What's In A Trail Name...

People who hike long trails like the PCT, AT, Colorado Trail, etc., get trail names, it is just what happens out here.  You lose your "real" name and people start calling you by your trail name.  Some people make up their own before the hike, some make it up during the hike, others get their name from someone else during the hike.  It doesn't really matter, it just needs to fit who you are.  Here are some examples of trail names out here this year...

Gumby - she stretches a lot
Double It - he loves being hydrated, but usally takes more water than he drinks
Deer Hunter - he found a dead dear near the trail and showed his friends
Sexy Legs - he had on short brown cord shorts as loner clothes while doing laundry
Bipolar - he is bipolar
Midnight Chocolate - she reportedly slept walked and ate a chocolate bar in the middle of the night
Stilts - he has super long legs
Samba - he has hiked in Adidas Samba soccer shoes, you can't miss his foot print on the trail
Moab - he is from Moab
Sasquatch - he has big feet
Autobahn - he is from Germany
Lorax - he had a dream the night before starting the PCT that he was a superhero

...the list goes on, but this gives you an idea of where these names come from.

So my trail name is Cowgirl.  It came about as there have been a couple times cows were trying to come by us to drink out of the water trough or have walked by our tent area.  I was a little worried about them as they tend to stare you down and they are quite large, so I sort of herded them away by making noise with my pot and trekking pole.  Nobody else seemed to care about the cows except for me and got a kick out of my herding strategy and hence the name Cowgirl was born.  So like it or not, Cowgirl is now my trail name...yeeee-hawwww!