Dramatis Personae

The crew of mad merry hikers I roam with is starting to grow. That may be hard to keep up with if you’re just starting to follow my misadventures. Here’s a quick run down of the motley crew – in no particular order of importance.

Kat – Friend of mine who got me started hiking, my most common partner in crime. Father of two boys: Kit and BeckBeck. Got his trail name on the AT. Thru-hiked with his wife for their honeymoon.

Kit – Kat’s oldest boy. Currently 19. Sometimes called The Professor because he’s so stinking smart about everything. Seriously, there’s not much he doesn’t know.

BeckBeck – Kat’s youngest boy. 15, I think..

Harley – the most badass biker grandma I’ve ever had the pleasure of knowing. Kat’s mom. Sometimes joined us on the trail or on the river. She’s in a few of the earlier entries, but won’t be joining us for any other ones. Ride on, Harley Momo.

Momma – My wife, oddly enough shares a nickname with Kat. This confuses some readers who know me. Kindof confuses me, too, but I try not to explore that too deeply. Mother to Bear Bait and Squirrel.

Mattdaddy – me. Kit laid that moniker on me when he was a little fellow.

Bear Bait – my #1 son. Currently 20 yrs old, has spent most of them on the trail. Earned his trail name by being freaked out by a “Warning! Bears!” sign somewhere in Hobbs State Park. Spent the whole hike blowing on an emergency whistle while he led the hike.

Bogey – my #2 son. Currently 16 yrs old, has spent about 15.5 of them on the trail. Also known, sometimes, as Squirrel or Deathwish. One is due to his attention span. The other is for his absolute fearlessness and/or lack of any survival instincts.

Grap – Kat’s father-in-law, another common hiking buddy. No idea where that name came from. I know a few more they won’t let me use on the blog though.

Grunt – Good friend of mine from back in college, sometimes trail companion. Father to The General. Got his name due to a former occupation.

The General – Grunt’s middle son, currently grown and out of the Army now, even though he earned that trail name when he was 11. Hiked with him once or twice. Earned his name for how relentlessly he bossed his dad around.

Lucky – New neighbor. Not sure if this is the trail name he wants to use or not, but I plucked it from some of his stories of being in the Marines.