[Cdt-l] Fwd: Hitchhiking ticket

[Eric Whte]

Yes, Charlie is right. 'Hitching' in WY is ok as long as you don't stick out your thumb. 'Walking' along a highway is ok. Mini Mart


________________________________
 From: Charlie Thorpe <charliethorpe at att.net>
To: cdt-l at backcountry.net 
Sent: Thursday, March 15, 2012 8:18 AM
Subject: Re: [Cdt-l] Fwd:  Hitchhiking ticket
 
Hello All -

CicelyB said:

> As a side note as I recall hitch hiking is illegal in the whole state of Wyoming.  Still did it and when in my ride did ask the drivers if they knew of the law.  The only ride that did was an off duty fireman who just didn't care.

I wonder if the driver who picks up a hitchhiker gets a ticket in WY or if it is just the hitchhiker?

I was standing at a great place to hitch just outside of Dubois, WY where the 4-lane narrows down to a 2-lane on the north end of town (plenty of room to see me from a distance and LOTS of room to safely pull over to pick me up).  It was early Sunday morning and I was headed back up to the pass to get back on the CDT.

A black SUV drives up and the State Trooper inside waves me over so that he can explain that it is illegal to hitchhike in WY.  There was a major speed trap set up on US 287 and it turned out that I was trying to hitchhike right in the middle of it...

I asked him if he had any ideas on how I could get back up to the pass ("No, Troopers can't give rides to hikers") and he suggested walking up to the gas station about a half mile up the road and asking folks who pull in there for a ride.  Speed-trapping was obviously pretty slow that time of the morning - we got to talking and I asked him what it actually meant when the law says "no hitchhiking".

The Trooper said that act of hitchhiking in WY was defined to be standing by the road with your thumb out soliciting a ride from passing motorists.  I asked if standing beside the road showing my "CDT" sign and looking pitiful (thumbs carefully hidden) would be considered to be hitchhiking.  He thought a minute and decided that, as far as he was concerned, it would not be hitchhiking and he would probably give me a ride if he was off-duty and in his own car.

He pulled off to nab more folks in a hurry to get to church and I started walking to the gas station - more and more Troopers were showing up to man the speed trap and I wasn't at all sure that they would interpret the law in the same way as that friendly Trooper did.  I was walking along an adjacent parallel street and got about halfway to the gas station when a pickup pulled up behind me to offer a ride up to the pass.  

Turned out it was the fly fisherman (and his son) who had picked me up at the pass and brought me down into Dubois in the first place.  This neat guy (retired school superintendent from Casper who had a vacation cabin near Dubois) had earlier seen me walking out to start hitching and then heard about the speed trap at the restaurant where he got b'fast...he drove out to rescue me from the clutches of the State Troopers. 

I would enjoy distance hiking even if the trails weren't so enjoyable...just getting a chance to meet neat folks and experience this kind of trail magic now and then would definitely be enough to keep me going!

- Charlie
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