[pct-l] early flip Flop Weather

[Bob Bankhead]

Should you? Only you will know that.

Could you? Yes, but the time and effort involved to hitch that far would be astronomical. There are better options available.

There is no public transportation to or from Kennedy Meadows. I'm told that the hitch down to highway 395 or into Ridgecrest isn't too difficult, if you're willing to wait, but getting back up to KM can be difficult. There is local (ESTA) bus service between Ridgecrest and Reno.

I'd recommend exiting at the side trail to Tehachapi instead. Catch the afternoon bus into Bakersfield. You have both Greyhound and Amtrak stations and an airport there. Take whichever mode you like to your next destination. 

Alternatively, exit further north at Walker Pass, hitch down to Onyx, catch the local bus into Lake Isabella and another bus into Bakersfield (stops at Amtrak and Greyhound stations). 

The #703 San Joaquin train leaves at 6:20 pm and will take you to Sacramento at 11:30 pm, where at 11:59 pm, you transfer to Amtrak's #14 Coast Starlight to Portland. OR. Transfer there for another train to Seattle and another to Vancouver BC. Catch Greyhound to Manning Park Lodge. Walk to the trailhead.

Getting to Ashland is much more difficult as Amtrak doesn't go there. Greyhound runs one bus a day from Bakersfield to Ashland, leaving BFD at 11:25 pm. It arrives in Ashland at 3:55 pm the next afternoon. That's 16-1/2 hours, and you must transfer twice; once in Sacramento at 6:25 am, and again at 2:25 pm in Medford, OR. 

The Coast Starlight stops in Klamath Falls, OR at 8:15 am. There's an Amtrak bus at 10:30 am, getting into Medford at 12:50 pm. You catch Greyhound from Medford at 3:30 pm into Ashland at 3:55 pm. You'll have to hitch to the trail crossing of I-5.

Good luck.




  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: evanaaron at juno.com 
  To: pct-l at backcountry.net 
  Sent: Monday, March 01, 2010 9:31 AM
  Subject: [pct-l] early flip Flop Weather



  Should I want to flip to A. Ashland or B. Manning Park from, let's say, KM would I be able to hitch the entire way? I know people hitch to towns, but that far of a distance?