What's The Longest You Waited When Hitching?

[Chair-man]

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]

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]

I walked 7 of the 8 miles into Andover, Maine. First car that passed us gave us a ride.

[kayak karl]

5 minutes. walked 2.7 miles to resupply once.

[Chair-man]

5 minutes. walked 2.7 miles to resupply once.

If you don't mind me asking, how many time have you hitched? Hundreds?

[4shot]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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.




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[ATSeamstress]

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]

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]

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]

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/entr...nington-Part-1

I call that pretty fast service!

[Jeff]

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 !!!!