So, I have officially received my trail name.  It is, drum roll please…

Slim Shady!

LOL!! Not sure if I liked it at first, but it has definitely grown on me. And why, do you ask, am I called Slim Shady?  Well, it’s because I was talking to another hiker, Splinter, early on in my hike.  She was killing it and doing some great mileage, while I was taking my time and getting used to being out here.  She had caught up to me and we chatted for a few minutes, then I moved aside and let her burn up the trail before us.  Unbeknownst to me she started thinking about what I had said to her… about doing ‘8 Mile(s)’ a day.  (Get it yet?)  She told a couple other hikers, Doc and Amnesia, to pass along to me that I should be called Slim Shady.  After a few days, I got into it.  It makes people laugh to hear it and laugh more when they find out why.  For some, who don’t understand who he is, I add ‘You can call me Slim’.  It makes for any easy conversation.

It also works for other reasons too.  My favorite/lucky number is 8.  I am slim-ish.  I do Really like the shade, as depicted in my first photo of my last blog.  That selfie was taken atop a ridge in the middle of the desert.  I set up my tent’s rain fly and was taking a siesta for a few hours under the hot mid day sun.  The sun was so hot and bright that I had to put my towel over my eyes to block it out, but it was glorious because it was so windy up there.  So windy in fact that I felt the need to keep reaching out and holding my tent poles down from fear of it blowing away.  Hence, the funny weird selfie of… Slim Shady!

*If you still aren’t sure exactly why I’m called Slim Shady, here is the definitive answer.  Slim Shady is the alter ego of rapper Eminem, who sang about him(self) in one of his earliest hits. After becoming successful he starred in a movie with Kim Bassinger about his life and rise through struggle to success. The movie is called ‘8 Mile’. 🙂

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