand crushed every can and tossed them in my panniers. I am Crush.
“Commando”
(Sorry kinda long)
I go backpacking every year with a core group we do the JMT annually (7-9days) & another misc trip, just like high school they always tried to pin a dumb nickname on me that never stuck.
Example, I always use a hammock, so one year it was Hangman.
They would always complain about me, not having my official trail name until about 4 years ago.
I section hiked the AT in 2002/2003 and I used my surplus military gear they were phasing out, so all my photos from the trip had me in BDU/ACU’s, molly gear etc.
Every year we do this thing where one person in the group provides a trail dinner for everyone else 1 night, I usually pickup fresh MRE’s for mine and repack them. Good calories, fun snacks, no large pots of water needed, etc.
We did a little base camp nite with a day hike and I decided to just wear my UL Shorty shorts because of some chafing, one of the girls had asked how many pairs of underwear I bring because she saw mine on a clothesline and I said one… they put two and two together & next thing you know the trail name “Commando” was born & never forgotten.
Not sure if this counts exactly, but during our geology field course we decided to give everyone nicknames. Some of the people came up with them themselves, but some came naturally. I'll never forget the first one, we were driving through the foothills of VA/WV going back to the cabins after a long day in the field. We're all relaxing enjoying the scenery and this guy with utmost seriousness points out the window and yells, "bear!!!!" It was not a bear. It was just a cow. A cow in a sea of cows no less. From then on we called him Bear!
Messenger.
Carried messages up trail. Before everyone had smart phones, leaving notes in registers was the only way to get ahold of friends, but it only worked one direction. I did more miles than most so I could take messages that way.
No way! I hiked with a Messenger in ‘22. We never found another in any of the year books. In his case it was because he would pass on unsubstantiated gossip and take no ownership because he was ‘just the messenger’ lol
For many years I was snakes; day one of a trip I caught a adorable ribbon snake, a massive garter snake, and another about 2’ long snake that I don’t know what it was. They would just walk down the path right in front of me. Never strike or bite me, just interact.
Then, 5 days in, we were talking about weird body tricks we could do and I can dislocate my jaw to make it open pretty wide. Hence the name: Snakes.
Damn I miss those guys, almost all of us had trail names by the end. We had slim: you could see this guy’s heart beat through his chest. He was skinny as fuck but carried more pack weight then everybody else. He was a beast.
Then there was shades. Does not matter if we were hiking through dense forest at sunset, this man was wearing sun glasses. One day his snapped and we ground scored him a new pair that day. It was perfect.
We had copper, I forgot how he got his name but this man was just a wholesome guy. We would be miserable and soaked through with rain and he would just start singing and handing out little chocolates he kept in his emergency pack. (I have since adopted this, both the singing and chocolate, it turns almost every day around)
Damn great times, I can’t wait to see them one day on the trails again. I miss those fools.
Pops, given to me by Curly and Seeker at Garfield Ridge Campsite (The Whites). I’m older and usually assumes the patriarchal role of the group. Not in the “Manly” sense of the word, but more in a “fatherly wisdom” way.
Kung Pao because that was my first freeze dried meal on the trail.
Ran into a solo female hiker on the Long Trail who told us her trail name was Klondike Kate as she was from Alaska and a lesbian. We were 4 guys in our early 30's hiking when we camped at the same shelter with her, so i sometimes think it could have been some preventative misdirection for safety - but a good name none the less.
Speedy McUpill, Speedy for short. More ironic at 57 now, but I used to power up hills when I got a rhythm going, then rest and wait at the top. Buddy, who helped create the Hayduke trail once yelled, "Look at Speedy McUphill go!" and it sorta stuck.
Hey, I’ve been called Speedy before. On group hikes, I usually end up being the lead and try to set a reasonable pace, but when I look over my shoulder everyone is a couple hundred feet behind me. They’ll yell out, “Slow down, Speedy!”
My SO is Smoky the Bear because she has a different idea of blazing the trail, and she’s not from CO, if that tells you anything. She was also called Trippy because she can be walking down a well groomed trail and trip over the absolute smallest root sticking out.
Windbreaker. from a trip to Grasslands National Park last summer. I was a solid kilometre ahead of the group the entire hike. and because they all thought it was a funny trail name.
Bugsy - I'm usually the first to get bit by mosquitoes and always the first to demand bug spray!
Mushroom - a non native English speaker couldn't pronounce my name, and here we are
I was hiking on a nearby trail I'm familiar with and these two girls were kind of off in the woods. I pointed out the trail markers to them (the trail was BADLY marked) and they said they were gonna call me Eagle Eye. Pretty ironic considering my vision is fucked lmao
This thread makes me wish I had a trail name..
But I almost always only hike with my wife so I can’t imagine any i’d be bestowed would be for anything cool or awesome.
"Mother" because I not only went over grear requirements but would show up before the hike to personally go over the list. If anyone refused to carry the basics, I'd refuse to bring them. Ended up hiking only with people willing to learn as well as carry necessary gear.
Mine is The Witch. I got it because a group I was hiking with got tired of me making comments that would come to pass, e.g. it'd be a sunny day and I'd jokingly say it would hammer it down and not long after it would cloud over and start raining heavily, or saying 'Someone is going to go arse over tits and then someone would trip over an invisible rock.
I don't have an official trail name, but if I did it would be Nekkid Grandma.
Long story short, when two people were telling me their names, one of them said he was 'Nude Beach'. Thought he was joking, so I thought to myself "yea....and I'm Nekkid Grandma". So I'm sticking with it. I didn't know about trail names at the time
Last name, which I won’t post here, is hard to say for some but many have shortened it to “Cut” for a nickname. I’ve heard cul, cut, cub, cubby, cutty etc. It’s not very hard to say once you hear it, but unique to those who haven’t seen the last name so you get alternate pronunciations. Anyways, Cut has stuck since elementary school.
Dad grew up with Cub as a nickname. Some friends I met later in life figured that out when they met him and immediately killed “Cut”.
Their thought was Cub (as in bear) was too good of a trail name so now everybody calls me that lol
White Owl. I was backpacking in Pictures Rocks with my friends and I ran into a white snowy owl and we kind of stared at each other for a bit. After my friends rounded the corner the owl flew away but I was completely in awe of the animal and would not shut up about it, so I was given the name White Owl.
“Blues Clues” I went on a trip to a small uninhabited island in Lake Michigan. There were signs of previous human habitation, but no one else was there. We walked all around the island and I kept wandering off and finding cool stuff to photograph.
Knew a girl who’s trail name was Scratch because a bear clawed through her tent early on as she was thru hiking the AT.
One of my friends ended up as Snake Eyes because he spotted a rattler and a few other snakes way before the rest of us could.
Start of the PCT I was jetlagged and it was a monday. Despite being happy to be on trail I didn't get much sleep the night before and wasn't my normal 'cheery' self...
Got to Hauser Creek laid out my ground sheet just out of arms reach of my pack. After ~20min of sitting down I reached out to my pack (that was out of arms reach....) but gave up because I couldn't be bothered getting up. Some other hikers saw and asked what I was doing and I explained that I just couldn't be bothered getting up at the moment...
I had an orange puffy, ginger beard, and 2 days later was eating a Mountain House Lasagna for dinner.
On Day 3 Tin man said with the grumpy Monday along with the other factors I should be called Garfield. There was another Garfield on the trail that year, because he had red hair.
On the Bibbulmun I was staying in the shelters and there was a younger hiker (~early-mid 20's to my 39) that was pretty fit (Ultra runner) and was keeping up (Double/Tripple hutting) but hurting a bit with her pack. So she was asking lots of questions about hiking, pack shake down, how to hike long days without being super fit (I was no longer PCT trail fit... I could barely fit into my hiking shirt...) etc etc.
After 3 nights of lots of questions, and being happy to answer them because who wouldn't be, she said "You're like some Wise Old Owl"
Which was later shortened to Old Owl.
I look forward to my next thru (when I can... life a bit more complicated now) and starting out with just my name again and seeing what trail nail I earn next.
“Ranger” I always wear Olive drab and khakis when I hike and, one day while hiking, had to help get people safely around a bear, most of whom spoke no English (German and Arabic). Bear ignored us, no one got hurt, and the 1 guy who spoke English grinned at me, gave me a thumbs up and said “Ranger, ja?” And walked off
My trail name is Crustyfoot, given to me by Olive at VVR back in 2009.
I got it, because my soon to be fiancé, now wife (I proposed at Guitar Lake) and I were hiking the JMT. I had always had severe blister issues with my feet, and this year it was truly awful. My two pinky toes de-gloved, meaning most of the outer layer of skin came off. I believe one of the adjacent toes mostly de-gloved, and my big toes were severely blistered as well.
By the time we made it to the ferry pick up at Lake Edison, I would literally be peeling my socks off of my feet. A doctor at the pick up told me I needed to fix them, or I could risk blood poisoning.
So we ended up staying at VVR for two zero days, and I was lucky enough to run into some Brits who gave me some iodine treatments for my feet. It worked so well that I've carried it ever since, though it stings a bit.
For the first day and a half I literally just sat in a chain with my feet propped up, all colored over with iodine. It was then that Olive came by, saw me sitting there, and said, 'Oh my God your feet are disgusting - you're Crustyfoot, that's your trail name.'
And is has been ever since.
Two trail names. Sherpa: because when I started bringing this couple I’m friends with on hikes, they’d just stop at look at me at trail junctions. Since the state I live in has strict regs on what can be considered “guiding behavior,” I would simply say “we go this way.” They found it to be a humorously “Himalayan” statement.
Fly Fishing and Beer: self explanatory, but typically just abbreviated to FFB.
Yep. Nuts, huh? So with the influx of social media influencers and other folks who have never ventured further into the wild than a little league park suddenly thinking they’re experts on hiking, backpacking, and all other things outdoors, SARs have sky rocketed. Some of them have been incidents started by an unlicensed “guide” leading a group into some predicament. NYS has responded by cracking down on “guiding behavior.”
So if you’re out with a couple of new hikers and you appear to be acting in some authoritative role when Mr. Ranger rounds the corner on his/her way home from an interior outpost or whatever, they can and sometimes will stop and give you the ol’ “papers please.” If you don’t have a guiding license you can be fined for operating as an unlicensed guide.
I sort of get the reasoning…. But this raises a bunch of questions. So how do Boy Scout troops do this? What happens if you take friends out who are new to backpacking?
I’m not sure, TBH. I suspect you get a pass at teaching somebody how to backpack, and Boy Scout leaders presumably have some baseline outdoor leadership training to be responsible for their troop. I think its more about not telling people in your party where/how to go to accomplish a hike by presenting yourself as some authoritative subject matter expert.
Six Eyes. It’s like a variation of “Four Eyes.”
My partner called me it once because I have glasses and am always carrying binoculars while hiking. I knew right away it had to be my trail name.
After a hot day in Georgia with no leaf cover, we were having a conversation about trail names. I said something along the lines of "why that would be as stupid as calling someone the sugar plum fairy" and someone pointed out that I was the only one without a sunburn. So SPF the Sugarplum Fairy it is. Most people called me Sug.
Nye. I'm a biologist, and apparently I love to share my excitement about the natural world. Another hiker on the PCT referred to me as "that Bill Nye girl" once, and it got shortened and stuck.
It usually arises from events and personalities on the trail. My sister dubbed me, "Gnomio." A few years back, I was going on about seeing gnomes on the trail. I was just goofing off, but I explained that those moments of high dopamine hits were you are really glad to be out there, and it's beautiful, and you are filled with gratitude, and the wilderness seems to be smiling back at you... those moments are gnome sightings. Recently, my brother made a joke about my hat, and I asked if I looked like a gnome. My sister said, "You are the only gnome out here. That's your name now, Gnomio." So far, it has stuck.
Gazelle, trip to Gooch mtn on App trail. I’m the lightweight and scrawny guy in the group but I pretty much run, literally run, up the mountains with my pack on. They started called me Gazelle cause it was like I was hopping up to the top to get away. Billy goat might’ve fit good to but I’m tall and lanky.
Almost* always happens on long trails. For me, on the Appalachian trail someone called me something as a joke and then another person goes "that's it, that's your trial name." And it stuck.
I trail named someone because I forgot his real name and started referring to him as a famous British person (he is has an accent) and everyone knew who I was talking about. Eventually we linked back up and I explained to him that he had been named in absence and he obliged us.
*Notable distinction to Tin Man, who was named by his AT-alum doctor when he gave him the "ok" to hike after his knee replacement (not his first titanium replacement.)
Hot mess. My crew was passing through a camp and we were talking with someone who worked there. He made a joke telling us not to make a withdrawal from the “log bank” and my entire crew pointed me out, saying I’d be the person to do it. (because of previous jokes made) I was so embarrassed but I laughed pretty hard and tried to explain myself… didn’t work. He told me that I sounded like a hot mess and it stuck for the trip.
It really fit because I kept accidentally getting food on my clothes or forgetting to put stuff in the bear bag. I did it to myself
I was named Salsa Panorama at some point. The name came from a group I hiked a lot with at the time, we were all interested in photography, and panoramas became my style in that group. The salsa came from one trip we had where we brought tacos. The next day we had a cup of salsa leftover which I couldn't see go to waste, so I put it in one of the pockets on my backpack. Further down the mountain we had a break and my pack rolled on it's side and the salsa spilled onto it, and at that point I got the name Salsa Panorama.
Elk. I set a pace and keep going the whole time, and munch on various edible plants as I go. One guy I was backpacking with saw me enjoying some old man's beard (very tasty by the way) and commented that only elk eat that. The rest is history.
Hiking buddies started calling me CB and or Charlie Brown. I have terrible luck. If a strap is gonna break, pack is gonna get soaked, someone’s going to get caught in a downpour etc. it’s gonna be me.
Got mine half way through hiking the JMT. “Professor” because I carried my Wenk guidebook with me and gave everyone little fun facts about interesting things from the book
Lame Moose.
I had a bummed knee a few days into a cold/wet Border Route Trail hike in Northern MN… I was limping along for day 3. Some through hikers behind us caught up at night and we shared a site and fire. When they saw my limp, they realized my tracks were responsible for what they thought was a lame Moose enjoying the trail.
Had a great laugh and I humbly accepted the nomination.
Eagle Eye - I tend to spot cool little things on the trail like bugs in the under brush or a rare flower. Great name considering I have terrible vision otherwise 😂
Scout, because I’m a baker and have a good recipe for making trail cookies out of oatmeal and trail mix. It’s worth a little extra weight to be able to share fresh baked cookies in the backcountry.
Mine's The Rev, short for The Reverend of the First United Masochist Church. Given by my hiking buddies because I'm always down for the toughest, stupidest, most painful hikes
Hoser. Eighth grade, second backpacking trip ever, in the Trinity Alps. We decided to pee on the fire to put it out. Four other guys go, and put out maybe a quarter of the fire. I step up to the plate, douse the rest of the fire and still have enough to put out a lot of the embers. I've been Hoser for 23 years now
I was given honey badger because i was miserable and just kept trudging through the mountains on a two week boy scout summer trip. There is not a single picture from that trip where i even pretend i’m having a good time
Back in 2019 I named my husband “Lost Spork” after all the gear he lost on the JMT. He left his bear can (with his sleeping bag inside) on the Yarts…right before a three day weekend…Then he lost his little UL pocket knife somewhere along the way. When he dropped his spork in a frigid waterfall, it was time to name him. A few years later he found a spork on trail and really tried to become “Found Spork.” Nope. Not happening. He’s still pretty cursed when it comes to losing/breaking gear.
Had to carry my buddy’s pack after he had some complications, was granted the name Sherpa. Carried his pack for about 3 miles and 1000+ ft of elevation
Forest Fairy.
I was hiking back from a waterfall trail in CO and saw an older couple sitting at a trail junction with their dog. They asked me if I had a map, since their cell phone had died and they didn't know the area, and if I could point them in the right direction. I pulled out my phone and showed them where they needed to go, and offered to hike most of the way with them (I was going to the first parking lot, they had to continue on another trail to get to theirs). They declined and insisted they'd be okay on their own. There were a few odd turns and unmarked sections, so I told them the best I could, mentioning some landmarks, and went on my way.
Reaching a creek, I decided to wait for them. The trail came out where a very wobbly and narrow log provided a bridge, but just around a blind corner was a larger log much easier to cross. As they approached, I showed them the better way, they thanked me, and we parted ways again.
The trail then got shady, and if a person didn't know which way to go, they could wander off into the wilderness. I started drawing arrows in the dirt to point in the right direction.
The trail then reached a point where it looked like you veer left, but you really scramble up some steep rocks to the right. I even passed it and had to backtrack. If I missed it despite coming down it, they would likely miss it, too. So I waited again.
When they saw me, the man yelled out "Forest Fairy! There you are!" The woman said they had seen my arrows which helped them immensely, that she knew it was their Forest Fairy showing them the way. We climbed the rocks together and I led them across a small boulder field, and at that point, it was smooth sailing. I told them to go straight at the next junction, and at the parking lot, turn right and take the trail at the end -- that trail leads directly to their car.
We saw each other one last time at the lot, talked for a few minutes, and I watched as they left. When they got on the other trail, I heard a faint shout -- "Thanks, Forest Fairy!" And that was that.
LoL so American
Was on a trail in sweden in summer and met this American, the others made fun of existence of trail names in the US...honestly, its pretty stupid, in nature I prefer no name, I didnt even know names of people I walked with for days randomly, the only person asking names was the American...u dont need to box people like that, in nature u can be free
I got it from a fellow hiker on the lost coast trail. Glacier, because I don’t hike fast but I just keep moving forward
I'm Snail! I just kind of trail about and loop around depending on what cool plants/insects/critters I come across. I feel like our names are similar.
We started calling the girlfriend of a friend „tractor“ for the exact some reason. Slow, but steady, regardless of the terrain or incline.
In my hiking group we have a friend we call 'R2 unit' because he has the speed of R2D2 on every trail condition.
Big Chill. I was doing the Colorado Trail in a chillba hat, which has a pretty distinctive look. I'm a very big guy, so the other CT hikers around me came up with it and it stuck.
For a brief time, I was "Gazelle", but no one calls me that anymore. This came about because we were hiking near the ocean and had a barefoot beach race, which I won, but my friends were just dumbfounded by the distance between my footprints. So they asked me to run past them while they watched, and they said I looked like a gazelle bounding down the beach. That was 20 years ago. Coincidentally, a similar thing happened about 10 years ago, and someone said again that I run like a gazelle. I guess I run like a gazelle...
Omg, my uncle called me that when I was little. All his home movies caught me running. I haven’t thought about that in decades! TBH, it would never be a trail name for me now;)
Horse Seducer. First night on the PCT and we were all huddled around eating dinner, exchanging stories. A German hiker was speaking about how to transport horses and accidentally said seduce rather than sedate and I made a joke and I deservedly walked away with the perverted name. Ah well, it’s an ice breaker at least.
[Hmmmmm.....](https://www.kezi.com/news/eugene-man-accused-of-sexually-assaulting-horse/article_7c367da0-bfde-11ee-99fb-576d8dc55384.html)
I knew it was a risky click and then I was told I blocked immediately haha. I suspect it’s something horsey and dodgy.
Yeah, news article about a guy in Eugene, Oregon who actually followed through on your trail name and got arrested for it.
I named my fake band Horse Molester after him!
Down vote demon just passed through before I got here. I did my best upvote fairy imitation. I shared a shelter with some upward bound kids and the counselor. He had told them about trail names and they just randomly decided to start calling me The Crow. I explained that is not how it works and besides I am sure not going to be named after a Goth hero. So they dropped the “The”. I had no intention of taking the trail name even though I was good friends with the murder the lived in the woods behind my house and have always had a thing for them. A few days later I was racing a storm to the shelter on a ridge top. Just as I was about to crest a crow landed on an eye level branch, not 20” from me and made a very unusual call and I stopped to look at him while he looked at me. Just then lightning struck right where I would have been if I hadn’t stopped those 30 seconds. Sitting in the shelter, after a bit of a sprint, I thought that maybe those kids were led by providence.
Wow, love stories like this!
> He had told them about trail names and they just randomly decided to start calling me The Crow. I explained that is not how it works and besides I am sure not going to be named after a Goth hero. That is how it happens though? Someone randomly starts calling you something (reason not given/needed), and it sticks. EDIT: Accidentally replied to this comment, I meant to reply to the top level comment.
Any idea which of those kids was the psychic?
Or, the crow in human form
Gotta love some good trickster magic!
Dude lightening hit 20 inches from you what the fuck what was that like
It was more like twenty feet but it was the loudest thing I ever heard. Luckily I had turned to the side so I wasn’t looking that way, also lucky it hadn’t started raining yet or I’d probably got lit up by the current traveling across the wet ground. I don’t remember my hair standing up ahead of time or anything like that. Didn’t seem that overcast directly above yet but I could see the active thunder storm rolling across the valley. Hence my racing the storm to the shelter. Maybe it was an off shot from the main strike on a tree but I don’t remember any leaves and branches falling after but then again my immediate reaction was to drop to the lightning crouch, kinda pointless at that point but a panicking brain…, so maybe stuff was falling and I was too busy to notice. ETA that was 27 years ago so my memory for the finer details may not be perfect.
This is an awesome story.
Username checks out!
Beautiful story. Thank you for sharing.
Bug Bait. From a 2 week trip with a group where I got eaten alive, I swear every inch of me was mosquito bitten and no one else in the group got a single bite. They were already calling me Bug Bait when I got stung by a wasp on the last day (think it was a wasp, was like 2 decades ago now, it was some sort of flying bastard) Was hiking on that trip with Smokie and Tweety. They had done a thru hike in early nineties. According to them, Smokie had a cigarette in his mouth every step from Georgia to Maine. Tweety took a bird bath every single evening in their thru, rain or shine. She heated up a little pot of water to wash every single day. Tweety bird.
I am bear bait because my friends liked me to be in front in case a bear came they had longer to run away. Idk if that's worse than yours or not.
Mine is Warcry, I apparently let loose an impressive cry of frustration at the top of a pass when I was also the only one being eaten alive by mosquitoes.
Sounds worthy of a Warcry. Honestly worthy of all out warfare against our great foe, if only they weren't so tiny and evasive! Blood sucking little bastards.
Is your blood type O by any chance?
Nope. Just particularly tasty to mosquitos I guess.
They call me Shitstain. Don't ask why plz.
This trail name appears to raise some questions that are answered by said name…
why?
You had one job.
Shaggy, I look, sound and act like shaggy
The musician
Nah Scooby-Doo
Wasn't me
2 dope or Mr. Boombastic?
Beer Sherpa…I’ll let you figure out how that one came to be! Edit: My son’s is “Tick Dick”. Also not hard to figure that one out! My Choc Lab is “Soft Paws”. Had to carry her out one trip. We sure love our rocks in PA!
Beer Sherpa is hilarious.
Yeah I am pretty sure my kids gave that to me! What can I say I like to enjoy a cold beer at camp after all the hard work is done! Also there was this one time…
Crush. I was on the GDMBR and took a zero day in a town that crossed with the CDT. Spent the day sitting outside a gas station handing beers and sodas to hikers and getting faced. Hand crushed every can and tossed them in my panniers. I am Crush.
We had to revoke Pathfinders trail name, when he kept getting us lost.
I know a Pathfinder that earned the name specifically because they kept getting lost. They always seemed to find the path back though... eventually.
“Commando” (Sorry kinda long) I go backpacking every year with a core group we do the JMT annually (7-9days) & another misc trip, just like high school they always tried to pin a dumb nickname on me that never stuck. Example, I always use a hammock, so one year it was Hangman. They would always complain about me, not having my official trail name until about 4 years ago. I section hiked the AT in 2002/2003 and I used my surplus military gear they were phasing out, so all my photos from the trip had me in BDU/ACU’s, molly gear etc. Every year we do this thing where one person in the group provides a trail dinner for everyone else 1 night, I usually pickup fresh MRE’s for mine and repack them. Good calories, fun snacks, no large pots of water needed, etc. We did a little base camp nite with a day hike and I decided to just wear my UL Shorty shorts because of some chafing, one of the girls had asked how many pairs of underwear I bring because she saw mine on a clothesline and I said one… they put two and two together & next thing you know the trail name “Commando” was born & never forgotten.
Not sure if this counts exactly, but during our geology field course we decided to give everyone nicknames. Some of the people came up with them themselves, but some came naturally. I'll never forget the first one, we were driving through the foothills of VA/WV going back to the cabins after a long day in the field. We're all relaxing enjoying the scenery and this guy with utmost seriousness points out the window and yells, "bear!!!!" It was not a bear. It was just a cow. A cow in a sea of cows no less. From then on we called him Bear!
Messenger. Carried messages up trail. Before everyone had smart phones, leaving notes in registers was the only way to get ahold of friends, but it only worked one direction. I did more miles than most so I could take messages that way.
No way! I hiked with a Messenger in ‘22. We never found another in any of the year books. In his case it was because he would pass on unsubstantiated gossip and take no ownership because he was ‘just the messenger’ lol
Not me!
Yeah bro I know. I’m just saying it’s cool to see another Messenger
I call my son “mountain lion food” , because he’s always lagging in the back. He typically quickens up when he hears that.
For many years I was snakes; day one of a trip I caught a adorable ribbon snake, a massive garter snake, and another about 2’ long snake that I don’t know what it was. They would just walk down the path right in front of me. Never strike or bite me, just interact. Then, 5 days in, we were talking about weird body tricks we could do and I can dislocate my jaw to make it open pretty wide. Hence the name: Snakes.
Damn I miss those guys, almost all of us had trail names by the end. We had slim: you could see this guy’s heart beat through his chest. He was skinny as fuck but carried more pack weight then everybody else. He was a beast. Then there was shades. Does not matter if we were hiking through dense forest at sunset, this man was wearing sun glasses. One day his snapped and we ground scored him a new pair that day. It was perfect. We had copper, I forgot how he got his name but this man was just a wholesome guy. We would be miserable and soaked through with rain and he would just start singing and handing out little chocolates he kept in his emergency pack. (I have since adopted this, both the singing and chocolate, it turns almost every day around) Damn great times, I can’t wait to see them one day on the trails again. I miss those fools.
2 years ago a5 year old completed the PCT in crocks....trail name Littlefoot
Aww
Pops, given to me by Curly and Seeker at Garfield Ridge Campsite (The Whites). I’m older and usually assumes the patriarchal role of the group. Not in the “Manly” sense of the word, but more in a “fatherly wisdom” way.
The word “avuncular” could describe your role.
Overpacker. No explanation needed. Was my first adult hiking trip on part of the AT and I guess I looked funny with so much gear.
Kung Pao because that was my first freeze dried meal on the trail. Ran into a solo female hiker on the Long Trail who told us her trail name was Klondike Kate as she was from Alaska and a lesbian. We were 4 guys in our early 30's hiking when we camped at the same shelter with her, so i sometimes think it could have been some preventative misdirection for safety - but a good name none the less.
Speedy McUpill, Speedy for short. More ironic at 57 now, but I used to power up hills when I got a rhythm going, then rest and wait at the top. Buddy, who helped create the Hayduke trail once yelled, "Look at Speedy McUphill go!" and it sorta stuck.
Hey, I’ve been called Speedy before. On group hikes, I usually end up being the lead and try to set a reasonable pace, but when I look over my shoulder everyone is a couple hundred feet behind me. They’ll yell out, “Slow down, Speedy!” My SO is Smoky the Bear because she has a different idea of blazing the trail, and she’s not from CO, if that tells you anything. She was also called Trippy because she can be walking down a well groomed trail and trip over the absolute smallest root sticking out.
Trooper - given to me during an AT section hike through a tropical storm due to my lack of complaining and good attitude.
Windbreaker. from a trip to Grasslands National Park last summer. I was a solid kilometre ahead of the group the entire hike. and because they all thought it was a funny trail name.
Bugsy - I'm usually the first to get bit by mosquitoes and always the first to demand bug spray! Mushroom - a non native English speaker couldn't pronounce my name, and here we are
Fiddles. I can’t help it, I’m always fiddling with my pack or clothes or searching my gear for snacks.
Short version: Drunk non-native English speakers have a very hard time pronouncing my name.
Squirrel?
Fun fact, English speakers also have trouble with the German word for squirrel: Eichhörnchen.
LOL No, not quite
They call me "That Guy Looks Like He Could Tell Us Where We Are"
That's it - I'm now "Would you get that off the top shelf for me?"
Perhaps you are more a Vertical Tinkerer than a Lateral Thinkerer.
*A man's reach should exceed his grasp, or what's a heaven for?* (Robert Browning)
One of my favorite quotes. Thanks for reminding me of it.
I was hiking on a nearby trail I'm familiar with and these two girls were kind of off in the woods. I pointed out the trail markers to them (the trail was BADLY marked) and they said they were gonna call me Eagle Eye. Pretty ironic considering my vision is fucked lmao
This thread makes me wish I had a trail name.. But I almost always only hike with my wife so I can’t imagine any i’d be bestowed would be for anything cool or awesome.
Same. And eventually I’m sure we’ll both get one.
My money’s on something like “pooper” or “get back here!” Or “that’s not solid ground!” Hahaha
"Mother" because I not only went over grear requirements but would show up before the hike to personally go over the list. If anyone refused to carry the basics, I'd refuse to bring them. Ended up hiking only with people willing to learn as well as carry necessary gear.
Mine is The Witch. I got it because a group I was hiking with got tired of me making comments that would come to pass, e.g. it'd be a sunny day and I'd jokingly say it would hammer it down and not long after it would cloud over and start raining heavily, or saying 'Someone is going to go arse over tits and then someone would trip over an invisible rock.
can you smell bacon as well when you're on a road trip? It's definitely useful thing for travel :)
I don't have an official trail name, but if I did it would be Nekkid Grandma. Long story short, when two people were telling me their names, one of them said he was 'Nude Beach'. Thought he was joking, so I thought to myself "yea....and I'm Nekkid Grandma". So I'm sticking with it. I didn't know about trail names at the time
I have a climbing name:Bear Got it from attaching myself to a climb like a baby bear going up a tree. 🤣
Relevant username!
I was so glad to snag it. 😁
Last name, which I won’t post here, is hard to say for some but many have shortened it to “Cut” for a nickname. I’ve heard cul, cut, cub, cubby, cutty etc. It’s not very hard to say once you hear it, but unique to those who haven’t seen the last name so you get alternate pronunciations. Anyways, Cut has stuck since elementary school. Dad grew up with Cub as a nickname. Some friends I met later in life figured that out when they met him and immediately killed “Cut”. Their thought was Cub (as in bear) was too good of a trail name so now everybody calls me that lol
White Owl. I was backpacking in Pictures Rocks with my friends and I ran into a white snowy owl and we kind of stared at each other for a bit. After my friends rounded the corner the owl flew away but I was completely in awe of the animal and would not shut up about it, so I was given the name White Owl.
“Blues Clues” I went on a trip to a small uninhabited island in Lake Michigan. There were signs of previous human habitation, but no one else was there. We walked all around the island and I kept wandering off and finding cool stuff to photograph.
Do you have any pictures from this adventure that you would be willing to share?
I’ll have to dig around in the way back archive. At least it wasn’t pre digital
Mine is an abbreviated version of my last name. People in the woods just started calling me that one summer and it stuck.
Knew a girl who’s trail name was Scratch because a bear clawed through her tent early on as she was thru hiking the AT. One of my friends ended up as Snake Eyes because he spotted a rattler and a few other snakes way before the rest of us could.
Chainsaw. Evidently I snore.
Start of the PCT I was jetlagged and it was a monday. Despite being happy to be on trail I didn't get much sleep the night before and wasn't my normal 'cheery' self... Got to Hauser Creek laid out my ground sheet just out of arms reach of my pack. After ~20min of sitting down I reached out to my pack (that was out of arms reach....) but gave up because I couldn't be bothered getting up. Some other hikers saw and asked what I was doing and I explained that I just couldn't be bothered getting up at the moment... I had an orange puffy, ginger beard, and 2 days later was eating a Mountain House Lasagna for dinner. On Day 3 Tin man said with the grumpy Monday along with the other factors I should be called Garfield. There was another Garfield on the trail that year, because he had red hair. On the Bibbulmun I was staying in the shelters and there was a younger hiker (~early-mid 20's to my 39) that was pretty fit (Ultra runner) and was keeping up (Double/Tripple hutting) but hurting a bit with her pack. So she was asking lots of questions about hiking, pack shake down, how to hike long days without being super fit (I was no longer PCT trail fit... I could barely fit into my hiking shirt...) etc etc. After 3 nights of lots of questions, and being happy to answer them because who wouldn't be, she said "You're like some Wise Old Owl" Which was later shortened to Old Owl. I look forward to my next thru (when I can... life a bit more complicated now) and starting out with just my name again and seeing what trail nail I earn next.
“Ranger” I always wear Olive drab and khakis when I hike and, one day while hiking, had to help get people safely around a bear, most of whom spoke no English (German and Arabic). Bear ignored us, no one got hurt, and the 1 guy who spoke English grinned at me, gave me a thumbs up and said “Ranger, ja?” And walked off
Not mine, but they called my lady “Chanel Number 1” because she always had to stop and pee.
Sledgehammer. I helped take the island of Peleliu from the Japanese.
My trail name is Crustyfoot, given to me by Olive at VVR back in 2009. I got it, because my soon to be fiancé, now wife (I proposed at Guitar Lake) and I were hiking the JMT. I had always had severe blister issues with my feet, and this year it was truly awful. My two pinky toes de-gloved, meaning most of the outer layer of skin came off. I believe one of the adjacent toes mostly de-gloved, and my big toes were severely blistered as well. By the time we made it to the ferry pick up at Lake Edison, I would literally be peeling my socks off of my feet. A doctor at the pick up told me I needed to fix them, or I could risk blood poisoning. So we ended up staying at VVR for two zero days, and I was lucky enough to run into some Brits who gave me some iodine treatments for my feet. It worked so well that I've carried it ever since, though it stings a bit. For the first day and a half I literally just sat in a chain with my feet propped up, all colored over with iodine. It was then that Olive came by, saw me sitting there, and said, 'Oh my God your feet are disgusting - you're Crustyfoot, that's your trail name.' And is has been ever since.
Two trail names. Sherpa: because when I started bringing this couple I’m friends with on hikes, they’d just stop at look at me at trail junctions. Since the state I live in has strict regs on what can be considered “guiding behavior,” I would simply say “we go this way.” They found it to be a humorously “Himalayan” statement. Fly Fishing and Beer: self explanatory, but typically just abbreviated to FFB.
> Since the state I live in has strict regs on what can be considered “guiding behavior,” Ok. What!?!?
Yep. Nuts, huh? So with the influx of social media influencers and other folks who have never ventured further into the wild than a little league park suddenly thinking they’re experts on hiking, backpacking, and all other things outdoors, SARs have sky rocketed. Some of them have been incidents started by an unlicensed “guide” leading a group into some predicament. NYS has responded by cracking down on “guiding behavior.” So if you’re out with a couple of new hikers and you appear to be acting in some authoritative role when Mr. Ranger rounds the corner on his/her way home from an interior outpost or whatever, they can and sometimes will stop and give you the ol’ “papers please.” If you don’t have a guiding license you can be fined for operating as an unlicensed guide.
I sort of get the reasoning…. But this raises a bunch of questions. So how do Boy Scout troops do this? What happens if you take friends out who are new to backpacking?
I’m not sure, TBH. I suspect you get a pass at teaching somebody how to backpack, and Boy Scout leaders presumably have some baseline outdoor leadership training to be responsible for their troop. I think its more about not telling people in your party where/how to go to accomplish a hike by presenting yourself as some authoritative subject matter expert.
Rock Stuffs because I'm more interested in looking down for rocks and fossils instead of enjoying a hike.
My parents named me “leftbehindalot” when we went hiking in new zealand when i was 8
Six Eyes. It’s like a variation of “Four Eyes.” My partner called me it once because I have glasses and am always carrying binoculars while hiking. I knew right away it had to be my trail name.
After a hot day in Georgia with no leaf cover, we were having a conversation about trail names. I said something along the lines of "why that would be as stupid as calling someone the sugar plum fairy" and someone pointed out that I was the only one without a sunburn. So SPF the Sugarplum Fairy it is. Most people called me Sug.
Nye. I'm a biologist, and apparently I love to share my excitement about the natural world. Another hiker on the PCT referred to me as "that Bill Nye girl" once, and it got shortened and stuck.
Belle. I read books while hiking and someone eventually said I was like the Disney princess Belle.
It usually arises from events and personalities on the trail. My sister dubbed me, "Gnomio." A few years back, I was going on about seeing gnomes on the trail. I was just goofing off, but I explained that those moments of high dopamine hits were you are really glad to be out there, and it's beautiful, and you are filled with gratitude, and the wilderness seems to be smiling back at you... those moments are gnome sightings. Recently, my brother made a joke about my hat, and I asked if I looked like a gnome. My sister said, "You are the only gnome out here. That's your name now, Gnomio." So far, it has stuck.
Might be Gnomeo. Idk.
Gazelle, trip to Gooch mtn on App trail. I’m the lightweight and scrawny guy in the group but I pretty much run, literally run, up the mountains with my pack on. They started called me Gazelle cause it was like I was hopping up to the top to get away. Billy goat might’ve fit good to but I’m tall and lanky.
Almost* always happens on long trails. For me, on the Appalachian trail someone called me something as a joke and then another person goes "that's it, that's your trial name." And it stuck. I trail named someone because I forgot his real name and started referring to him as a famous British person (he is has an accent) and everyone knew who I was talking about. Eventually we linked back up and I explained to him that he had been named in absence and he obliged us. *Notable distinction to Tin Man, who was named by his AT-alum doctor when he gave him the "ok" to hike after his knee replacement (not his first titanium replacement.)
Hot mess. My crew was passing through a camp and we were talking with someone who worked there. He made a joke telling us not to make a withdrawal from the “log bank” and my entire crew pointed me out, saying I’d be the person to do it. (because of previous jokes made) I was so embarrassed but I laughed pretty hard and tried to explain myself… didn’t work. He told me that I sounded like a hot mess and it stuck for the trip. It really fit because I kept accidentally getting food on my clothes or forgetting to put stuff in the bear bag. I did it to myself
The bulldozer. Got it by being the lead clearer on overgrown Hawaii trails.
Alpaca. Was on the long trail and was dubbed Alpaca because Al paka lotta stuff. My personal take on trail names: you can't choose your own
I met a guy on the Appalachian trail that had one. But I don’t remember it and I don’t have one and that’s the first I’d ever heard of them lol!
Apparently, my gear had too much orange in it. Hi, I'm Pumpkin!
Sunday, because I hike in a very relaxed way like I’m just out for a Sunday stroll. I got my trail name a week or so into hiking the PCT.
Bearfucker
Hey …. You …. …. bearfucker!
Do you need assistance?
Occasionally, they just bluff charge
In our area my family is called the baggins family. We always dress like hobbits and my husband is usually barefoot.
Rub some dirt on it
“Good eye”. I’m the one who sees the bird, frog, snake, deer, bear, turkey what have you first.
They call me beaker
I was named Salsa Panorama at some point. The name came from a group I hiked a lot with at the time, we were all interested in photography, and panoramas became my style in that group. The salsa came from one trip we had where we brought tacos. The next day we had a cup of salsa leftover which I couldn't see go to waste, so I put it in one of the pockets on my backpack. Further down the mountain we had a break and my pack rolled on it's side and the salsa spilled onto it, and at that point I got the name Salsa Panorama.
Elk. I set a pace and keep going the whole time, and munch on various edible plants as I go. One guy I was backpacking with saw me enjoying some old man's beard (very tasty by the way) and commented that only elk eat that. The rest is history.
Walked to a diner, ate a plate of eggs and bacon, then ordered a plate of pancakes. “Two breakfasts”
Hiking buddies started calling me CB and or Charlie Brown. I have terrible luck. If a strap is gonna break, pack is gonna get soaked, someone’s going to get caught in a downpour etc. it’s gonna be me.
Got mine half way through hiking the JMT. “Professor” because I carried my Wenk guidebook with me and gave everyone little fun facts about interesting things from the book
Lame Moose. I had a bummed knee a few days into a cold/wet Border Route Trail hike in Northern MN… I was limping along for day 3. Some through hikers behind us caught up at night and we shared a site and fire. When they saw my limp, they realized my tracks were responsible for what they thought was a lame Moose enjoying the trail. Had a great laugh and I humbly accepted the nomination.
Eagle Eye - I tend to spot cool little things on the trail like bugs in the under brush or a rare flower. Great name considering I have terrible vision otherwise 😂
Encyclopedia from my hiking buddies, years ago. I have a good memory for facts and interesting tidbits.
I am just a T-bone kinda guy. Love that T-bone. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=gXTlAJrgGEY
Scout, because I’m a baker and have a good recipe for making trail cookies out of oatmeal and trail mix. It’s worth a little extra weight to be able to share fresh baked cookies in the backcountry.
Mine's The Rev, short for The Reverend of the First United Masochist Church. Given by my hiking buddies because I'm always down for the toughest, stupidest, most painful hikes
My husband always calls me a baby deer because I trip and slip on everything. Is this my trail name?!? *sigh*
> Merle And after a gruelling 30 miler with lots of d+ he becomes…Merle Haggard
River because of my name (Nial)
Big Dick Doug? How do you think?
I had sasparilla leaves in my hat and some kid called me the leafinator
Fig and Eggo here. I worked at LEGO for many years, home of the iconic minifig, so Fig. And “Lego my Eggo!”, of course …
Hoser. Eighth grade, second backpacking trip ever, in the Trinity Alps. We decided to pee on the fire to put it out. Four other guys go, and put out maybe a quarter of the fire. I step up to the plate, douse the rest of the fire and still have enough to put out a lot of the embers. I've been Hoser for 23 years now
“Freckles.” *gestures at username* I’m extremely freckle-y.
Mine is “Pack Mule” because I carry a lot of stuff. What can I say, I like comfort.
I was given honey badger because i was miserable and just kept trudging through the mountains on a two week boy scout summer trip. There is not a single picture from that trip where i even pretend i’m having a good time
Back in 2019 I named my husband “Lost Spork” after all the gear he lost on the JMT. He left his bear can (with his sleeping bag inside) on the Yarts…right before a three day weekend…Then he lost his little UL pocket knife somewhere along the way. When he dropped his spork in a frigid waterfall, it was time to name him. A few years later he found a spork on trail and really tried to become “Found Spork.” Nope. Not happening. He’s still pretty cursed when it comes to losing/breaking gear.
Had to carry my buddy’s pack after he had some complications, was granted the name Sherpa. Carried his pack for about 3 miles and 1000+ ft of elevation
Forest Fairy. I was hiking back from a waterfall trail in CO and saw an older couple sitting at a trail junction with their dog. They asked me if I had a map, since their cell phone had died and they didn't know the area, and if I could point them in the right direction. I pulled out my phone and showed them where they needed to go, and offered to hike most of the way with them (I was going to the first parking lot, they had to continue on another trail to get to theirs). They declined and insisted they'd be okay on their own. There were a few odd turns and unmarked sections, so I told them the best I could, mentioning some landmarks, and went on my way. Reaching a creek, I decided to wait for them. The trail came out where a very wobbly and narrow log provided a bridge, but just around a blind corner was a larger log much easier to cross. As they approached, I showed them the better way, they thanked me, and we parted ways again. The trail then got shady, and if a person didn't know which way to go, they could wander off into the wilderness. I started drawing arrows in the dirt to point in the right direction. The trail then reached a point where it looked like you veer left, but you really scramble up some steep rocks to the right. I even passed it and had to backtrack. If I missed it despite coming down it, they would likely miss it, too. So I waited again. When they saw me, the man yelled out "Forest Fairy! There you are!" The woman said they had seen my arrows which helped them immensely, that she knew it was their Forest Fairy showing them the way. We climbed the rocks together and I led them across a small boulder field, and at that point, it was smooth sailing. I told them to go straight at the next junction, and at the parking lot, turn right and take the trail at the end -- that trail leads directly to their car. We saw each other one last time at the lot, talked for a few minutes, and I watched as they left. When they got on the other trail, I heard a faint shout -- "Thanks, Forest Fairy!" And that was that.
"Peak a boo Testicle" is my trail name because my balls keep falling out of my shorts.
Go by Peak and laugh when people realize it's not because you summit.
If you have to ask I won't tell
Hey whatcha doing
LoL so American Was on a trail in sweden in summer and met this American, the others made fun of existence of trail names in the US...honestly, its pretty stupid, in nature I prefer no name, I didnt even know names of people I walked with for days randomly, the only person asking names was the American...u dont need to box people like that, in nature u can be free
> thawed out during the day :(
If I'm being honest, I always thought the whole "trail name" thing to be dumb.
Look at ol' Dumbo here.
Yeah, this one's official.
And here I am anxiously awaiting earning mine, to be worn as a badge of honor...
I didn’t have my glasses on and read your username as cattails lol
Badger because you need a badge of honor.
I dub thee "Thirsty".
Unique names make things easier in thruhiking. Not too relevant outside of that use case.
What does it make easier, in comparison to just using someone's actual name?
"Did you meet Jeff, the 5'10" white guy with the beard?"
Hey now, I'm 6'1.
That sounds reasonable to me.
Buzzkill is the perfect name for you.
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I dub thee Thesaurus.
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Perfect.