[pct-l] hitchhiking hints

[Stephen Clark]

Have also had some amazing success with rides... Many individuals in areas
near the PCT are very kind to PCTers.

Like Diane I do not do any of the pre-hitch clean up, but do take some
caution with those who stop and use my KO Bandana most of the time (thanks
Gottago Yogi, and Cupcake).

I am a section hiker and the best hitch I ever got was from the corner of
Hwy 74 & Hwy 371.

An older couple probably late 70s early 80s had been hiking Cedar Spring
Trail off Hwy 74. They lived in Point Loma and I live in Rancho Bernardo (4
blocks off I-15). They dropped me off at my front door... A great 75 mile
hitch!

Snake Charmer


On Thu, Sep 26, 2013 at 8:04 PM, marmot marmot
<marmotwestvanc at hotmail.com>wrote:

> My favorite ride was on the Oregon coast trail.  By an elderly lady in a
> pink Cadillac --she got it by selling Mary Kay. She had never picked up a
> hitchhiker before---what a ride.  Marmot
>
> Sent from my iPhone
>
> > On Sep 26, 2013, at 6:19 PM, "Diane Soini" <dianesoini at gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> > I didn't do any of these self-protective hints, except perhaps
> > evaluate the driver and passengers before accepting rides. I found
> > that hitchhiking was one of the main things to restore my faith in
> > humanity. I got rides from all walks of life, all ages, all kinds of
> > people.
> >
> > I met a rancher who was upset about land management practices that
> > wanted to eliminate cattle from public lands. We had a hatred of off-
> > road motorcycling in common.
> >
> > I met a native American who does the yearly walk from Bridgeport into
> > the Sierra and told me stories about how he likes to just set off
> > into the Southern Sierra for a while. Doesn't bring any food. Just
> > hunts as he goes.
> >
> > I met a young nurse who seemed confused by the direction of her life
> > and probably picked me up because I reminded her of herself and
> > seemed to offer some other direction she could take even though I was
> > hiking the PCT because I was confused by the direction of my own life.
> >
> > I got laughed at by a passing cyclist that I'd never get a ride and
> > then got a ride a minute later from some guy who just knew I was one
> > of the PCT hikers and wanted to grill me because he really wanted to
> > hike the PCT someday.
> >
> > I got a ride in a van with a bunch of young women, their mom and
> > their Downs syndrome sister.
> >
> > I got a ride from some old people who "never pick up hitchhikers, but
> > there was something about you that made us stop" and they took me to
> > meet their son who was a ranger at Crater Lake.
> >
> > I got a ride from some people who looked like they could possibly
> > drive away with my gear, but they were nice and did not drive away
> > with my gear.
> >
> > I got a ride from an employee at the ski center on Mt. Hood. He was
> > late for work and man was that a scary ride.
> >
> > I got a ride from a guy I met on the trail a couple weeks prior after
> > having people turn me down for hours with a wave or even stop, roll
> > down their windows and tell me they were so sorry they couldn't give
> > me a ride and please try to be safe. Well, if you aren't an axe
> > murderer yourself, and you obviously don't think I am, how bout
> > giving me a ride?
> >
> > I got a ride from Steven's pass and we got to talking and missed
> > Skykomish by about 20 minutes. He was nice enough to turn around and
> > I got him to let me off in Baring. I ended up having a great dinner
> > at the store and while I was eating it turned out the Dinsmores were
> > at the next table but I didn't know because I had never met them before.
> >
> > So many great adventures around hitchhiking for me. It was kinda one
> > of the more fun things about the trail and definitely the biggest
> > surprise of the experience. Back when I was first trying to do all my
> > resupply planning I figured I would try to plan so that I never had
> > to hitchhike. I'm glad that didn't work out.
> >
> > Diane
> >
> >
> >> On Sep 26, 2013, at 10:00 AM, pct-l-request at backcountry.net wrote:
> >>
> >> From: "Bob Bankhead" <wandering_bob at comcast.net>
> >> Subject: Re: [pct-l] hitchhiking hints
> >>
> >> Other points regarding self-protection:
> >>
> >>
> >> Evaluate the driver and passengers before accepting a ride,
> >> especially if
> >> you are female. If anything doesn't feel right about the ride,
> >> don't take
> >> it.
> >>
> >> Memorize - or better yet, write down - the license number of the
> >> vehicle.
> >> This is especially important BEFORE you toss your gear into the
> >> trunk or the
> >> back of a truck. You wouldn't be the first hitch-hiker left
> >> standing by the
> >> road watching the vehicle speed away with your gear. There are a
> >> few sick
> >> folks out there who find this funny. It is also helpful if you
> >> discover
> >> later that you inadvertently left something in the vehicle at the
> >> end of the
> >> hitch.
> >>
> >> I tape a return address label on each of my trekking poles or other
> >> valuable
> >> items I might set down and forget. When my wife lost one of my
> >> poles on a
> >> hike, the thoughtful finder was able to track me down to arrange a
> >> return
> >> shipment. LT4's are expensive; so are cameras and GPS units.
> >
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