[pct-l] Best sign for hitchhiking & snow pack

[Trekker4 at aol.com]

I used to hand write signs with a black marker on  5.5" x 8.5" cardstock, but 
I knew that was too small for drivers to easily  read. This year I'm 
preprinting 8.5" x 11.0" signs on regular white paper, using  the largest block 
letters I can. The paper will be soaked in (Thompson's) water  seal and dried in the 
sun for 6 hours; this makes it very resistant to moisture.  If you'd carry 
them folded, fold them before soaking.  
    I'll have PCT & POST OFFICE signs with me at  all times; for each segment 
between resupply places I'll have other specific  sign(s) for the stop(a) 
coming up, which might say BELDEN and/or BELDEN POST  OFFICE, for instance. I 
believe the larger size will help. 
    Last year the only real hitching trouble I had was  when I had to hitch 
from a small town bus station on CA-99 to Kennedy  Meadows; that 150 mile hitch 
east into the mountains took 20 hours, from 5  PM until 1 PM. It was a lovely 
warm night under a huge live oak on private  property, out of sight below the 
highway grade  level.     
    At first, no one knew where "KENNEDY MEADOWS" was;  I was using two 
signs, one for closer small towns at first; it took 5  rides, the next to last from 
2 CA State Parks employees (females, Reinhold  - you'd have loved it), who 
weren't supposed to be giving rides of  course. 
    
    The 1 April Snow Pack map is  out: 
_http://www.wcc.nrcs.usda.gov/cgibin/westsnow.pl_ (http://www.wcc.nrcs.usda.gov/cgibin/westsnow.pl) . My  Donner 
Pass to OR border level is normal,  a slight improvement, but my OR  border to 
McKenzie level is above, to way above, normal. I won't get to OR until  about 1 
August, but I bet I'll see some snow this year, even then. BTW, save the  map 
to your electrobox, then print it; it'll fit onto one page that  way.
 
Bob  "Trekker"
Big Bend Desert Denizen
Naturalized Citizen - Republic of  Texas

Government cripples you, then hands you a crutch and says, 'See, if  it 
wasn't for us, you couldn't walk.' 
-- Harry Browne

"If you think  health care is expensive now, wait until you see what it costs 
when its free."  
-- P. J. ORourke





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