hitching a ride

[Monkeywrench]

I thru-hiked in 2009 at age 50. I had never hitch-hiked in my life so had the same worries before my hike. As it turned out, I never had a problem hitch-hiking. When you are trying to get to town from a trail-head, it is not like what I imagine hitch-hiking is like elsewhere. People know you are a hiker, and lots of them pick you up just for that reason, even though they wouldn't normally pick up a hitch-hiker.

Whenever I hitched and had to put my pack and poles in the back of somebody's truck, I always worried they would inadvertently drive off before I got my stuff out. To protect against this, when I got out of the truck cab I would leave the passenger door open, go back and get my gear out of the back, then walk up, stick my head in the door and thank the driver again before shutting the door.

[bigcranky]

You've gotten good advice here. Pick a good spot, smile, and be pleasant. I always offer gas money, saying "Can I give you five dollars for the gas?" No one has ever said yes. A few people have seemed offended, but then I just say that I like to make the offer.

And I always pick up hikers, whether I am just off the trail, or passing through. Good karma.

[d.o.c]

happy trails and happy hitches ha http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1di9SfiFGzs.. enjoy the tune!

[Zipper]

I was apprehensive about hitching too, esp. because I was hiking alone a lot. I only hitched by myself once, in Gorham, NH and finally got a ride from a lovely group of day hikers. I hitched a couple of other times with other folks, but I definitely favored town stops where I knew I'd be able to walk into town on my own.

Folks posting here are right - you'll be surprised how many people will go out of their way to help you and take you from town to trail or even help you with an errand - there's a vast community of people who love the trail and love hikers and want to pay it forward for times when they were helped. I had only wonderful experiences with people offering rides and assistance.

No one ever accepted money from me either. People really love doing a favor for a hiker. It's part of what restores your faith in humanity during your thru -at least it did for me!

[mudhead]

You can tell fiddlehead has done it.

Visibility is important. Eons ago, I had a neon blue hat. Use specific.

One other thing is to always visually check the door lock mechanism before you enter the vehicle.

Never ever feel bad for more than a minute for refusing a ride.

Cops go by, humble smile for them too.

[mudhead]

Doh. Not aware of any laws prohibiting hitching in ME, other than standard stuff like interstate.

[Papa D]

Oh - this is a great thread and question. Hitchhiking is such a great thing. It is an American tradition squelched by hard-line law enforcement types, oil companies that want everyone burning their own fuel, and distrusting fearful sorts of people who like their lives in gated communities with alarm systems and preposterous "on-star" type hand-holding. Ok, now that I've had my rant, here is how a hiker hitch-hikes in the 21st century:

1) Position yourself on the roadside where a vehicle has room to pull over safely just beyond where you are standing
2) Do not wear sunglasses or a hat
3) Smile and make the best eye contact you can make - thumb out and friendly demeanor
4) Either wear your backpack or make really sure that it is in view - you want the driver to know that you are a recreational backpacker and not a bum
5) RE: #4 - there is nothing at all wrong with being a bum, you just won't get picked up
6) When your driver pulls over - assume that you are riding in the back of the truck or that your pack will go in the trunk - keep their vehicle as clean a possible
7) immediately make the driver feel comfortable - "hey, I'm hiking the AT, thanks a lot for stoping, I just need a ride to ____" thanks again.
8) You shouldn't smoke cigarettes anyway, but OBVIOUSLY don't smoke or do anything of the sorts in your rides car.
9) You should explain that you are a backpacker, be appreciative, and offer "a few bucks" for the ride.
10) $3 is a decent amount for a short ride to town - if they wait on you to buy groceries and take you back to the trail, pay $10 - please

[Cookerhiker]

If you're wearing a bandana, lose it.

If you're wearing sunglasses, lose them.

If you're shirtless, find it.

Comb or at least try to straighten your hair.

Make eye contact with open eyes and a smile.

Keep your backpack on and turn slightly so that the drivers can see you have a backpacker-type pack.

[protargol]

The "Hiker to Town", "Hiker to Trail" tyvek sign worked very well for me and people often commented that it was the reason they stopped. It lays out very simply, "yeah, I'm homeless, but I'm RESPECTABLY homeless; I'm a hiker."

Girls out front. Wave and be nice to all the cars so they're more likely to pick up another time. Walk about 100 feet left of a good pull off stop to give them room. I found that if I'm walking towards my destination, people assume I'll get there eventually, but if I drop pack in front of me and stand behind it, I'll get picked up.

Thank often and be interested in the driver and it will leave a good impression. Ask them about the area, and if they like hiking, outdoors, etc. Will help avoid awkward silence and have a good conversation. Just being genuinely gracious is the only payment necessary.

Never had a bad experience, but if you're uncomfortable, saying "oh shoot, you know what, I forgot that I told my friends I'd meet them at the trailhead. Could you just let me off here early?"

[Cookerhiker]

.... If you are a solo male, stay solo, or hook up with a woman to hitchhike.

...Girls out front...

It may not be politically correct but the surest way for a guy to get a ride is being with a woman.

On the Colorado Trail last summer, we faced a 30 mile hitch because an expected shuttle didn't show up. My hiking partner Northern Harrier and I - 2 60-something year old grubby guys - were joined on this phase by a woman in her 30s and hiking with a small dog.

Once we realized we'd have to hitch, no further discussion was necessary. She stood at the road edge with the dog (and her thumb). We got the ride.

[Papa D]

It may not be politically correct but the surest way for a guy to get a ride is being with a woman.

On the Colorado Trail last summer, we faced a 30 mile hitch because an expected shuttle didn't show up. My hiking partner Northern Harrier and I - 2 60-something year old grubby guys - were joined on this phase by a woman in her 30s and hiking with a small dog.

Once we realized we'd have to hitch, no further discussion was necessary. She stood at the road edge with the dog (and her thumb). We got the ride.

it's not politically correct and I don't like it, but it is true. If there is a girl in your party of hitchers, she should take the lead

[fiddlehead]

I'm sure this will be considered not politically correct either. (has that ever stopped me from speaking my mind?)
But, dogs are almost as good as women. (and create a safer hitch)

The best hitch I ever had: Hitching across Austalia when a truckload of aboriginals picked me up.
You don't drive in the outback after dark (too many kangaroos), so, we stopped in a town for the night.
Since I was traveling with a guitar, they wanted to bust out their didgeridoos so we started jamming.

Did this not far away from an ATM where their woman would panhandle. Every time they'd score some cash, they'd go buy another bottle of cheap wine and we'd all high-five each other.

Pink Floyd never sounded so good!

I was travelling with a girl although I don't think it would've mattered in this case.
The aboriginals were so friendly, they would've picked up anyone.

[Bronk]

The AT is a totally different world when it comes to hitchhiking...as others have said, there are many people that would never dream of picking up a hitchhiker that will pick up AT hikers and give them a ride...its because they know that the vast majority of them are people just like them who are on a vacation. People that live in towns near the trail see hikers come through every year and they know that when they see someone with a backpack they are just trying to get to town or back to the trail and will stop and offer them a ride. You usually don't even have to put your thumb out, people will stop and offer.

There are a lot of hikers like yourself who would never hitchhike under normal circumstances...just like there are lots of people who would never pick up hitchhikers under normal circumstances. The AT is not normal circumstances, and people that live near the trail know this and experienced hikers do too. You will not be viewed as a vagrant just because you're trying to thumb a ride into a trail town. Doctors and lawyers and bankers hitchhike into trail towns. The locals know this and don't put hikers in the same category as homeless people. In some towns the police and the mailman will give you a ride.

In the south, at least half of the people that give you a ride will want to talk about Jesus.

[randyg45]

Lots of good advice on here already- fiddlehead, Papa D, several others.
I have hitched a lot- starting in the late 60s.
Coming out of the Winds one time, trying to get back to Jackson, I set up at some lonely crossroads where I could see probably two miles or more down the road. NO traffic. NO water. I was facing walking to one of a couple ranch houses I could see to try to bum water for the night, which was soon coming... NO traffic. Finally, in the distance, a car. A little white box, seemed to be roaring up the road. I got my thumb out as soon as I thought he could see it. Way up high,, really jerking it back. It soon became obvious he wan't going to stop; but it was the only game in town. As he got closer I gradually lowered my arm. Smiling, looking right at him, really thumbing, lowering my arm to the horizontal as he got to me, still no change in pitch from his engine; he just drifted a little into the other lane as he passed, giving me room. I stayed with it, still smiling, still giving it hell with the thumb. Guy was actually past me, doing 80 or so, when he finally slammed on his brakes and skidded to a halt. I ran up behind him as he popped his trunk from the inside. I stuck my head in his window and he said: "I'm going to Jackson but I'm in a hurry. Throw your pack in the trunk if you're going with me". I tossed it in, tossed myself in, and away we went.
Guy told me he had no intention of picking me up but my "a for effort" attitude changed his mind. Good guy, great ride...
Coming up I-75 out of Miami in '71... the last part of my last trip to the beach before reporting to AFEES. I had spent the night in the weeds somewhere north of Tampa, it seemed 95 degrees at maybe 7:00 AM when I started thumbing at the top of some entrance ramp onto the interstate. Guy in a new pickup stopped; I threw my gear in the bed and off we went.
I didn't realize he was drinking until he reached under the seat, pulled out a quart of... scotch? I don't remember... and offered me a swig too. I was 18, he had the a/c on... I said thanks. I still didn't realize how drunk he was. It's hard to tell how drunk experienced alcoholics are (trust me). Making a long story short, some few miles up the road he ran right into the back of an Impala towing a Sunbeam Alpine. The speed differential was great enough to rip the towbar free from the underside of the Chevy. Somehow the gas tank ruptured. The towbar sparked against the road as the Sunbeam rolled to the right off the road. The ignited gasoline blew back onto the pickup. Some of it seemed to just stick on the outside of my window.
Had we not had the a/c on that burning gasoline would have been in the cab with us. At the very best I would have never again have had a face.
Everyone got stopped, a couple cars and a tractor-trailer stopping behind us.
State Police got there in a very short time.
Trooper walked up to the man driving the pickup and said something like: "How are you today, Mr. Johnson?"
"Mr Johnson" said something like: "Hi, Frank. Hope you and Sally are well. I was having a fine morning until this young woman driving the Chevy pulled off the shoulder right in front of me".
I asked the Trooper if I could borrow a pen and made a show of giving the woman my name and phone number. I distinctly told her not to lose it, that she was certain to need it. I then told the scowling Trooper what had actually happened. The woman and her family left with a second trooper. The first one got ready to leave and offered "Mr Johnson" a ride. I asked if I could ride with him and he told me that the car was full.
I said, fine, I'll walk.
He squared up to face me and said: "It's illegal to walk on an interstate highway"
"What" said I, "do you suggest I do?"
He smiled at me when he replied: "I guess you'll have to climb that fence over there and walk through the woods".
"The woods" he was looking at was a palmetto swamp as thoroughly impassable-looking as anything I've seen lately. It seemed to be at least a hundred degrees, the damned swamp was sure to be full of mosquitoes... whatever.
The trucker had hung around. He put his hand on my shoulder before he looked at the Trooper. He never did look at me. He just said: "It's not illegal for him to ride with me. Put your stuff in the truck, son". Took me all the way to Atlanta, wouldn't let me buy him lunch. Turned out he had a son in Nam, which is where I was an odds-on favorite to go.

I do not get in the front seat of a car if there are men in the back. I do not volunteer to ride with drunks (I quit drinking over 20 years ago).
I cannot remember anything else that has bothered me. It's all part of the journey.