Why do you use Trail Names? Why Dreamer?

Dreamer here,

Ok, Ok…  I have been asked a few times, I suppose I should fill you in on where the name “Dreamer” came from.  But before I do, allow me to take a step back and explain what a trail name is, and why most everyone that thru hikes the Appalachian Trail (AT) obtains one in a reasonably short period of time.

One Happy Dreamer!

As far as I can tell, hikers have been using trail names since the mid to late 80’s; however, they have really taken hold since the 90’s.  You might wonder, “What is up with calling me Dreamer, when my name is Tom?”  Good question.  I’ll try to explain it this way…  Imagine you are hiking the AT, basically a linear community of about 2,000 folks, give or take a few.  How many Tom’s would you think there might be out of all the males hiking?  Conservatively, there would be at least a few.  Now imagine, how many hikers do you think may have the name Dreamer?  Or for that matter: Skittles, Wrong-way, Two Rings, Snack Attack, Blue Moon, Big Sky, Tagless, Tag-a-long, Disco, POD, and on & on.  Get my point? 

There are trail journals in each and every shelter.  Kind of a daily snap shot of who is passing through and what is on they’re mind.  (And believe me, these journals have a little bit of everything in them.)  If I were to write something in the journal and sign it “Tom”, there would confusion as to who or which Tom was writing.

It is quite common for thru hikers to refer to anyone not actually hiking the trail as a civilian.  (Someone separate from thru hikers.)  The world outside of the trail may be referred to as the “Real World.”  So, in order to separate yourself from the life you lived in the real world, you adopt a moniker for the trail.  Because the trail is the great equalizer, there are no age or income standards.  If you are thru hiking, you are equal with everyone else.  Trail names not only provide a sense of character (apart from whom you might be in the real world) equal to the trail, they also offer some degree of anonymity.

I have been a dreamer for as long as I can remember.  While I was in elementary school, my Dad used to say I was not doing well because all I could do was look out the window and dream of what I was going to do when recess started or what I might do later when I got home.  Later on in life while in the Navy, and during my drug years in the 70’s my friends always referred to me as the deep thinker. (Or the Dreamer)  Since the moment I heard about the AT, and my first experience hiking to Rip Rap Shelter in Virginia, I have dreamed about hiking the whole thing.

At some point, I was asked what my trail might be if I were going to thru hike the AT, the name Dreamer was without opposition.  I am: the dreamer, a dreamer and soon to be a thru hiker named Dreamer.

~ Dreamer