Trail-Names

Scandalous Heart

Fresh (Mary) Poppins

Trinity Watercub

Patience Flow

What do you call yourself? What is your name? Most of us are assigned a name at birth and live with that name. We are used to the name. It becomes who we are even if it doesn’t really fit our physical persona (someone recently told me that I look more like a “Justin” than a “Jonathan”). We listen for our name with an acute ability to hear it out of a din of cocktail conversations. For many of us, our name is a part of who we are.

Yet what if you can choose your name? What would you consider? What would you want your name to say about yourself? What is the impression that you would like people to have when they hear your adopted name for the first time.

In many thru-hiking communities people walk with a trail-name. This is a name that may be chosen or given. It may come from a community experience or from a sense of purpose. It is a name that might speak to why it is you are hiking, or the kind of hiker that you are, or an experience that you have had on the trail.

The Chil Dr. Feelgood

Guide Reliable

Rushing Joy

Skip Determined

Gourmet Coach

Think about what one’s name might say about the individual. I once hiked for a day with someone whose trail-name was “Mighty Wind.” It did not take me long to discover the root and reason for that name and I decided to hike in front of him as much as possible. Currently, my trail-name is “Sabbath.” I have adopted that name because it speaks to the harmony that I am seeking, the rest that I hope to find, and the balance that I hope to encounter when I am in the wilderness. It also speaks to what I hope to offer to others when they join me on a wilderness experience. My trail-name speaks to my experience, my yearning, and my hope of my time in the wilderness.

Yes-I-Canyon

Pax Pace-Setter

Spirit-Channeler-Joy

Restored Grit

Tender Tortoise

A trail name can be a way of sharing a part of our story without telling the whole story. “Mighty Wind” was offering some wonderful, new smells into the world. When I tell someone that my name is “Sabbath” I am not only sharing a bit about what I am trying to find but also what I am trying to offer. I am trying to bring a sense of peace to those that I encounter even if it was only for a moment. I try to be a presence of calm and harmony (although that is not always the case). If nothing else, I hope that my name can offer a sense of hope for whoever I meet.

Compass Caboose

Bundled Switchback

Dori Downkiller

Spiderweb Service

Princess Collected

When I am leading groups we have a slightly different approach to trail-names. It is not until the end of a trip, usually on the final night, that we receive our names. All the names that I have listed have come from previous trips that I have led, and you will notice that they all have a first and last name. One of the names is the individual’s experience of the trip/trail/wilderness. If they fell a lot, or found a sense of peace, or laughed more than normal, or something else, that was captured in their own name. The other is a name that the group gave to the individual. It speaks to the group’s experience of the individual during the trip. The individual would decide which was the first name and which would be the last. In the end, we leave the trip with something that speaks to our experience of the wilderness and how we were seen and received in the wilderness by our community.

Surefoot Discovery

Shepherd Serenity

Stern Deep-Joy

Untethered Scout

Pine Needle Vanguard

Giving someone a name can be a profound and wonderful gift. It can be a way of lifting up and celebrating who that person was and is for the group. It is being clear and obvious about the presence that the individual had for everyone there. It is a wonderful group practice of celebration. Consider if you were to do this with your work, or your family, or your group of friends. What would it be like to tell someone who they are for you (just keep it positive)? Are they a Constant-Companion, Loving-Support, Hopeful-Fixer? Or…. Mighty Wind?

Colleague Kitt

(Kujichaga)lia Star

Detective Gratitude

Huckleberry Fir

We don’t need to be in the wilderness to adopt a name. We don’t need to stay with just one name for all of our life. Who we are changes. Our experience of the world changes. Our relationships with others change. We can have a name for season we are in that speaks to what we are looking for, who we are, or what it is we hope to bring into the world. What is your name for this time of life? How are you experiencing life, what are you looking for, and what do you hope to offer? Claim a name for yourself and share it with all you meet.

Do you have a trail-name? Or do you have one that you think would speak to who you are in this moment of life? Let me know what your “name” is!