Trail Names and Fellow Hikers

I figured it is time to do a post on trail names and some of my fellow hikers I keeping running into out here. I'm also happy to announce I have picked up a trail name myself and will from now on be known as Stryder out on the trail. Not to hard to imagine how I got that name but I think it fits well and better than some of the other names being thrown around for me.

Minor Controversy

I will note that this name did not come without a little controversy. I was dubbed Stryder by one of my fellow hikers, Freestyle, coming out of Wrightwood so it is fairly new. I just recently pulled into Agua Dulce at the Saufley's Hiker Haven (one of the trail angel stops almost everyone has to visit where they treat you like royalty and I have met so many new faces) and was taking to the Saufleys and some of the other trail angels helping out and discovered I am far from the first one with this name. Apparently Greg Hummel, the unofficial coordinator of the kickoff for the PCT, has the trail name Strider, which nobody I had been hiking with knew since we came after kickoff. I didn't want to steal a legend's name so I just decided to slightly modify it with a y instead. In the end though its a pretty common name for thru hikers and some of the AT vets said they met quite a few Striders so I don't feel to bad about it and will just go with Stryder.

How a Thru-Hiker Gets Named

This is actually quite an interesting process that I took a while for me to fully understand. When I got on the PCT nearly half of the fellow hikers I ran into were AT veterans who already had acquired their trail name out East and liked it so just took it with them out West. For the rest of us though it is a bit harder because there are some days where you don't really see too many other hikers and you may only stay with other people for so long before either you move ahead or they move ahead. Therefore picking up a nickname doesn't always come that naturally when your group is always on the move. Hikers on the AT have the advantage of the shelters where everyone meets up at night but here on the PCT people often camp wherever so you don't get the same sense of community except when you go into town to resupply if you aren't hiking in a group. I have found that the shelters have breed some pretty perfect trail names on the AT.

The biggest thing with trail names is you should be given a trail name by your fellow hikers but that doesn't mean you have to take the first trail name given to you. I was hiking with Alex for a couple of days an was testing out new trail names on him everyday but none of them stuck so you kinda just have to wait for the right one. People had thrown out a few trail names my way like Sarge, Jokester, Tall Haul and Beanpole which just didn't seem right. (although I was really close to going with Beanpole in honor of my grandpa beans) So while you don't name yourself, you do have the choice of what you want to use because ultimately you will be the one telling new hikers your name. It is a very interesting system because many of these names people stick with whenever they decide to escape the "real world" to enter the hiking world or what we refer to as the real world. (its a bit of sort of a Matrix red pill, blue pill thing)

Some of My New Thru Hikers Friends

Viking- Viking was one of the first guys I met early on at Warner Springs after I hadn't see anyone for the previously three days. Viking is a middle-aged, AT veteran from Virginia and gave me some good advice from his past trip. Poor Viking also made the mistake of sending his sleeping bag home after a few hot nights then proceeded to freeze out in the desert and was not having very good sleep when I was hiking with him. He's a great guy though and I hope to see him in town later on.

Karl- Karl was the first hiker I met when I was staying with Bob Reiss in San Diego. Karl had flown in from Quebec the night I got in and ended up starting the trail a day after I did. However, by the time I got to Warner Springs he had caught me. We hiked together for a lot of the way between Warner Springs and Big Bear and kept playing this game where I would get a head start and he'd catch me. Karl is just about my age and new to backpacking but doing a great job out there and has some really cool gear with him as well. I haven't seen him since Big Bear but am sure to hear his accent again any day now.

Karl "pretending" to fly.

Always looking out for his flock...

Shepard- Alex has finally decided to go with Shepard as his trail name after the many options I gave him (Wizard, Cache, Roni, Cowbell) none of which really worked. He is a computer science student at U of I and lives just outside of Chicago. I met Shepard in Idyllwild and knew we would get along when we ran up Mt San Jaciento together. We have been hiking together on and off since then and he doesn't have maps with him so likes to follow my footprints. (except when I loose the trail) Sadly though, I think he will keep cruising on ahead though because he is trying to get up to Canada before his fall semester starts but hopefully I can enjoy more of the trail with him.


Birdy- Birdy probably has the most appropriate trail name because the first time I saw her she had her eyes buried in her binoculars scanning the trees. Birdy is a montessori school teacher in Chicago and an avid birder. Its funny the first day we met she was telling me how she would come out to the Oak Opening by Waterville to go birding which is where I first started birding myself. Its great hiking by her because she can always let you know what is flying around by song or sight and she is just so excited to find new birds. She is also an AT veteran and has been keeping right up with me ever since Idyllwild and I wouldn't be surprised if she gets to Canada before me.

A liking for birds!

Lightweight- I met Lightweight on the bus in Big Bear Lake. He is another AT vet who really clued me in on a lot of the trail culture out on the AT and what it takes mentally to complete a thru hike. He is a few years older then me and from Colorado but surprisingly only recently got into hiking. Its funny how he got his trail name from when he starting the AT with a ridiculously heavy pack, when here I though he was going to be one of those super crazy ultralighter who always liked to brag about their minimal packweight.

Freestyle- I helped give Freestyle his name because when I met him he kept taking about how he always likes to freestyle it on the trail and doesn't need to be confined to hiking every step of the PCT. He is an architect from the Seattle area and has done some really cool work with sustainable design. He had his own firm but shut it all down recently and went out to New Zealand to hike the Te Araroa trail in New Zealand, then just flew back to San Diego to hike his way back home. He's quite a character but its been great hiking with him since Wrightwood and he was the one who gave me my trail name.

I've meet lots of other people on the trail as well but thought I would post about some of the hikers I have been one the trail with the most. Its been great meeting all of these other thru-hikers and I can't wait to meet everyone else up ahead and the other speed demons who will cruise past me.

Great company!