Looking forward to seeing your alternatives. My comments around the EST cycling relation (https://www.openstreetmap.org/relation/11486089) were directed as an example of not using abbreviations in the name=* key. I would suggest reading over the key:name wiki for more clarification: https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Key:name?uselang=en

Simply put, abbreviations do not belong under the name and the name should be representative of the real-world. There are other tags that can utilized for the information you are. Take the super relation for example, currently named "EST - H - an Empire State Trail hiking network":
1. "EST-H" can be conveyed via the ref=* key (although I would argue it should just be "EST" due to next argument...
2. "-H" and "hiking" is represented via route=hiking
3. "network" is represented via network=nwn
With these tags already in place, we're left with "Empire State Trail", which is what most individuals would commonly say to refer to this hiking network. Next level of relations could then simply be "Hudson Valley Greenway Trail", "Erie Canalway Trail" and "Champlain Valley Trail" - no need for any other descriptors in the name since it's implied they're part of the EST by being part of the super relation. The next two levels below are where I can see the need for some creative liberties. I think a concise way of doing could be as simple as "Erie Canalway Trail ({Point A} to {Point B}). Hopefully this explanation makes sense, otherwise would be happy to provide an example revision if you agree.