[pct-l] hitchhiking hints

[Michael Slusser]

Diane,

Thanks for that response. Looking at a thru-hike for the first time next
year, this aspect of the trail brings about unreasoning trepidation in my
heart (possibly as a result of years of lectures on the dangers of
hitching; possibly because I'm an introverted little turtle). My plan was
identical to your initial strategy; perhaps I need to rethink that course.


On Thu, Sep 26, 2013 at 5:19 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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