[pct-l] no hitchhiking

[mark v]

Kathi, i don't know of anyone who's done it.  Going back over all the resupply stops, i think it would be easy (some added side trail miles, but nothing over the top) to do EXCEPT for 4 places.  Would you be willing to only hitch 4 times?

Hikertown to Kennedy Meadows.  That's about 200 miles.  That's a pretty long stretch without resupply, especially since it would mean carrying at LEAST 8 days of food on your back through the Mojave Desert part.  The standard would be to hitch into Mojave, Tehachapi, or Onyx.

Tuolumne Meadows to Echo Lake.  150 miles.  Not so bad, except that's a tough, slow section that gets a lot of people down.  More people this year dropped out there than anywhere else.  Tough to do big miles through there.  The standard would be to hitch into Bridgeport or (the other) Kennedy Meadows, but an alternate plan might be to hitch into Markleeville.  I'm not sure if that's close enough to walk to.  Anyone?

Castella to Seiad Valley is a no big deal 150 miles, but you'd miss hitching into Etna, which is a town it seems everyone really likes.

Snoqualmie Pass to Stehekin (you're ok with busses, right?).  A very tough 175 miles.  One of the hardest and slowest sections of the trail.  The standard is to hitch into Skykomish.  They do so much that i couldn't possibly suggest that the Dinsmores would come pick you up at the trailhead, but i  know this year there were a couple of other past thru-hikers with cars hanging out who were picking people up.  That doesn't really count as hitching.  

So, it seems you could do it, but it also seems you could do it better if you just made a couple of exceptions to hitch selectively.

markv



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