Introducing our alter egos: origins of route names

What’s the problem with trail names?

To those unfamiliar with US trail culture, it may seem strange that a group of adults call each other ridiculous made-up nicknames. But along the way, getting the trail name is like a rite of passage. You can’t give yourself a route name (well, you can, but that’s no fun). That means those taking their first big hike eagerly await the day someone gives them a name…and hope that name isn’t too offensive. You see, often trail names are mocking in nature or come about as a result of a noteworthy… or embarrassing encounter. Names like «Bedwetting» paint vivid pictures of how someone got their name. Of course, you can always choose not to identify yourself with the name you are given. But if those walking around you have decided that a name suits you, it can be difficult to get rid of the nickname.

Trail names can tell you something about the person who leads them. They can be fun, healthy, or they can be warning signs. And they give the whole experience a summer camp feel, which is a really good thing in my opinion. Something that a trail name won’t necessarily reveal is the gender of the hiker. When I got my trail name, I was hiking alone at age 19 and valued being able to sign log books without announcing to everyone on the trail that I was a woman. This inherent neutrality can also lead to some humor, such as finally catching someone named «Princess» only to discover that he is a scruffy 50-year-old man.

Becoming “pizza”

I got my trail name in 2018 when hiking the Appalachian Trail. Never before that walk had I experienced such intense food cravings. To break the ice at a shelter in Georgia, I mentioned the most important thing on my mind: the exact ingredients of the pizza I planned to order once I got to town… described in perhaps too much detail. The next day, when I arrived at the Top of Georgia Hostel, the people from the shelter from the night before had eaten pizzas… and they blamed me for making them want them. I became Pizza and have continued to sign record books that way ever since.

Not only was I happy to be given a harmless trail name, but I quickly learned that the name has its advantages. Along the way in 2018, several people gifted me magic in the form of free pizza (which I was VERY happy to receive). As a side note, I counted a slice count during that walk and I think I ate something close to 150 slices of pizza over the course of 5 and a half months.

Naming Bobby

In 2021, while hiking the Long Trail, Bobby (aka my dad) joined me to finish the southernmost 100 miles. Since I am a soft-spoken person, he needed to walk in front to be able to hear me. The only problem is… I discovered that he has the curious inability to silently observe his surroundings while walking. So every time he saw something picturesque (which was most of the time since it was fall in Vermont), he would stop in his tracks and say «taking a mental picture!» occasionally causing me to bump into him. This frustration led him to earn the name «Cam Jansen» after a series of children’s books about a fifth-grade crime solver who had a photographic memory that could only work when she said «Click!» I imagine Bobby will learn to explain the book series by the end of our walk…

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