Your Most Memorable Hitch

[Cookerhiker]

Man - too many good ones to list just one.

1. 1982 - hitching in the White Mountains from Crawford Notch back to Pinkham after a section hike. My ride was a NH state legislator. I still remember his name: Harold Burns. Of course I was aware then that the statistical odds weren't that inprobably since NH's state legislature is the 3rd most populous in the world. Yes, that's right - the world!
2. Fall of 2002 - doing a dayhike between Cheshire & Dalton. It was a weekday. Parked the car in Dalton figuring it would take forever to get a ride. You know the paradox: where there's lots of traffic in settled areas, you're less likely to get a ride especially when it's pouring rain. I waited less 5 minutes when a Trail volunteer picked me up and took me all the way to my starting point.
3. Fall of 2003 - hitching on Rt.7 in CT. Waited for over an hour when a car finally stopped. The young guy was friendly with a friendly dog. I could barely fit into the car besides all the stuff - I wondered if he was homeless. Of course I didn't ask nor (I think) betray anything but the driver mentioned that he lived in the car. And he had gotten the dog in California after he hitched across the country. He said the homeward hitch was much easier because people felt sorry for the dog!
4. Spring of '05 - needed a hitch from Hughes Gap, TN, a very desolate stretch of road. The second car that came by proved to be my Trail Angel - she took me all the way to Mountain Harbor B&B.
5. Also Spring of '05 - needed a ride down VA Rt. 42 to begin the hike over Chestnut Knob. The driver took me 30 miles out of his way.
6. JMT hike in '06 - I ended the hike early and hiked to the nearest road in Sequoia NP where a couple took me all the way to the AMTRAK station in Fresno.

[guitboxdude25]

My dad once picked up Jerry Garcia in Tennessee, he was pushing his bike up a mountain. Jerry invited him back up to the lodge to hang out with the band and party but my dad had not believed him.

my most memorable hitch was my first one- on the AT, I needed a ride to hiawassee-my first stop. I got to it and didnt see any cars, but the second I put my thumb up a car came around the corner-the first one-and picked me up. Nice guy, mid 20s id say, the "loner type". Had a nice talk about life and stuff.

[Tipi Walter]

Hm, Sam's Gap (TN, I think).

We decided to hitch to the gas station/little store for lunch. It was hot, and I wasn't thrilled about it slowing down our day. The four of us, plus dog, decided to give it like 20 minutes, at about 18 minutes of waiting, the first car we saw on the road came toward us, and I jumped up, being the only girl. So, two people, guy driver, and androgynous other human, in a pick-up stopped for us. The bed was completely full of lumber, so our hiker with dog sat in the bed, on top of the wood, and held the dog and our 4 packs. The other three of us crammed in the truck after moving the chainsaw, and the case of beer. Driver was smoking a joint, and passenger was holding the shotgun between the seats. They stopped at their house to drop off the gun on the way. Cause, "you get caught with weed once, and the cops are all over ya." So, he didn't want to get pulled over for having our friend in the truck bed on top of a pile of lumber.. and get nailed for having a gun in the truck. Nevermind, the joint in hand and the open case of beer.

Turns out androgynous human was a very effeminate dude with dreadlocks. Wow, interesting ride.

This good story reminds me of some of my hitchhiking stories:

** I was hitching out of Blowing Rock NC and got to the interstate and was picked up by a guy in a van. He really wanted me to have a big clear plastic bag of marijuana seeds and kept shoving them in my hand but I didn't want them and told him so. My pack was big enough already.

** Somewhere in VA an off-duty cop picked me up and he had a handgun on the seat next to him under a newspaper and he stayed nervous and kept fidgeting with the paper, his right hand always free and ready. Weird.

** Another time I was headed to Washington DC on I81 and got picked up by a lawyer and his felon client just released from prison. The lawyer drove over 80mph(I know, I looked), and while he did so he would turn around in his seat to talk to me, then his car would veer nearly off the road and one time it almost went under an 18 wheeler. Just let me out! I got dropped off in DC and then the fun began. Has anyone hitchhiked the Beltway around DC? It ain't fun.

** Another time I was hitching out of Union Grove NC on a Sunday morning after a powwow and had my full pack. Not long on I77 an older guy in a pickup truck stopped and I threw my pack in the back. As we were riding north, out of nowhere he said, "Do you still have sex?"
I said, "Uh, sometimes." Then he said, "Do you want to have sex?" And I said, "Uh, no, there's too many diseases out there." And he said, "Well, we could use condoms." Finally, I said "HEY! I just want a ride!"
What's weird is that I got the same feeling from a born again Christian who picked me up to "save me" about one year earlier as I did from the cruising homosexual. These types will give you a ride, sure, but they've got something more in mind.

** One time I was hitching thru Spruce Pine NC and a guy stopped and I ran over to his car. Just as I grabbed the door handle I saw him pointing a chrome plated .38 pistol at my face and the muzzle opening looked about 2 feet wide and I quickly back-pedaled behind and away. He put it in reverse and rolled down the window and said, "Hey, get in, I just carry this gun to let people know not to do anything funny." I got in and it turned out he was a retired newspaper reporter from a Syracuse paper and was given the gun for his retirement. I remember throwing my heavy ALICE backpack in the backseat right on top of the pistol and thought, "I hope that thing doesn't go off!"

** One time I was hitching with Bebe and we were near Wilkesboro NC and an old beat up car pulled over and it was way overloaded with people already, but they were nice enough to stop. The driver was a white 300lb woman with a little kid standing next to her by the shifter. In the passenger seat was a 300lb black woman with a kid in her lap. Here's where it gets interesting. In the back seat were 3 huge black guys who all looked like Laurence Taylor, the pro football player, and they filled out the back seat completely. I looked into the car and thought, "There's no way we'll fit", but Bebe squeezed in and I squeezed in and we piled our 2 big backpacks on the laps and into the faces of the guys in the back, along with us. A bit tight.

** Another time I was hitching with Donna on the Blue Ridge Parkway around Linville Gorge and we were on our way to Mt Rogers and Grayson Highlands in VA. A fanatic Parkway cop in a Jeep pulled over and told us hitching is not allowed and the cretin kicked us off the Parkway! It was alright for 40 foot RVs and screaming racing motorcycles but not for hitchhikers. We had to walk several miles to get to another hitchable road.

** Another time I was on I40 somewhere near Asheville and for two full days I could not get a ride. I stood on the pavement and 40,000 cars must've gone by before I finally got picked up. The first day it got dark and I set up camp a couple hundred yards away in a treeline and then in the morning my bad luck started all over again.

** One time I was on Hiway 54 going out of Chapel Hill NC and stood on the shoulder and spent several hours waiting for a ride. Finally, 3 guys in a pickup stopped and the guy in the middle waved around his pistol and said to jump in the back of the truck. When I saw the gun and since it was almost dusk, I got a bad feeling about it and hemmed and hawed: "Uh, you guys won't believe this but I'm actually supposed to be going IN THE OTHER DIRECTION. I got on the wrong side of the road!" They thought I was nuts and took off and at nightfall I had no choice but to leave the road and set up my tent for the night in a nearby treeline.

** One of the strangest went like this: I was on a backpacking trip into Pisgah NF with some friends and was swimming and sat on a rock to get some sun when a woman Outward Bound leader passed by with 8 or 10 backpackers on a guided trip. We talked and the leader was friendly and interesting and then she took off with her group. A year later I was hitching North on I81 in VA and a woman stops to pick me up and it's the same Outward Bound instructor. Wow.

** One time I was hitching out of the Cherokee Indian reservation at the Cherokee Village and a white guy picked me up in a nice new Corvette. We got to talking and he turned out to be a store owner in the tourist trap that is the small town of Cherokee. He said white ownership of their businesses was the best thing to ever happen to the Cherokees. I almost puked. What you have to put up with for a ride.

** Another time I was on Hiway 64/74 by Waynesville NC and got dropped off at the Lake Junaluska exit and wanted to hitch to Hot Springs and the AT on Hiway 209, a little rural country road with little traffic. So little traffic that dangit I never did catch a ride and for 2 days and nearly 35 miles I stayed on 209 to Hot Springs. I passed thru little places called "Trust" and "Luck" and a place called "Beck's Overlook" where I set up the tent for the night. About 4 miles from Hot Springs I finally got a ride with a guy in a bread truck.

** Finally, my last hitch was in December of 2009(last month)after a 15 day backpacking trip and the roads were snowed over and my ride couldn't get to me so I stuck out the old faithful thumb and in 2 cars had my ride. I've done alot of hitching in snowstorms and blizzards and gotta say it's the best time to catch a ride. People are very helpful during snowstorms and cold snaps. I even had my dog with me.

[Flush2wice]

Attachment 7884
do bulls have thumbs?

[Jim Adams]

I was hitching to get back to Pawling, N.Y. after the WW Canoe Nationals during my 1990 thru. Needed to go from one interstate highway to another somewhere near Scranton, Pa. The driver dropped me off at my exit and I walked up the ramp toward the next interstate highway when I realized that I can't hitch on the interstates, only on the ramps so I stood there and hitched for 5 hours until it got dark and still didn't get a ride. I crossed the ramp and walked down into a small grove of trees in the center of the cloverleaf intersection and set up my tarp. Camped over night in that cloverleaf and actually slept quite well. Awoke in the morning in time for the rush hour traffic and got a ride in about 15 minutes. One of the strangest campsites that I've had.

geek

[Tipi Walter]

I was hitching to get back to Pawling, N.Y. after the WW Canoe Nationals during my 1990 thru. Needed to go from one interstate highway to another somewhere near Scranton, Pa. The driver dropped me off at my exit and I walked up the ramp toward the next interstate highway when I realized that I can't hitch on the interstates, only on the ramps so I stood there and hitched for 5 hours until it got dark and still didn't get a ride. I crossed the ramp and walked down into a small grove of trees in the center of the cloverleaf intersection and set up my tarp. Camped over night in that cloverleaf and actually slept quite well. Awoke in the morning in time for the rush hour traffic and got a ride in about 15 minutes. One of the strangest campsites that I've had.

geek

I fudged quit a bit on the "ramp only" rule, in fact I never used the ramp for interstate hitching, sorted scooted along further past the ramp to be seen by everyone. Oh, and I just thought of another one:

** I was hitching out of Winston-Salem NC and a woman stopped on the side of the road and gave me a 5 dollar bill and said "God bless you" and then took off. No ride, though.

[Downunda]

Geek, In 2002 I spent the night with you and a number of older ladies in a shelter just south of the Kennebec River crossing. I remember it well as it was very crowded and as you with the guy who previously hiked the AT with a cat how could I forget.

[stranger]

We were hitching out after breakfast and we heard beeping from a car then heard it slam on the breaks, it was on a different road to where we were standing but they could see us.

We got in the car and it reeked of booze (10am or so!) then as we start swerving up towards the trail the driver asks me my name, so I say Stranger, and he says, Stranger reach under the seat and grab me another beer, so I reach under the seat and find the warm beer and hand it to him. He drinks it in about 90 seconds.

I remember it well, good times!

[Wise Old Owl]

my thumb was out and a motorbike (150 cc) stopped... that was fun, I prefer a bigger bike.....

[Jim Adams]

Geek, In 2002 I spent the night with you and a number of older ladies in a shelter just south of the Kennebec River crossing. I remember it well as it was very crowded and as you with the guy who previously hiked the AT with a cat how could I forget.

Yes, I remember...can't remember the name of the shelter though...mental block but it was the second shelter south of the Kennebec. It was quite crowded...Do remember Bliss was one of the women there....had such a secret crush on her the whole way up the trail but she was married.LOL
Good to hear from you!

geek

[Tipi Walter]

my thumb was out and a motorbike (150 cc) stopped... that was fun, I prefer a bigger bike.....

I used to have a motorcycle and once picked up a hitchhiker on the side of the road, always had an extra helmet strapped on the back. I knew he wouldn't try to mess with me from the back.

One time when I had my 1984 Datsun pickup truck I stopped for a hitchhiker outside Boone NC and it was an old homeless type guy, probably a drunk, and he got into the passenger seat and we were off. Unfortunately, I just got some free books from a goodwill store and put them on the floor by his feet and one of them was on Human Anatomy and the cover showed a human femur bone and an open human chest. His eyes got big and he started to freak out.

[Cookerhiker]

Forgot to mention the 2 rides from "Born again" Christians who probably picked me up so they could proselytize. One was on US 58 east of Damascus; he picked me up around the Grayson Highlands entrance. The other wasn't literally a hitch. I was waiting to take AMTRAK from Harpers Ferry back to Cumberland after my C&O Canal bike ride and this guy asked me for directions and then subsequently offered me a ride. I greatly appreciated his gesture in that it saved me time and $$$

So sure enough, it didn't take long on either ride for the evangelizing to start. Now I'm not averse at all to talking religion and as a person of faith, I've read and studied much of the Bible. I like talking religion. But that wasn't good enough for these guys - I had to believe their way and use their language e.g. "born again" and "saved." Apparently my role was to listen to them, agree with them, and only talk if I used their language of affirmation.

What sort-of bothered me and also amused me was both of these guys displayed some ignorance of the very Scriptures they were pushing. I won't go into details here but suffice to say I (politely) raised some points that totally went over their head; their reactions indicated to me that they weren't familiar with the passages I cited even though they weren't some obsure Old Testament rant; they were from the Gospels.

[ShelterLeopard]

Great thread! I've never yet actually hitched. I've been offered rides several times, by day hikers who were headed back down to their cars, which I gladly accepted. (I must have that "I need a ride or I may get hit by a car" look... Hmmm... gonna have to play that one up.)

Though one time, I did try to get a ride from Lehigh Gap to Palmerton, and stood there for ten minutes, and finally gave up.

I'm sure I'll do plenty of hitching on my upcoming thru though!

[Buzz_Lightfoot]

Great stories everyone. Thanks for sharing!

[Grampie]

During my thru I was hiking with Shepherd. We stopped at the Blue Ridge Resturant at Ashby Gap and decided to go into Winchester to find a motel to get a shower and spend the night. While in the resturant we got approached by a guy who had been drinking, and asked us if he could give us a ride somewhere. We left and went outside to his car. It was a old Toyota, banged up on every side. He told us to get into the back seat and take our packs because his trunk was full. On entering the car there was another guy asleep in the front seat. We could just about fit in the back seat. The door would not stay closed and he said that I would have to hold it shut. His friend awoke and offered us a drink from a bottle of booze. We declined. As we left the parking lot he swerved to miss a parked car I could just about hold the door closed. As we continued down the road he was from one side to the other ofter turning around to talk to us. Shepherd and I both thought that we would be in a accident before too long at the rate we were going. We approached a gas station and asked if we could get out. They stopped and we jumped out and they left in a cloud of dust.

[fredmugs]

October 2007 I was planning a SOBO section from Rockfish Gap to Troutville. I met a guy on here and we swapped cars so I was hiking back to my own vehicle. I didn't realize that the entire area had been under a drought all summer or that the temps in Oct would be in the upper 80s. As I was driving to my start point I rescued two hikers who were laying out in the road on VA 56. They had come down off the Priest but not on the AT. I picked them up and took them to the Dutch Haus.

I made it to the Dutch Haus no problem but then the heat and lack of water hit me. I had heat exhaustion and was forcing myself to eat. I don;t think I was eating 1,000 calories a day. I managed to get to the Johns Hollow shelter in 2 days from the Dutch Haus and I was hurting. The guy I swapped cars with was there and he said he had to get off the trail because of a death in the family. I told him lets go down to Hwy 501 and see if we can get a ride into town.

We hit the parking area on 501 and I looked up and said "Look, there's an RV." I stuck out my thumb and the guy stopped. We got in and found out he was a Canadien just driving around the US in a rental. He agreed to give us a ride out to the interstate but then we found out he was heading to the Smokies and he gave us a ride all the way back to my car. How F#$%ing lucky is that?

By the time I gave the other guy a ride back to his car at Rockfish I had receoved and we hit that Chinese Buffet in Waynesboro and tore it up.

[Summit]

Forgot to mention the 2 rides from "Born again" Christians who probably picked me up so they could proselytize. One was on US 58 east of Damascus; he picked me up around the Grayson Highlands entrance. The other wasn't literally a hitch. I was waiting to take AMTRAK from Harpers Ferry back to Cumberland after my C&O Canal bike ride and this guy asked me for directions and then subsequently offered me a ride. I greatly appreciated his gesture in that it saved me time and $$$

So sure enough, it didn't take long on either ride for the evangelizing to start. Now I'm not averse at all to talking religion and as a person of faith, I've read and studied much of the Bible. I like talking religion. But that wasn't good enough for these guys - I had to believe their way and use their language e.g. "born again" and "saved." Apparently my role was to listen to them, agree with them, and only talk if I used their language of affirmation.

What sort-of bothered me and also amused me was both of these guys displayed some ignorance of the very Scriptures they were pushing. I won't go into details here but suffice to say I (politely) raised some points that totally went over their head; their reactions indicated to me that they weren't familiar with the passages I cited even though they weren't some obsure Old Testament rant; they were from the Gospels.

Unfortunately, there is a lot of bad witnessing by well-meaning Christians. My pastor speaks and warns of this quite frequently. Doesn't render the gospel wrong . . . just misrepresented, and certainly can and does do more harm than good!

[Lucy Lulu]

My stories pale in comparison to some of these, but they are some of the most memorable parts of my hikes.

1) On the AT, and picked up by 3 teens in a flatbead going into Andover, ME I believe. I sat in the back and held on to the spare tire chained to the cab for dear life. I swear we were on 2 wheels a couple of times. I leaped off at the first stop sign, and let them know what I thought of the ride.

2) On the PCT I headed down Jaw Bone Canyon Road (I believe that was the name) to get around a wildfire outside of Tehachapi, CA. The trail was closed, and I could see the smoke billowing upwards, so I headed down the dirt road. Hours later I was picked up by two native american (I think Piute) women at a crossroads right at dark. They were coming back from a 50 mile beer run. I crawled into an old pick-up filled with cigarettes and beer cans, was told to sit in the middle, hold the baby, pass the cigarette over, and hold on b/c there were no breaks. I believe we accelerated straight to Warp 8!

I was told they would take me back to "civilization the following day (it was around 9PM already when they picked me up). We went to the double wide they were moving in the dark b/c they did not want to get a permit, had dinner around midnight, and then I slept in another trailer on the floor covered by about 30 cats.

On the way up to Walker Pass the next day, there were flash floods, and we had to come back for another night. Sorry about the non hitching related details.

3) Got lost on the PCT outside of Quincy I think. Was picked up by Barbara Frost (age 86) after wandering onto her ranch (Stump Ranch), and taken into town in her brand new caddie (given a ride dependent on whether or not I was a repulican, and for that ride I was). She preceded to tell me how a year earlier she had shot a black bear with her assault rifle (had the skin w/head) after it broke through her "picture window" and demolished her kitchen to the tune of $11K. Not really a hitch I guess, but a very interesting ride for me.

4) On the CDT hitching into Reserve, NM. Picked up by an elderly gentleman in a truck and trailer. As I went to throw my pack in the back of the truck it began to drift forward. I screamed, to no avail, dropped the pack, and watch as the truck slowly drove over my poor old Osprey. The pack had a scuff, but that was it. The ride in was nerve racking as I watched him roll cigarettes and drive with his knees. He later told me he was an artist, and gave me a card. I looked him up on-line. His paintings were beautiful and pricey. I would never have guessed.

5) On the CDT near Encampment, WY I was picked up by 2 ranchers. I was given my own room in the ranch house, and made to feel a part of the family. I stayed a day and a half before hitching on to Boulder to meet friends.

I will hush now, but I could go on and on. In some cases, my hitches were the most memorable parts of my hikes. I met some wonderful, and colorful characters...oh, and on occasion had the ever living crap scared out of me!

[Footslogger]

The title says is all ...yeah, a bunch of us walked into a convenient store near Pulaski, VA for a microwave hamburger one hot afternoon. After finishing our mystery meat burgers we got back out on the road and decided to hitch back to the trail crossing. We had just about given up an resolved ourselves to tackle the uphill walk when a pick up trailing a boat pulled over to give us a ride. The bed of the truck had a hard cover on it but the driver offered us a ride in his boat, if we were willing. Naturally we all said "hell yeah" ...and the rest is history. I actually have a pic of this taken by another hiker but haven't gotten it scanned yet. Imagine the scene - - 4 nasty hikers sitting in the seats of a boat with trekking poles pointed upward and backpacks stacked in the middle.

Oh yeah ...and I forgot to mention that the drive was about 3-4 sheets to the wind. The boat fishtailed like crazy on that ride back up the hill. As happy as we all were to get the ride we were even happier to all hop out and get our feet back on solid ground again !!

'Slogger

[Johnny Appleseed]

I rode in the back of a wood chipper 3/4 loaded w/ wood chips. It was Shenandoah and there was a group of 5 of us all loaded in the back. It was my only slack pack.

I ended up paying for a hitch-it was back to trail days, and like a 45 min. drive from a really poor guy, so I gave him $15 in advance of the drive. Worked out great, despite being at his trailer for 2 hours looking at his animals he raises. He said I didn't know you wanted to leave yet...oh well That is part of the journey and thus not wasted time.

I was scared to hitch at first, and also concerned about not getting a ride. But only 1 time I waited over 1 hour. After 2 or three it is no prob.