[pct-l] Struck by lightening!

[yawho_hiker at yahoo.com (j rhoades)]

My resupply from Sonora Pass involved a variety of
scary and good rides.  

I'll get to 1 of the scary rides in a moment but first
I have to talk my amazing luck with hitching into
Bridgeport.  I had been in my hitching position for
about 3 minutes when a car pulled up at the turnout
near where the trail crosses the road.

Out came 2 people who called my name.  It turned out
to be my favorite mobile trailangels - Wooly and
Greenbean who had come up to the pass to drop off some
beer on the trail before preparing to get back to
hiking.  After we dropped off the beer in a stream we
went back to Bridgeport.  That was my 2nd fastest
hitch of the trail.

When I found out there was no place in Bridgeport to
get my digital pictures offloaded to CD, I decided to
go to Sonora on the West side of Sonora Pass.  It took
3 separate rides to get there. Allthough there was
plenty of time to get my photos and get back to the
trail,  the photo people at Walmart had some "issues"
with the computers and cd burners (a common experience
for me last year) and I wasn't ready to leave until it
was dark.

I decided to see how successful I could  be
hitchhiking in the dark.  Not very.  It's no surprise
that no one wanted to stop for a lone figure standing
by the side of the road.  I tried for 45 minutes and
was about to give up when I got a "bright" idea.
I decided to put my head lamp in  flashing mode with
the idea that someone, in one of the frequently
passing cars, would see it and realize I was a
harmless hiker rather than a threatening slasher.

Amazingly, within a couple minutes, a car had stopped.
I asked him if he was going to Sonora Pass and he
said, "Yea, hop in!"  As I opened the door to get in I
looked down and there, lying on the passenger seat,
was a Kid Rock cd.
That was the first warning sign.  If I wasn't so
desperate to get back to the trail, I would have ran
quickly from the car.

Things went OK at first but then he asked if I minded
if we stopped to get some cigarettes.  That was fine
with me.  We got those and then he said he needed to
stop by his house.
So we went to his house.  I was going to wait in the
car but he asked me if I wanted some water or
something.  I was kind of thirsty so I followed him
in.  

Inside the trailer it looked like what I imagined
Jeffrey Dahmer's place to look like. Scary.  I waited
for him to do whatever it was we there for.  It took a
long time.  Then he plopped down to watch TV.  I
didn't want to be rude so I was patient for awhile and
then I realized he had no intention of going to Sonora
Pass. Eventually I realized he didn't really even know
where it was.

Since I didn't know how to get back to main road.  I
decided I was going to try to get him to get back in
the car and take me to the pass or at least back to
where we started.  I had to be firm and persistant and
meanwhile I was plotting my escape route from the
trailer in case he decided I wasn't going anywhere. 
Eventually we were back in the car and after a few
detours (him: "want to stop and get a drink?" - me:
"no!") we were heading for the pass.  By this time,
whatever  drugs were in his body were becoming
noticeable.  The music got louder and and driving
became faster  and more erratic.

I insisted that we stop at a turnout.  After passing a
few he finally stopped at one.  As I was getting out,
he asked me if I thought it was safe to camp "out here
in the forest".  

That was good for a laugh.

Jeff


--- Rick <rickeyworld@myrealbox.com> wrote:

> Since we can't ask about beer canisters, dogs and
> snakes, I thought I'd ask the things that never get
> asked.
> 
> I've read many stories on trail angels and their
> wonderful help for PCT hikers.  Has anyone got any
> stories on trail Devils.  Someone who did you bad,
> took your stuff, ate your stuff, sent you the wrong
> way, given  a really scary ride?
> 
> Rick
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
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