[pct-l] entrance to crater lake.

[jjolson@uwyo.edu (Jeffrey Olson)]

My experience at Crater Lake was a bit different.  I hiked on the trail
to the post office where my package waited for me.  I sorted and
repacked and decided that I didn't  want to hike up the road to the rim
(so I'm not a purist!).  I put my thumb out and a five year old park
pick up with cop lights stopped.  There was a 25 - 30 year old man with
a gun on his hip, mirrored aviator sunglasses on his nose, and a cop's
sneer on his face.  He told me that it was illegal to hitchike in the
park.  (Here my memory gets foggy, and I might be making some of this
up)

It was also illegal to walk on the road from the post office to the
rim.  I told him that I was thru-hiking the PCT, and he reiterated
hitchiking was illegal.  I calmly told him again what I was doing and
asked what he suggested I do.  

I didn't respond to his pugnacious demeanor and he told me to put my
pack in the truck's bed and get in.  I did.  He said he should give me a
ticket as winnebagos pulled around us.  I said how hard it must be to be
a cop in a national park, how he probably didn't get treated with a lot
of respect.  

In a matter of 10 seconds his demeanor changed and he talked about being
a summer ranger, how it paid almost nothing, how he was treated by
campers, etc.  He was just a guy trying to make a living who thought to
be effective he had to put on a mean cop face to people like me.  

He dropped me off at the rim and warned me not to hitchhike again.  I
thanked him for the ride and went and bought a bunch of ice cream
bars...

Jeffrey Olson
Laramie, Wyoming...