what is this thing about having to have a trail name even before one puts the pack on??? i understand when somebody hangs on to a formerly GIVEN trailname for another trip(i have), but people just wracking their brains for a “fitting” name while planning a (first?)trip for 200? seems to give it all a new/different meaning. it is not shameful NOT to have a trailname, and - yes - it should be given naturally and by somebody else than the bearer…or am i getting all wrong?
jules
jules, is that your given name or trail name;)
first trip name? :eek:
shameful? :oh
given by someone else? :smokin
getting it all wrong? :girl
HYOH, name yourself or let someone else name you,spend two years coming up with a name or spend a couple of drinks coming up with a name, change your name, steal someone else’s name, pay for a name, or make up a name, it’s all the same. Trailnames they are not the same anymore. I must confess, Grandma Gatewood started this mess, now we must name the rest. If it takes two years, before we start that’s part of the quest. Are you getting this all wrong? No way jules your just getting older. Let’s HOYH. :pimp
Bilko
Old enough now to change your name,
when nobody knows you is it the same,
it’s the hiker in you that makes you want to play this game.
Neil
HYOH that’s what I say! I took a name originally given to me off trail. That being said I decided I wanted to be named on the trail because it would have more of a feel for who I was on the trail. It was also something that would be a great trail story. However, if you come up with a fitting name then go with it. Does it really matter? After all we all hike the trail for our “own” personal enjoyment, not that of others. It just means more to me that I was named on the trail, but that’s my own personal opinion, and to each his own!
Almost There
Almost There, of course it doesn’t matter! i just happened to read a bunch of journals of future hikers who collectively seemed to be agonizing about this. almmost like they were missing a piece of equipment needed for the hike. my thoughts: just go do your hike, enjoy the heck out of it! if a trailname ‘finds’ you, go for it if it feels right, if not, who cares, you are still you…
jules
You should get your name on the trail. Sure it’s not the best name but it’s probably more interesting than what we would select on our own. Packman or pacman, was not my first choice for names but it works.
Darth Packman MEGA '99
Darth Pacman
Getting your name on the trail sounds great, and I’m sure it is, but some of us have a nickname we already like. Mine came from college and hitting trail for backcountry fun just keeps with the identity I have created for it and it has created for me. I’d take another name if one naturally comes along, but I like the one I have.
Does it really matter, anyway?
Suvid
I know someone who hiked the whole trail and never got a trail name. Did it affect her hike? I think NOT!
BFBlass