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Chair-man
01-21-2014, 20:54
Just some questions about hitching.

What's the longest you ever waited when trying to hitch into or back out of town?

What would you say is the average time it takes to get a ride?

What's the further est you ever had to walk because you couldn't get a ride?

Thanks

RedBeerd
01-21-2014, 20:58
I've only hitched 4 times. 3/4 went very fast (within 5-10 minutes) but the longest was nearly 30 minutes.
One of the times I was asked just walking down the road not even needing a ride yet. Too bad she was going the other way, she was cute.

max patch
01-21-2014, 21:02
I walked 7 of the 8 miles into Andover, Maine. First car that passed us gave us a ride.

kayak karl
01-21-2014, 21:08
5 minutes. walked 2.7 miles to resupply once.

Chair-man
01-21-2014, 21:14
5 minutes. walked 2.7 miles to resupply once.
If you don't mind me asking, how many time have you hitched? Hundreds?

4shot
01-21-2014, 21:18
One of the times I was asked just walking down the road not even needing a ride yet. Too bad she was going the other way, she was cute.

one of the most important skills in a hiker's toolbox is flexibility. you should've gone the other way too.;)

jdc5294
01-21-2014, 21:33
I think my longest was about 30-45 minutes. I realized very soon that there's no use standing still, might as well start walking towards town and keep an ear out for when to turn around.

Slo-go'en
01-21-2014, 23:22
I can never seem to get a ride. I've tried for hours, watching 100's of cars go by.

The most fustrating was in Vermont. I must have been standing there for over an hour. Traffic was light, but steady. Two young kids come down the trail and ask how long I've been there. A long time I replied. "We'll get a ride right away" one of them said. Sure enough, the next car to come by stopped! Thankfully, there was enough room for me too.

leaftye
01-21-2014, 23:26
On the PCT, but I've waited for many hours before. It seems like I don't get picked up unless the weather is foul, it's about to get dark, or I'm limping.

ChinMusic
01-21-2014, 23:36
I hated having to hitch on my thru. A close friend of mine had his father murdered by a hitchhiker when we were kids. I just cannot get that out of my head.

Slo-go'en
01-21-2014, 23:45
I think my longest was about 30-45 minutes. I realized very soon that there's no use standing still, might as well start walking towards town and keep an ear out for when to turn around.

I'm not sure if walking towards town helps or not. I haven't figured out if the person who finally stopped to pick you up did so because you were walking and had pitty on you, or would have stopped back where the trail crossed.

The other thing is a lot of these roads are pretty dangerous to walk on. They are narrow and twisty with no shoulders and the locals drive like maniacs. I drive like a maniac on the back roads I frequently drive on. Plus you need to be in a place where they can see you and then make an instant decision to stop or not based on if there is a safe place to pull over.

I'll walk if the round trip is 1 mile or less. Farther then that I'll try to hitch. If it's a place I really don't NEED to go to, I'll give myself a time limit. Like no ride in 1/2 hour, move on. And if you NEED to go someplace, sometimes you have to be creative on how you score the ride.

10-K
01-22-2014, 05:46
There are a lot of threads on here about how to increase your chances of getting picked up....

Take off your sunglasses, put out the cigarette, stay at the trailhead so you'll look like a hiker instead of a transient, collapse your trekking poles, smile but don't look manic, etc. etc.

Kerosene
01-22-2014, 09:20
Several years ago, on the hitch down into Bland, VA, I got a ride literally within seconds of sticking out my thumb coming off the trail; the nearby homeowner saw me coming along, and as it started to rain he decided that he needed to run an errand in town.

Returning the next morning was an entirely different story. I had to wait for the post office to open to pick up my resupply box. As I was packing everything up I noticed dozens of cars heading up the mountain, but by the time I got to the corner at 8:45 the traffic literally disappeared. I waited for about 20 minutes with only 3 cars going by before I started the 2.5 miles back to the trail. Maybe 20 cars passed in the hour it took me to get back up to the trailhead.

I don't make it a habit to hitch, but I've had wildly varied success and other situations of outright failure. Timing and situation is everything.

Mags
01-22-2014, 09:41
Cuba,NM back to Cumbres Pass on the CDT. Waited two hours and said the heck with it. I ended up walking 11 miles to the pass from town. It was a Sunday and I suspect all the tourists did not want to pick me up!

I knew it was my last hitch of the trail and just wanted to get it over with. Not a big fan of hitching either. What can I say...don't like being dependent on luck to get something done. :)

takethisbread
01-22-2014, 09:59
I can never seem to get a ride. I've tried for hours, watching 100's of cars go by.

The most fustrating was in Vermont. I must have been standing there for over an hour. Traffic was light, but steady. Two young kids come down the trail and ask how long I've been there. A long time I replied. "We'll get a ride right away" one of them said. Sure enough, the next car to come by stopped! Thankfully, there was enough room for me too.

I waited for over in Clarendon? the spot right before Killington. waited over an hour.




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

ATSeamstress
01-22-2014, 10:03
The only time it took more than 5-10 minutes was getting back to the trail from Big Island. Longest walk was into Troutdale (I think that was 2.5 miles).

Night Train
01-22-2014, 10:26
Walked for about 15 min. on US 64 heading into Frankin,NC. Retired couple, had no hesitation about picking me up or taking me where I needed to go. Offered a generous stipend and they graciously refused. My 5 experiences hitching in the southern region have been awesome, not sure if that is enough hitches for a good case study but still, all around good experiences.

sadlowskiadam
01-22-2014, 10:28
Hitches are pretty easy on the AT, especially south of the Mason/Dixon line. The most difficult hitches I had occurred while it rained. Most people don't want to stop in the rain and pick up a soaking wet hiker.

GoldenBear
01-22-2014, 11:15
What is the SHORTEST amount of time it took to get a ride?
While standing around the parking lot at the trail head on Highway 9 in Vermont, I got two offers for rides into town within ten minutes. Why is that such a short time to wait? Because I wasn't trying to GET a ride!!
I wasn't even standing by the side of the road, I was just hanging around the parking lot, waiting for the bus to pick me up!

http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/entry.php?7999-Manchester-to-Bennington-Part-1

I call that pretty fast service!

Jeff
01-22-2014, 11:46
Amazingly, hikers with dogs get picked up more quickly than you might think. Dog lovers behind the wheel may be more excited about the dog than the hiker !!!!

imscotty
01-22-2014, 11:47
So far my hitching has been limited to the Long Trail Vermont. I have had great luck in Vermont. Some of the rides have driven many miles out of their way to get me where I was going. I get picked up even quicker when I have hiked with my daughter. I presume that together we appear pretty safe.

Don H
01-22-2014, 12:01
Had a local pick me up in NH. He told me always wear your pack while hitching. If you leave it on the ground the locals mistake it for a duffle bag and think you're a homeless person (which I guess I was temporarily) and won't pick you up.

The hardest hitch I ever had was from Big Island back to the trail. Two of us tried for an hour in front of the gas station/store there. I asked a guy filling up his truck if he would give us a ride, he said no. I came back with $20 and he was happy to give us a lift since he was going right past there anyway.

flemdawg1
01-22-2014, 15:56
About an hour is the longest, finally had to approach someone pulling into the TH parking lot.

horicon
01-22-2014, 15:57
20 minutes.

RED-DOG
01-22-2014, 16:04
The longest i had to walk to get resupplied would be Glasgow VA to and from.

Dogwood
01-22-2014, 16:16
The longest I ever waited to get a ride by hitching w/ my thumb out as I walked along the road on the AT to do a resupply was 2 hrs. I was hitching after sunset(8-10P.M.) in the middle of the wk in heavy rain in VT in Sept. Most times on the AT I get a ride within 15 mins if I'm near the trail or a noted AT trail town. I've also learned a few secrets to improve my odds of getting more and quicker rides since that long wait hitch in VT(don't hitch at night, for example!). Don't assume you can only get rides by standing alongside the road with your thumb out; I get only about 25% of my rides by hitching that way.

On the CDT I walked 22 miles RT to get a resupply without getting a ride but only about 6 cars passed during the entire 22 mile walk.

Took me 1 1/2 days to hitch the multiple rides I needed to get from Big Bend NP after a hike to El Paso Int AP for a flight.

eblanche
01-22-2014, 17:08
I'd say about 20 min in northern VT. Average of about 6 times is usually 5-10 min.

ChinMusic
01-22-2014, 17:24
All these 5-10 minute posts....... I must of looked like an ax murderer.

bfayer
01-22-2014, 17:48
All these 5-10 minute posts....... I must of looked like an ax murderer.

Or a dentist. Everyone is afraid of the dentist :) Sorry, just had a filling replaced today, I'm still drooling on myself from the novacaine.

I don't hitch anymore, but the older I got the longer the wait became.

Don H
01-22-2014, 17:50
I had another thru-hiker teach me how to hitch, I had never done it before. He said the key is location, location, location.

Tipi Walter
01-22-2014, 17:51
All these 5-10 minute posts....... I must of looked like an ax murderer.

Back in '84 I spent two days on I-40 in NC trying to get a ride. At sunset on the first day I hiked into a treeline and camped and started again the next day. I estimated around 40,000 cars passed me by.

Another time I was trying to hitch to Hot Springs from Asheville and got caught near Lake Junaluska where no one would stop so I said to heck with it and hiked Hiway 209 almost 35 miles into Hot Springs over the course of two days. The walk was pleasant with good views and a great campsite with water, and finally near Hot Springs a guy in a business van stopped. I think it's better to walk than stand still, unless you're doing the Interstate.

max patch
01-22-2014, 18:00
I pick up quite a few trail hikers at trail heads here in GA. I would never ever pick up anyone hitching on an Interstate. Too many nut jobs out there.

CarlZ993
01-22-2014, 18:06
Most of the time in my AT thru-hike, it was 5 - 10 min. Once, I got a ride over before I could even get my thumb out (was hiking to a safer section of the road for cars to pull over). The driver pulled up & asked me & my buddy if we were heading into town (Stratton ME). We quickly jumped in his car while I worried about another vehicle rear-ending his vehicle (he stopped in the lane of traffic).

I hit Glasgow VA when I was hungry & impatient. After about 15 min, I started waving a $10 to passing cars. Got a ride pretty quick after that. Got my large pizza as well. :)

Dogwood
01-22-2014, 18:36
I remember coming across the James River AT pedestrian bridge to Hwy 130 attempting to get into Buena Vista on a Sat before the USPO closed. I really didn't want to hang around either Glascow or BV until Mon but it was 12:10 and the BV PO closed at 12:30. Third car stopped. It was a taxi heading into BV with a fare already in the taxi. He asked if I was thru-hiking the AT. He said he had hiked most of the AT. I replied, "yes, I was trying to get to the BV PO before they closed but I guess it's too late, we'll never get there in time." He called the PO for me where one of his relatives worked and said, "we were on our way, don't close until I get this thru-hiker there, he needs his meds in a box he mailed there." We pulled up at 12:35 w/ the relative waiting at the PO doors. Said, "come inside, we have a big hiker box, take what you want." I offered to pay the taxi driver. He said, "no it's been paid by the previous fare and me, you enjoy your thru-hike." That's southeast AT hospitality! In all my travels, some of the nicest people in the U.S. come from the southeast! And, they've offered that hospitality repeatedly after hearing my naw jarsee accent. Be respectful and considerate of other people and you'll often get it in return. Southern folks have demonstrated this countless times to me.

jdc5294
01-22-2014, 18:39
I had another thru-hiker teach me how to hitch, I had never done it before. He said the key is location, location, location.
This is something not a lot of people realize they're doing wrong, if you're standing near a bend in the road, drivers can't see you until they're right there. On the other hand, if you're on a long stretch of road people can see you a long time before they'd have to stop. This gives them time to think about whether to pick you up. If they don't have time to make that decision they'll just keep driving by. It sucks to have to slam on the brakes.

Statue
01-22-2014, 19:14
Longest it took was about 45 minutes to an hour out of Buena Vista, VA.

ChinMusic
01-22-2014, 19:19
Longest it took was about 45 minutes to an hour out of Buena Vista, VA.

Buena Vista has been mentioned several times. I was lucky there. White Blazes own DeerHunter picked up B-Rocket and me up and took us into town for a resupply and meal. HikerMom set up the connection.

Drybones
01-22-2014, 20:24
Longest about 30 minutes, shortest about 5, caught the first vehicles that came by into Front Royal, it averaged out tho, I left Front Royal before day light so I thought there would be little chance of catching a ride so I hiked the 4 miles back to the trail.

Drybones
01-22-2014, 20:28
You got it made in Waynesboro, I stopped at the visitor center and the volunteer called to get me a ride into town, took a shower, did AYCE chinese, got re-supplied, washed clothes and back on the trail to do another 14 miles that day. There's a great bunch of folks in Waynesboro that help hikers out...they're much appreciated.

oldwetherman
01-22-2014, 20:40
I'm an old guy and I've never been accused of being pretty. I read all the advice about hitching. First time I hitched early on in Georgia I hitched with a young couple. The person that quickly picked us up looked at me and said that they would have never picked me up if I was hitching alone because I looked like a homeless man. Only time I had to hitch alone was from Thorton Gap to Luray, Virginia....9 miles. Several hundred cars drove by me......I ended up walking the entire 9 miles!

BradMT
01-22-2014, 20:40
We hitched all the time on our 1977 2.5 mo's long AT trip. Getting from Atlanta to Springer Mountain was tough. Bottles thrown at us, etc. Finally got there, but that's a long story. During the hike we heard all about this amazing movie called "Star Wars." Curiosity got the better of us and we decided to hitch to a town where it was showing, some 50 miles off the trail in VA. Took us 2.5 hours of sitting and hitching on an interstate to get picked up. Unbelievable in 100* heat.

Slo-go'en
01-22-2014, 20:52
Buena Vista has been mentioned several times. I was lucky there. White Blazes own DeerHunter picked up B-Rocket and me up and took us into town for a resupply and meal. HikerMom set up the connection.

I was having a hard time getting out of Buena Vista - all the cars were turning into a senior center across the street! Then a Forset Service truck comes along heading into town. Next thing I know he pulls a Uie, stops and tells me to get in! Seems he had just hiked the PCT the year before :)

m_factor
01-22-2014, 21:06
My longest hitch took about 24 hours. But that was in Patagonia and the only car that passed in that time was going to a construction site visible just down the road. The next morning, the first car that passed by squeezed us in for the five hour ride to the next town.

On the AT, I'm guessing maybe half an hour. I did have to walk into Catawba because there was a great deal of police activity near the trailhead so nobody was stopping. Mostly, I recommend waiting at restaurants or grocery stores and asking people who were leaving if they were going in my direction and could offer me a ride. On the AT, they often helped if they were going in the right direction.

On the PCT, I found even those people who weren't going in my/our direction often had us hop in their car and would drive us anyway.

I've got a page with other tips for hitch hiking on my web site at: http://friends.backcountry.net/m_factor/hitching.html

Oh, and the longest duration hitch I had was four days - also in Chile.

swamp dawg
01-22-2014, 21:25
Stinger and I waited and walked for 45 min. leaving Manchester Center,Vermont one Sunday in May. We saw lots of cars passing us by but no ride, then it hit us, it was Mothers Day. Lots of couples in cars and trucks but no one was willing to pick up a couple of less than clean and somewhat smelly hikers that might offend a sweet, clean mom. swamp dawg

fiddlehead
01-22-2014, 22:35
AT hitches are usually pretty easy. Especially if you have a sign.
PCT/CDT hitches a bit tougher (unless it's hunting season when the hunters who like to shoot without getting too far away from their pickup trucks will give you a ride because they want to find out where the elk are)

Hitching across Australia was sometimes tough, but very interesting.
Tough because not many cars or trucks on the only road within hundreds of miles.
Interesting because the Aboriginals will almost always pick you up and they are very amazing people.

Easiest is in Japan though where you stand near the toll-booths and they officer there will ask each car which direction they are going and then ask them if they will take you that way. (and then they buy you lunch)

Tough in France though. We only had truckers pick us up, and most of them were drunk.

evyck da fleet
01-22-2014, 23:01
AT hitching is usually easy. I actively hitched about eight times. The only time it took more than 10 minutes was on Father's Day. I probably passively hitched, is that a thing? When I didn't care if I walked and got offered a ride another dozen times. The longest I had to walk before someone pulled over was a little over a mile or 30 minutes. This total includes times where I'd get to a trailhead, be waiting for a shuttle, crossing a road in the rain, waiting at the post office, waiting on a pizza, or had just met a day/section hiker on the trail who would offer me a ride into town (and a place to stay) or out of town without me having to ask.

kayak karl
01-22-2014, 23:08
If you don't mind me asking, how many time have you hitched? Hundreds?

about 20 on trail. always tried to hit highway before 3. usually second or third car stops. some road crossing we just call for shuttle.

handlebar
01-23-2014, 00:04
Cuba,NM back to Cumbres Pass on the CDT. Waited two hours and said the heck with it. I ended up walking 11 miles to the pass from town. It was a Sunday and I suspect all the tourists did not want to pick me up! ...

i think maybe Mags meant a hitch from Chama, NM rather than Cuba back to Cumbres Pass.

. In any case, I was hitching the opposite direction, from Cumbres Pass to Chama, NM on a Saturday morning starting at 7:45am. I was standing in a good spot next to a large parking lot with a historical marker at the pass. Two cars faked me out pulling tinto and stopping, but only to read the marker. After 2 hours I was worried about getting to town before the PO closed as I didn't want to stay until Monday. A $20 stuck behind my thumb finally did the trick after about another half an hour and I made it to the PO with an hour to turn around my bounce bucket. I think most of the folks out that early Saturday were tourists. Locals seem more apt to pick up hitches. That's why I avoid trying to hitch on interstates.

Dogwood
01-23-2014, 00:18
I love the stories Fiddlehead. Money stuck to my thumb. I have to remember that Handlebar. No surprise. You know the influence that money can have.

Almost There
01-23-2014, 11:03
Trying to hitch into Helen the weekend of a bike race, had a serious I-Band problem. I walked about an hour towards town before a former thru-hiker and family picked me up and took me the rest of the way...wouldn't take my money, and paid for my lunch without me knowing.

burger
01-23-2014, 11:57
Longest waits for a ride: AT - 40 minutes at Franconia Notch, PCT - 3 hours into Etna (no joke: 5 different people going the other way stopped to offer me beer or water while I was waiting!), CDT - 2 1/2 hours out of Rawlins.

The crazy thing is that some of my longest waits in one direction ended up being the shortest in the other direction. On the PCT, it took me 2 1/2 hours to get into Sisters at Santiam Pass. On the way out of town, someone stopped for me while I was still fiddling with my pack getting ready to hitch. On the CDT, we got offered a ride into Steamboat before we even stuck out our thumbs. But getting out of Steamboat took over 2 hours. Weird stuff.

Chair-man
01-23-2014, 12:10
Thanks for the input and the stories. I hitched around the country a bit when I was younger but haven't for a long long time. One thing I did that I think helped was to try and look presentable. I would stand up straight with my arm straight out and up at a 45 degree angle, sorta like at attention. If you're slouching with your arm hanging and your wrist just turned sideways you just look like a bum. IMO
I like the idea of just staying at the trailhead and not walking unless you have to. I do think chances of getting a ride diminish the older you are.
Oh, the longest I ever waited was 1 day. Trying to leave New Orleans trying to get to Houma LA but other than that I don't recall ever waiting more that an hour or two but that was in the 70's.

4shot
01-23-2014, 13:29
one guy carried a US Marine t-shirt in his pack specifically for the hitches. He never failed to get a hitch in relatively short order from a fellow marine (semper fi and all that). I wouldn't want to fake this trick however.Might be unhealthy. ;)

Dogwood
01-23-2014, 13:41
For me, by far the best way to get rides is by not hitch hiking by sticking my finger out while standing along the road. I try not taking that approach as often as I can. I approach people and ask for rides at gas stations, rest stops, overlooks, THs, stop/yield signs, etc or make a sign - PCT hiker needing ride to town/to the trail, etc.

Dogwood
01-23-2014, 13:45
Like Burger said, when on the long trails in the U.S., when you have various resupply options that you may want to hitch to/back to the trail, be mindful of the odds of getting hitches(rides) in both directions. Sometimes, getting a ride into town may be relatively easy but getting a ride back to the TH may not be or vice versa.

theGABE
01-23-2014, 13:57
I waited more than an hour to get into Buena Vista, VA. Getting out of Gatlinburg, TN was also a pain. A sign really would have helped in those situations.

Chair-man
01-23-2014, 14:15
A sign really would have helped in those situations.

I thought about using that frame sheet in my backpack to some kind of sign or tape a sign to it. The sign would have to say something generic like "GOING INTO TOWN". Also, I thought about using that frame sheet to make a suspended shelf while in camp, just hang it with some fishing line.

kayak karl
01-23-2014, 14:23
I thought about using that frame sheet in my backpack to some kind of sign or tape a sign to it. The sign would have to say something generic like "GOING INTO TOWN". Also, I thought about using that frame sheet to make a suspended shelf while in camp, just hang it with some fishing line.

http://www.amazon.com/LWGEAR-Appalachian-Trail-Hiking-Bandana/dp/B000MZPPKS

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51i9iC88oEL._SX425_.jpg

orangebullet
01-26-2014, 16:02
I usually had great luck with hitch hiking. I probably hitched about 15 times between GA and NY, and the longest I had to wait was about 5 minutes. UNTIL I got to Port Jervis! I got a ride into town immediately, then had to walk about 3 miles and waited 2 hours to get one back up the mountain to the AT. That was frustrating, and it was dark by the time I got back to the trail.

orangebullet
01-26-2014, 16:04
Yeah, Gatlinburg is traditionally tough to get out of. We called a shuttle for that one. It is not a short distance!

Dogwood
01-26-2014, 16:31
I'm with m_factor(Mara) on this. Getting to where you want by getting rides is not solely about having to hitchike with your thumb out. Mara is a woman too so it might be nice for other females to get her perspective. Check out her link to get getting rides tips.

Bronk
01-26-2014, 18:42
If you're hiking north in the spring you can stop to rest at a road crossing and within a few minutes someone will be stopping to offer you a ride in most cases. I don't think I ever waited more than a few minutes. The only time I had to walk was the two miles into Fontana Village, but when I arrived they had just opened for the season and there weren't very many people coming and going yet. There were several places where I wasn't planning on going into town but when I got to the road crossing someone offered me a ride and the lure of a restaurant meal was too much to resist. I never felt like a vagrant trying to bum a ride. I only remember sticking my thumb out a couple of times...in most cases people offered before I had a chance to ask.

bamboo bob
01-26-2014, 20:36
I have a rule. I hitch twenty cars or twenty minutes. On the AT that was fine. The PCT the first car is good just takes a while for her to show up.

ryanwflynn
01-26-2014, 23:28
Hitching out of Gaitlinburg was very tough. Hundreds of cars passed and after a few hours of frustration two hiking friends joined and since one was a female, we caught a ride in a few minutes. Felt bad the chap who gave us the ride had his car overheat at Newfound Gap.
Hitching into Rangeley, ME took a while but was eventually picked up by a kind old timer and we had a nice chat in the way into town. Rangeley was deserted early the next morning. After a hearty breakfast, I went to the intersection in town and the first car I saw was same guy I hitched in with. He stopped, said he was not going near the trail but would give me a ride up right away.
You never know what you will get hitching on a long trail!

Cookerhiker
01-28-2014, 21:12
On the AT, day-hiking in Connecticut I waited more than an hour. Finally, a young homeless guy with a dog living out of his car picked me up.

On my 2011 Colorado Trail thruhike, we couldn't get a ride to our first resupply stop at Buffalo Creek. Walked 3 1/2 miles down to the general store in the hot sun. But we got a ride back - from a young homeless guy with a dog living out of his car. Deja vu!
http://www.trailjournals.com/entry.cfm?id=362823

Drybones
01-28-2014, 21:43
I saw this cute little hiker coming up behind me on the trail near Wayha Tower and had her show me the proper techneque for hitching...she was a good sport. She probably never had to wait long.

25732

Dogwood
01-28-2014, 22:15
....I never felt like a vagrant trying to bum a ride. I only remember sticking my thumb out a couple of times...in most cases people offered before I had a chance to ask.

As opposed to myself, who always feels like a vagrant on my frugal too cheap to call a taxi long distance hikes. The AT in the south is great for picking up a hitchiking thru-hiker vagrant like myself. Prolly, because those giving me rides were or are vagrants themselves.....in a stolen truck.


Hitching out of Gaitlinburg was very tough. Hundreds of cars passed and after a few hours of frustration two hiking friends joined and since one was a female, we caught a ride in a few minutes....

Hitching into Rangeley, ME took a while but was eventually picked up by a kind old timer and we had a nice chat in the way into town. Rangeley was deserted early the next morning. After a hearty breakfast, I went to the intersection in town and the first car I saw was same guy I hitched in with. He stopped, said he was not going near the trail but would give me a ride up right away.

You never know what you will get hitching on a long trail!

So true. A cement truck, the kind with the big rotating barrel on the back, screeched to a halt to allow another thru-hiker and myself to climb aboard for our hitches into Rangely. So funny because the poor driver, who was at the end of his shift all grimy and sweaty himself, kept his head out the window the entire time because the two of us reeked so bad.

Papa D
01-28-2014, 22:15
without a cute girl, it takes a little longer - sorry to be sexist but I have hitched for my whole lifetime and it's absolutely true. I've waited over an hour - typical wait is 12 to 15 cars or about 15 minutes. Rarely (but occasionally) have been totally un-successful. I've never been picked up by anyone that wasn't genuine and fine. One time I picked up a guy who was a little sketchy - - asked me to take him to a Home Depot - I did - I think he robbed the place because security followed him out and arrested him - I just drove off - - oops - - seriously, hitch hiking is cool and I do it and recommend it - - it's safer and more reliable than a lot of things we do.

kenp
04-27-2015, 11:40
30 seconds (2nd car), from outside the Mt Rogers VC heading south, It had just started raining!

I got to elk garden about 6pm a few days later. I walked south along VA600 hoping to hitch a lift. About 4 cars passed in an hour, none stopped. I got to VA58 thinking it would be a much busier road, but had to wait about 20 minutes for the first car to pass. It stopped and brought me to Whitetop Food and Gas, abut a mile down the road. From there a local called Charlie, offered to take me to Damascus for $20, which he did. I got into Damascus about 8pm

Both if these occasions were within a few days of each other, so timing, locale and luck play a huge part in determining how long it will take to get a ride

Walkintom
04-27-2015, 11:55
While hitching in NY I waited about an hour and a half. Many cars passed who were not interested in putting my grungy self into their vehicle and never tapped the brakes.

Then I got a GREAT ride. An older lady, who was out running errands stopped for me. While we went to the PO (her errand) she told me a bit about why she stopped. Her husband was a retired college professor. When he was planning his retirement he helped choose his successor, who came to town to assess the job and general local situation and wound up staying at their home for a while before getting her own place. That person had written a book about her hiking experiences on the AT, The Adventures of the Barefoot Sisters. So she knew all about the AT and hiker culture from their time spent around Miss Letcher and now she always stops for hikers.

You're never very far removed from a hiker. Sometimes it just takes a while before a hiker or someone they've impacted drives by.

Wolf - 23000
04-27-2015, 12:29
This is one area being an UL hiker has a serious disadvantage. Also being a fairly big guy does not help either.

After waiting over an hour, I've walked into several towns because I could not get a ride. Some of the towns were a good walk too (5+ miles). That was years ago when many hikers really didn't care how much weight they were carrying. Hopefully things have change some.


V/R

Wolf

nuknees
04-27-2015, 12:31
I had another thru-hiker teach me how to hitch, I had never done it before. He said the key is location, location, location.

Please share his philosophies! :)

fastfoxengineering
04-27-2015, 15:25
This is one area being an UL hiker has a serious disadvantage. Also being a fairly big guy does not help either.

After waiting over an hour, I've walked into several towns because I could not get a ride. Some of the towns were a good walk too (5+ miles). That was years ago when many hikers really didn't care how much weight they were carrying. Hopefully things have change some.


V/R

Wolf

Why does this put an UL hiker at a serious disadvantage?

There are many ways to improve the chances of being picked up as a hitch hiker. Location is number 1. Appearance is number 2. Certainty and having a plan is number 3.

1 - location should be kind of an obvious one. some areas have locals driving through that know "thru-hiker" season. it's typically easy to get a ride here. as other's have said though, throwing a thumb out around a sharp bend is dangerous and noone is going to slam on the brakes to pick you up... they may slam on the brakes to avoid hitting you though.

2 - buzzcut, grizzly beard, sunglasses, bandana, and a cigarette. Your appearance is kinda sketchy. At least put out the butt and take off the sun glasses so one can identify and get a mental image of your face. Your body language says alot while your standing on the side of the road. Also, people write "hiker to town" on pieces of tyvek and umbrellas. The more you identify yourself as a hiker, the better. You don't wanna look like a homeless guy bumming a ride into town.

3 - when they ask you where your going.. already know the answer. be confident, kind, and polite. Be straightforward though. It helps to check the map/guide to have an idea of the location you want to go into. See if they can answer any questions you may have...

I've gotten some pretty awesome trail magic hitchhiking before... I was heading into a town and as soon as I hit the trail head a guy pulled in and offered a ride... got in his nice '95 Cadillac seville sts. We had the same interest in music and were both going food shopping. We ended up shopping together and having a damn good laugh in the store. He ran into some old college girlfriends at the store.. introduced me and we ended up going to a party at their apartment that night.. I was planning on going back to the trail after shopping but for some reason I just wanted to check out this party. Guy said I could crash at his apartment if need be too. Ended up walking through the door to the party...and one of my trail buddys who I hadn't seen in a 2 weeks was cooking food everyone at the party... I guess he knew the girls too as he was from the area and hit them up as he was passing through.. One of those "No Waayyyy!" moments when we saw each other's face lol.. Had a damn good time that night. I'll remember it forever.

Wolf - 23000
04-27-2015, 18:25
Why does this put an UL hiker at a serious disadvantage?

There are many ways to improve the chances of being picked up as a hitch hiker. Location is number 1. Appearance is number 2. Certainty and having a plan is number 3.

1 - location should be kind of an obvious one. some areas have locals driving through that know "thru-hiker" season. it's typically easy to get a ride here. as other's have said though, throwing a thumb out around a sharp bend is dangerous and noone is going to slam on the brakes to pick you up... they may slam on the brakes to avoid hitting you though.

2 - buzzcut, grizzly beard, sunglasses, bandana, and a cigarette. Your appearance is kinda sketchy. At least put out the butt and take off the sun glasses so one can identify and get a mental image of your face. Your body language says alot while your standing on the side of the road. Also, people write "hiker to town" on pieces of tyvek and umbrellas. The more you identify yourself as a hiker, the better. You don't wanna look like a homeless guy bumming a ride into town.

3 - when they ask you where your going.. already know the answer. be confident, kind, and polite. Be straightforward though. It helps to check the map/guide to have an idea of the location you want to go into. See if they can answer any questions you may have...

I've gotten some pretty awesome trail magic hitchhiking before... I was heading into a town and as soon as I hit the trail head a guy pulled in and offered a ride... got in his nice '95 Cadillac seville sts. We had the same interest in music and were both going food shopping. We ended up shopping together and having a damn good laugh in the store. He ran into some old college girlfriends at the store.. introduced me and we ended up going to a party at their apartment that night.. I was planning on going back to the trail after shopping but for some reason I just wanted to check out this party. Guy said I could crash at his apartment if need be too. Ended up walking through the door to the party...and one of my trail buddys who I hadn't seen in a 2 weeks was cooking food everyone at the party... I guess he knew the girls too as he was from the area and hit them up as he was passing through.. One of those "No Waayyyy!" moments when we saw each other's face lol.. Had a damn good time that night. I'll remember it forever.

Well I don't smoke, normally don't wear sunglasses when hitch-hiking and always look for ideal place where it is easy for someone to pull in without endangering themselves or other.

Most people around trail towns associate hikers having a backpack. They understand that long distance hikers are not going to be as clean as someone in town or day hiking. If you ever tried hitch-hiking as a long distance hiker with a school book-bag as a backpack and stand over 6 feet then you might see it is not that easy. To most drivers, I look like a dirty day hiker.

It is a lot easier hitching hiking if your carrying a 20+ backpack but then you really are not hiking UL.

Wolf

egilbe
04-27-2015, 19:15
The GF and I are in our early 50's and the first time she had ever hitchhiked was after climbing down off of Katahdin and ending up at Roaring Brook when our campsite and car was at Katahdin Stream. We started walking the 18 miles back and the first car that picked us up was an old retired couple from NC who spent the Summers at BSP. The first thing they asked us if we were through-hikers. We said no, just day-hikers who hiked over the mountain to see the other side. During the ride back, he said he had given a couple through-hikers a ride a few years ago and it took two weeks to get the smell out of his car :D. We walked maybe a mile before we were picked up, but he gave us a ride all the way to KSC when he was going onto Millinocket. It was a scary ride since he drove like a madman on the dirt roads, but they were a nice enough couple who have climbed Katahdin several times.

4eyedbuzzard
04-27-2015, 19:38
Longest hitch ever was coming off the AT/LT at Kelly Stand Road just south of Stratton Mountain in VT. Long (maybe 6 to 8 miles?) and pretty much deserted gravel USFS road, except the last part with some loose pit bulls and such that I thankfully avoided due to the ride, that connected to VT Rte. 7. Walked for about an hour on aforementioned Kelley Stand Road and got picked up by the only vehicle I saw in all that time. A really nice older couple in a camper then went several miles out of their way to drop me in Manchester Center and gave me some ice tea to drink on the way. Now THAT was old school "trail magic".

rusty bumper
04-28-2015, 09:23
Walked 3 miles down the road into Erwin with my thumb up before getting a ride.

Bronk
04-28-2015, 13:20
I had to walk the 2 miles to the hotel at Fontana Dam, but it was early in the season and there wasn't much/any traffic up there. In most other places in the south if there was a paved road you didn't wait long for a ride. In fact I only remember actually sticking out my thumb one time and I had a ride within a minute or two...the vast majority of the time I got to the road and before I got around to trying to hitch a ride someone had already stopped and offered. In fact, more than once I went into town when I wasn't even planning on it because I was offered a ride.

Deacon
04-28-2015, 16:12
I had to walk the 2 miles to the hotel at Fontana Dam, but it was early in the season and there wasn't much/any traffic up there. In most other places in the south if there was a paved road you didn't wait long for a ride. In fact I only remember actually sticking out my thumb one time and I had a ride within a minute or two...the vast majority of the time I got to the road and before I got around to trying to hitch a ride someone had already stopped and offered. In fact, more than once I went into town when I wasn't even planning on it because I was offered a ride.

If you call the Fontana hotel, they will come pick you up at the dam.

Colter
04-28-2015, 18:07
There's been a couple times out West where I never did get a ride after several hours. The longest I can recall where I finally got a ride was six hours at Monarch Pass on the CDT. On that same hike, on a road-walk section in Wyoming, I got offered a half dozen rides or so during a snowstorm even though I wasn't hitching at all. On the AT I don't think I ever waited longer than a half hour or so.

shelb
04-28-2015, 23:31
Too Too Long sometimes!

Wyoming
04-29-2015, 14:40
Umm....TWO DAYS!! Wait though. That was in Alaska in 1970. 6-7 hours once in Iceland - but the first vehicle I saw picked me up. Back in the old days I didn't even get annoyed until a good 3 hours had passed.

On the AT I never waited more than 10 mins and a lot of the time it was the first car I saw.

full conditions
04-30-2015, 08:01
On my thru, my boots started to laminate in New Hampshire as did my current hiking buddy's. We decided to hitch into North Conway to see if we could get them replaced for free via the warranty. Naturally, nobody in North Conway carried our brand so we pushed on to Concord where we slept on a park bench waiting for the outfitters to open the next morning. No luck. So we then hitched to Hanover where the local outfitter fitted us out with new boots gratis. Then it was another hitch back to Gorham which I got to around midnight of the second day of hitching. Last person to pick me up was a young woman with a baby - at around 11pm. In the middle of nowhere. I'd been waiting maybe an hour and a half - longest one of the trip by far. But this was 1976 and I was a fairly non-threatening looking 17 year old.