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jdc5294
03-27-2013, 16:45
I guess I haven't posted enough to make a topic in the article section, but I haven't seen anyone else talking about this so I'll post it here instead.

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One of the most common complaints I heard during my 2012 thru hike was that it always took forever to get a ride into town. This was a mystery to me as I seldom experienced waiting longer then 15 minutes. But waiting for an hour as cars go by when you're wet, tired, and just coming from a week of hiking in the wilderness sucks. Especially when that image of a Ben & Jerry's pint is floating just out of reach. And unless you're made of money, calling a shuttle every time isn't an option.

In case you don't know how to hitch hike, it's very easy. First stand on the side of the road next to but not in the lane going in the direction you want to travel. You don't want to have to cross a lane of traffic to get to your ride, and it's also much less likely that someone will turn around to pick you up. It happens sometimes with some saints among men, but it's rare. Second, face oncoming traffic so they can see your beautiful face and stick your arm out with your hand in a thumbs up gesture, and wait for someone to stop. Now, here are some tips:

Smile - Even if it's pouring out and you just did a 25 mile day, people are much less likely to pick someone up who has the disposition of Eeyore. You don't have to be beaming from ear to ear, but at least have a positive ambiance about you.

Location, location, location - Where you stand on the road is paramount. This is the #1 mistake people make when hitching, and you'll have a lot more success if you remember this rule: if the driver can't see you, he/she won't give you a ride. Having said that, the name of the game is all about making it as easy as possible for cars to see you. Consider this image:

20742

The bad hitcher is standing where drivers cannot see them until very shortly before they actually pass him/her, whereas the good hitcher gives drivers plenty of time to see them and make a decision about whether to stop or not. Giving drivers this time to see you and decide is crucial. If cars come upon you too quickly they will pass you before deciding to give you a lift.

Time of day - You know those funny commercials with people driving at night and there's an axe murderer trying to hitch a ride? That's what you look like if you're hitching when it's dark out. Especially with a 4 month beard going. So make sure it's light out when trying to get a ride. I always tried to sleep within a mile of a road into town (sometimes right there), hitch in in the morning, do my thing, and hitch out after getting lunch and I could still put in a good 8-10 miles that day if I wasn't taking a zero.

Alone or with others - This is the one that sparks the most debate. Is someone more willing to give a lone hiker a lift as opposed to a group? A group usually comes off as less threatening, but if the driver doesn't have enough room for all of you that's a ride you could've gotten solo. I don't have a recommendation on this one, but I will say that when I was with a group of 3 other hikers (Jackrabbit, Sasquatch, and Tetris) we'd do a synchronized hitching dance that almost guaranteed us a ride within 10 minutes. Lastly, if you're a guy and can get a girl hiker to try to flag a ride with you, that's a surefire way to speed up the process.

jbwood5
03-27-2013, 16:56
I had a heck of time hitching into Wallingford, VT last year, even after walking up the road and standing a few hundred feet in front of the turn in to the trail parking lot. After a half hour, I gave up and started walking in with a bum foot. I was soaking my feet in a roadside stream when a guy pulled over to take a piss. I asked him for a ride and he took me to the PO, although he seemed a little nervous at first. I ended up taking a cab back to the trail. The normal shuttler was not available that day and his sign at the parking lot stated that his availability was hit or miss when you called for his services.

Tipi Walter
03-27-2013, 17:06
Time of day and location, as you show, are important. I always like to get an early start cuz you just don't know how long you'll be standing on the road.

Another point---If you get bored or there's no traffic whatever, START WALKING and when you hear a car coming turn around and thumb. Walking is alot better in my mind than just standing around.

I only hitch nowadays on backpacking trips when my shuttle ride can't get me due to icy roads and snow. Hitching in the snow is Incredibly Easy as anyone out driving is giddy with the storm---or crazy.

Also---fold up your hiking pole(s) and stow them in the pack. Much easier to get into and out of cars. Plus, often pickup trucks will want you to throw your pack in the back so make sure you have your wallet/money/credit cards with you in case they drive off.

Alone or Not? Well, here it where it gets fun. Many times I hitched with a woman (thru Virginia/NC/TN---Shenandoahs, etc) and it's much easier generally speaking. Or not, all depending on the scrunched up faces behind the wheels and whether it's possible these barking lizards have a heart, etc etc. In other words, you'll get mighty frustrated at times. How many cars going by does it take before you lose your faith in humanity? A hundred? A thousand? How many does it take to get your humanity restored? Just one.

And don't forget the gun play. The 2 guns I had pulled on me were only to show they meant business and expected no foolishness. The first guy was friendly enough and I got in. The other group of three were waving a pistol and it was nearly dusk and I waved them off and got spooked so I told them like a goofy motard that I was actually supposed to be going the OPPOSITE WAY and was standing on the wrong side of the road. They thought I was nuts and took off. Moral: Know when to bail. I slept in the treeline by the road and tried again in the morning.

On my last backpacking trip (March 2013) I was connecting trails on a long roadwalk and wasn't even hitching when a guy stopped and offered me a ride and heck yes I took it. Sometimes the pavement smiles. Sometimes not. One time a woman passed by and pulled over up ahead. I walked by and she gave me $5 and said "bless you". But she didn't give me a ride.

jbwood5
03-27-2013, 17:23
If your hiking with a gal (gal and guy hiking together), it is best for the guy to be out of site until the last minute :). Your chances are better, but the driver still might take off as soon as he see the 2nd person. It must be something about the guys' months of beard growth that makes it tougher. Maybe not so much along certain trail friendly areas, but that is a hitchhiking trick I see all too often.

jdc5294
03-27-2013, 17:31
If your hiking with a gal (gal and guy hiking together), it is best for the guy to be out of site until the last minute :). Your chances are better, but the driver still might take off as soon as he see the 2nd person. It must be something about the guys' months of beard growth that makes it tougher. Maybe not so much along certain trail friendly areas, but that is a hitchhiking trick I see all too often.
Ooooh, that's low. Maybe it's just because I'm a hiker but I'd view a couple who pulled that in a less favorable light then a couple who stood out there together.

Lone Wolf
03-27-2013, 17:35
Ooooh, that's low. Maybe it's just because I'm a hiker but I'd view a couple who pulled that in a less favorable light then a couple who stood out there together.

i'm with ya. i bet i've hitched more than anyone on here and never would have hid while a gal hitched. i never had problems gettin' a ride

10-K
03-27-2013, 17:35
My rules for hitching into town from the trail:

1. Don't leave the immediate vicinity of the trailhead and if possible hitch right where the trail meets the road.

2. Make sure that a car has room to pull over and get back on the road without the chance of getting in a wreck if they decide to pick you up.

3. Take off my hat and sunglasses if I'm wearing either so they can see my face.

4. Wave at cars that don't appear to be stopping. I don't mean I jump up and down and wave my arms and act like an idiot - just a friendly wave. More than once a car that was not going to stop, stopped.

jdc5294
03-27-2013, 17:40
My rules for hitching into town from the trail:

1. Don't leave the immediate vicinity of the trailhead and if possible hitch right where the trail meets the road.

2. Make sure that a car has room to pull over and get back on the road without the chance of getting in a wreck if they decide to pick you up.

3. Take off my hat and sunglasses if I'm wearing either so they can see my face.

4. Wave at cars that don't appear to be stopping. I don't mean I jump up and down and wave my arms and act like an idiot - just a friendly wave. More than once a car that was not going to stop, stopped.
I disagree with #1 if it violates the Location rule, if you need to move to get to a better place then by all means do it even if it's a half mile down the road. But to all the rest, yes definitely.

Tipi Walter
03-27-2013, 17:41
If your hiking with a gal (gal and guy hiking together), it is best for the guy to be out of site until the last minute :). Your chances are better, but the driver still might take off as soon as he see the 2nd person. It must be something about the guys' months of beard growth that makes it tougher. Maybe not so much along certain trail friendly areas, but that is a hitchhiking trick I see all too often.


Ooooh, that's low. Maybe it's just because I'm a hiker but I'd view a couple who pulled that in a less favorable light then a couple who stood out there together.

jbwood5 probably says it in jest as it's not a technique I would ever use. You can't go sneaking up or surprising the rolling couch potatoes---they are a very fickle bunch with blowfish heads and pin eyes. It's best to stay put as a couple on the road and get an honest ride.

Cookerhiker
03-27-2013, 17:48
...3. Take off my hat and sunglasses ...

All good advice. My only addition to expand on this one: if you're wearing a bandana on your head or forehead, lose it.

10-K
03-27-2013, 17:49
It's okay to disagree but that's how I do it. :)

Tipi Walter
03-27-2013, 17:51
My rules for hitching into town from the trail:

1. Don't leave the immediate vicinity of the trailhead and if possible hitch right where the trail meets the road.

2. Make sure that a car has room to pull over and get back on the road without the chance of getting in a wreck if they decide to pick you up.

3. Take off my hat and sunglasses if I'm wearing either so they can see my face.

4. Wave at cars that don't appear to be stopping. I don't mean I jump up and down and wave my arms and act like an idiot - just a friendly wave. More than once a car that was not going to stop, stopped.

#1 sounds good until after about 2 hours and you'll start walking. It all depends on how bad you gotta be at your destination. If it's critical then you'll walk the whole way if need be. Screw the cars. Especially if none of them stop. One time I had to hitch Route 209 in NC to get to Hot Springs and the AT on a 35 mile stretch of road. I never did get a ride and ended up walking most of the 35 miles---there was very little traffic---and I camped off the side of the road on farm land. Gotta keep moving, folks.

#3 sounds good too until you stand bare headed without shades for 500 cars and then you just say fug it and put them back on and immediately get a ride. As noted, fickle bunch. There's no rhyme or reason. Which is why an early morning start is important.

Tipi Walter
03-27-2013, 18:00
And then there's the DEAD ZONE, or the Doldrums, whereby you are standing on an Interstate trying to get to the trail but no one will stop. This happened once on I-40 where a friend and I spent 2 full days hitching one section of the Interstate and never did get a ride. We figured around 40,000 cars went by. It gave me the opportunity to re-read the Bhagavad-Gita on the pavement and later set up camp in a tree line off the road. If we waved at all the cars that did not stop, as per 10-K's example, well, we would've looked like 2 bonobo monkeys after a texas pete enema.

Mountain Mike
03-27-2013, 18:01
Make a sign out of Tyveck "Hiker to town/trail" Maybe AT logo on it. It can be your groundcloth or a sit pad while hiking.

rocketsocks
03-27-2013, 18:03
As noted, fickle bunch.This is my take, i've been picked up by people I would not have expected ie, and entire family, kids and all...And people I had picked for a potential ride ie, old farmer in a pick em up truck...cruised on by.

10-K
03-27-2013, 18:04
Of course there are exceptions to everything....

Obviously you can't just stand where the trail meets the road 100% of the time. My point was that as long as you're standing near the trail you look like a hiker to a local. If you're just in some random spot on the highway you could be a vagrant.

And there'll be times when you're going to need to start walking because the odds of getting a ride are less than the odds of reaching your destination by foot.

Hitchhiking is 50% luck at least. A bad hitchhiker can get a ride if the right car comes along a lot quicker than a good hitchhiker can get a ride if they don't.

rocketsocks
03-27-2013, 18:09
And then there's the DEAD ZONE, or the Doldrums, whereby you are standing on an Interstate trying to get to the trail but no one will stop. This happened once on I-40 where a friend and I spent 2 full days hitching one section of the Interstate and never did get a ride. We figured around 40,000 cars went by. It gave me the opportunity to re-read the Bhagavad-Gita on the pavement and later set up camp in a tree line off the road. If we waved at all the cars that did not stop, as per 10-K's example, well, we would've looked like 2 bonobo monkeys after a texas pete enema.I had to look it up....

10-K
03-27-2013, 18:11
And then there's the DEAD ZONE, or the Doldrums, whereby you are standing on an Interstate trying to get to the trail but no one will stop. This happened once on I-40 where a friend and I spent 2 full days hitching one section of the Interstate and never did get a ride. We figured around 40,000 cars went by. It gave me the opportunity to re-read the Bhagavad-Gita on the pavement and later set up camp in a tree line off the road. If we waved at all the cars that did not stop, as per 10-K's example, well, we would've looked like 2 bonobo monkeys after a texas pete enema.

They probably took one look at that big ol pack of your and said ***...

Donde
03-27-2013, 18:14
Shaving once in awhile can increase your odds.

Tipi Walter
03-27-2013, 18:20
Shaving once in awhile can increase your odds.

You're right, the woman I was with did not shave her legs.

SawnieRobertson
03-27-2013, 18:59
A video of your synchronized dance would be helpful. And humorous?

SOBO_Pace
03-27-2013, 19:20
Make a sign out of Tyveck "Hiker to town/trail" Maybe AT logo on it. It can be your groundcloth or a sit pad while hiking.

+1. On more than 1 occasion I had cars turn around and give me a lift the opposite way they were going.

jdc5294
03-27-2013, 19:24
A video of your synchronized dance would be helpful. And humorous?

Pull-start engine motion while making the thumbs up gesture all in sync.

fiddlehead
03-27-2013, 20:54
Just happened to write in my blog the 3 days ago about the best hitch I ever had:
http://fiddlehead.wordpress.com/2013/03/22/jamming-with-the-aboriginals-in-oz/

Lone Wolf
03-27-2013, 21:02
Shaving once in awhile can increase your odds.

i disagree. i was on the AT for 14 years straight. always had long hair and a full beard. never had a problem gettin' a ride

RCBear
03-27-2013, 22:42
Gas, Grass, or Ass...no one rides for free.

... except Lone Wolf. Lone Wolf always rides for free.

Don H
03-28-2013, 05:51
Had someone pick me up in NH who told me that the locals know you're a hiker if you're wearing your pack. If it's sitting beside you they think it's a duffle bag and relate that to a homeless person. The locals are more likely to pick up hikers. Anyone else heard of this?

yellowsirocco
03-28-2013, 06:49
Had someone pick me up in NH who told me that the locals know you're a hiker if you're wearing your pack. If it's sitting beside you they think it's a duffle bag and relate that to a homeless person. The locals are more likely to pick up hikers. Anyone else heard of this?
I always prop up my pack so it looks nice. I don't have the patience to keep wearing it.

Bronk
03-28-2013, 07:05
Gas, Grass, or Ass...no one rides for free.

... except Lone Wolf. Lone Wolf always rides for free.



They used to make a Lone Wolf brand of toilet paper, but it wouldn't take crap from anybody.

leaftye
03-28-2013, 09:05
Hitchhiking on the interstate is generally illegal, so that certainly wouldn't have helped. The speed of passing cars makes it difficult even for drivers that wouldn't care about the legality. Going to an on ramp would help with both of those issues. State highways are generally legal.

My tip is to be skinny or limp. I guess being a thick powerful looking man scares off potential hitches. It's another reason to go on a diet before a hike. Being in visible pain seems to help overcome this. Two of my quickest solo hitches were when I finally started walking, limping, toward town...as long as you ignore the long period of time that I was ignored standing with my thumb out.

10-K
03-28-2013, 09:16
Hitchhiking on the interstate is generally illegal, so that certainly wouldn't have helped. The speed of passing cars makes it difficult even for drivers that wouldn't care about the legality. Going to an on ramp would help with both of those issues. State highways are generally legal.

My tip is to be skinny or limp. I guess being a thick powerful looking man scares off potential hitches. It's another reason to go on a diet before a hike. Being in visible pain seems to help overcome this. Two of my quickest solo hitches were when I finally started walking, limping, toward town...as long as you ignore the long period of time that I was ignored standing with my thumb out.

Also I think 2 people trying to get a ride the same time lowers your odds of getting picked up, especially if a driver doesn't have another passenger.

Pedaling Fool
03-28-2013, 09:25
Just get one of these and you're guaranteed a ride.


http://www.forkparty.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/sexy-hitch-hikers-8-580x443.jpg (http://www.forkparty.com/28950/20-sexy-hitchhikers-you-wouldnt-drive-by-gallery/sexy-hitch-hikers-8)

Wise Old Owl
03-28-2013, 09:34
http://i.myniceprofile.com/478/47831.gifWow - someone straighten my feathers...

Teacher & Snacktime
03-28-2013, 09:34
There's another forum post up call "What kind of knife do you carry?" Any chance these two posts are related? (not a fan of hitchhiking, can you tell?)

1azarus
03-28-2013, 09:40
Had someone pick me up in NH who told me that the locals know you're a hiker if you're wearing your pack. If it's sitting beside you they think it's a duffle bag and relate that to a homeless person. The locals are more likely to pick up hikers. Anyone else heard of this?

glad to see you offer this suggestion. i always try to look like a hiker when trying to get a ride. if I am walking, as suggested by TeePeeW, I'll stop as a car approaches and stand sideways so my pack is visible... or if standing still, i'll hold the pack and my poles in front of me so they are in sight. It also does help to be short, skinny and old, but that is another story.

an interesting question is -- does TeePeeW get a ride faster because, looking at his pack, he is clearly a very serious backpacker, while the gram weenie with a teenie pack looks like a day-hiking metro-walker?

10-K
03-28-2013, 10:04
glad to see you offer this suggestion. i always try to look like a hiker when trying to get a ride. if I am walking, as suggested by TeePeeW, I'll stop as a car approaches and stand sideways so my pack is visible... or if standing still, i'll hold the pack and my poles in front of me so they are in sight. It also does help to be short, skinny and old, but that is another story.

an interesting question is -- does TeePeeW get a ride faster because, looking at his pack, he is clearly a very serious backpacker, while the gram weenie with a teenie pack looks like a day-hiking metro-walker?

They just know that you might have had a catastrophic headlamp failure and have mercy on you... :)

Wise Old Owl
03-28-2013, 10:13
There's another forum post up call "What kind of knife do you carry?" Any chance these two posts are related? (not a fan of hitchhiking, can you tell?)

http://www.blessedquietness.com/catconspiracy.jpg

Dogwood
03-28-2013, 13:15
Gotta love it when some includes a colored diagram of where to hitch. "Bad Hitcher" "Good hitcher." love it.

Dogwood
03-28-2013, 13:21
John, if I had one of those I would abandon the hitchhiking idea altogether. Other things would be on my mind.

Tipi Walter
03-28-2013, 13:28
John, if I had one of those I would abandon the hitchhiking idea altogether. Other things would be on my mind.

Yes, but afterwards there's henpecking, no trips, gear sold, divorce court, writs and decrees and affidavits, lawyer fees, dead-beat Dad jail time and you'll right back where you started---on the road hitching. Alone.

Dogwood
03-28-2013, 13:35
And then there's the DEAD ZONE, or the Doldrums, whereby you are standing on an Interstate trying to get to the trail but no one will stop. This happened once on I-40 where a friend and I spent 2 full days hitching one section of the Interstate and never did get a ride. We figured around 40,000 cars went by. It gave me the opportunity to re-read the Bhagavad-Gita on the pavement and later set up camp in a tree line off the road. If we waved at all the cars that did not stop, as per 10-K's example, well, we would've looked like 2 bonobo monkeys after a texas pete enema.

I wouldn't have waited two days. Only so much Bhagavad-Gita I can take in one sitting. I would have smeared some hot sauce on my knee, layed down on the Interstate on ramp road, MADE cars to stop, and when asked, "do you need help, what's the matter?" I would say I need to go that way for medical attention having them drop me off where I wanted to go. Oh, I'd offer $5 for go go juice too.

10-K is used to waving at every car that passes. Ever see those people dressed up as Chickens or the Statue of Liberty dancing around on the side of the road. That's 10-K incognito making some spare money for his next hike. :D

leaftye
03-28-2013, 14:38
^ Some ramps on I-40 are two days apart.

10-K
03-28-2013, 14:43
10-K is used to waving at every car that passes. Ever see those people dressed up as Chickens or the Statue of Liberty dancing around on the side of the road. That's 10-K incognito making some spare money for his next hike. :D

I get it honest.... I grew up in rural north Georgia and drivers pretty much waved at each other when their cars passed.

Of course we used to get in the car Sunday and just ride around, often stopping at one of my parent's friends house to visit. I don't think it's cool to just drop in on someone anymore...

Malto
03-28-2013, 15:28
1) be visible.
2) have a place for the car to pull off, make it easy.
3) look like a hiker. Have pack visible.
4) don't look like a grubby hiker. Take off sunglasses bandanas, put on your dress clothes.
5) be friendly, wave. I have had folks pass, reconsider and come back to give a ride for the first time in their life.
6) humor. I found that a funny pathetic pleading look is the most effective.

Donde
03-28-2013, 17:38
i disagree. i was on the AT for 14 years straight. always had long hair and a full beard. never had a problem gettin' a ride

Well based on my one brief encounter with you in 2010, I will attribute that to my beard being vastly inferior to yours.

Dogwood
03-28-2013, 22:52
Yes, but afterwards there's henpecking, no trips, gear sold, divorce court, writs and decrees and affidavits, lawyer fees, dead-beat Dad jail time and you'll right back where you started---on the road hitching. Alone.

I have two things to say that will avoid ALL that. Avoid marriage and take your backpack on all dates.

Tipi Walter
03-29-2013, 08:42
I have two things to say that will avoid ALL that. Avoid marriage and take your backpack on all dates.

Which is to say Avoid Reproduction which may prove impossible in John Gault's example.

magic_game03
03-29-2013, 09:23
best hitching trick ever if your having a hard time getting a ride.

Make a 2-sided sign with your destination on one side and a destination in the opposite direction on the other side of the sign. So, for example you are in North Carolina but you want to go to New York. On one side of your sign you have "New York" and on the other you have "Florida." Now, go stand on the north bound onramp and show the "Florida" side. People who think you have the intention of going the opposite direction have no problem being a good samaritan by slowing their speed and rolling down the window to tell you that you are on the wrong side, that you need to be on the other on ramp. Look confused. when they come to a stop to explain your dilemma to you, you can flip over the sign and say "oops, I had the wrong side showing." People aren't stupid so they will get the fact that they have just been had but if they were good enough to stop in the first place then their good samaritan instincts will inevitability force them to give you a ride.

Remember kids, getting them to stop is 99% of the trick.

Chaco Taco
03-30-2013, 07:13
Thumb up nice and high and make sure you smile....no one wants to pick up someone that looks miserable

coach lou
03-30-2013, 07:45
Thumb up nice and high and make sure you smile....no one wants to pick up someone that looks miserable

:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:sun

Dogwood
03-30-2013, 08:21
Which is to say Avoid Reproduction which may prove impossible in John Gault's example.

You may call it REPRODUCTION, and that may be the goal, I would call it something else and, quite to the contrary, not have reproduction as the goal.:D Think she had to wait long for a ride?