Picking the Trail Name, Little Blue

Call me Blue, Lil Blue.

 

Heather hiking int he snow in CO

 

It all began a few years ago when I was living in Bloomington.  I had a tight group of friends that I hung out a lot with.  We had bonded over working with animals, and so we took frequent hikes at the lake nearby.  The company I was working for had adjusted their hair color policy to allow for multi-colored hair, which was big news.  I had always wanted to dye my hair a crazy color, but I didn’t want to lose my job over it.  I have always hated my naturally strawberry blond hair.  Too many strange old ladies at the supermarket fawning over it, pinching my cheeks, saying I looked just like my mom or my dad.

 

So changing my hair color was bound to happen at one time or another in my life.  When the hair policy at my job changed, I approached my boss and asked him if he would be ok if I died my hair.  He replied that he didn’t care.  Being the literal person that I am, I clarified, and asked if I walked in tomorrow with blue hair, would that be ok.  He said yes, and I got to work that night.  It took a while to get the process down without melting my hair off, but eventually I got the hang of it.

 

It started as blue and green, like a peacock.  I wasn’t loving it, so I thought I should change it to red.  Little did I know, you can’t really just jump from blue to red.  The blue dye molecule is the largest hair dye molecule, and once it is in the hair, it is really hard to get it out.  So the red, turned to purple.  Which then turned to highlighter pink with purple highlights (my favorite little experiment), to a lavender-y silver, and then back to a teal blue.  I love having colored hair.

 

At the same time I started talking to my friends seriously about hiking the AT, and they were helping me do research.  When I learned about trail names, they knew the perfect one to give me.  And so I was dubbed Lil Blue.  Working in a position where colored hair was looked down upon was difficult, and not being able to express myself in that way caused me to lose sight of who I am.  I am not saying that the color of my hair defines me, but it does change how I see myself.  I can be impulsive, and I tire of the mundane easily.  I want my world around me to move me, which means it is almost impossible not to walk into a room and have then entire room shift.  In short, I am a force to be reckoned with, and I reckon to go a hike.

 

My advice about trail names…

Getting a trail name should be special, kind of like how you get your first tattoo.  The name should mean something to you and fit you.  There are a lot of tail name generators out there, even the Trek has one that can be fun to joke around with.  Your trail name should fit you, and don’t worry too much about getting it right away, or having it in advance.  Let the trail name come to you in it’s own time.  Hiking a trail like the AT will bring you closer to yourself, and your trail name will come.

 

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Comments 1

  • Jess : Dec 23rd

    Lil Blue! I love it 🙂 It took me weeks until I got mine on the AT. Nothing stuck until I was dubbed Sassafras.

    Can’t wait to read more of your blogs!

    Reply

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