What is your best hitch-hiking experience when backpacking?

Here are two of my experiences.

I parked my car at South Lake (Sierra - out of Bishop CA) and did an 8-day trip- Dusy Basin to Marion Lake on Roper's High Route. About half way through the day, it occured to me that I probably left a banana peel in my car - at this trailhead known for bears! After a few days, I just decided if a bear smashed into my car, so be it. I planned on then going out over Taboose Pass. While in the Lakes Basin and on my way out over Cartrige Pass I ran into a couple who were also headed out where they had a car. They said they would camp on Taboose Pass that night. I would meet them there. Well, when nearly to Taboose Pass, the beautiful lakes below Striped Mountain caught my eye. I just had to go there. I figured I could get up early the next morning and catch up. I never regretted going to this beautiful set of lakes.

Next morning I was up early and headed out. I ended up at the trailhead at about 6PM and no people in sight. I had obviously missed my ride. This is a very remote trailhead and so I jumped in the creek for a bath and filled two Playtapus 2.5 liter bottles and carrying them like twin babies, I headed down the dusty dirt road. I could see the semi trucks, like kids toys, on Hwy 395. I had walked off my map. As I kept walking the darned trucks never got closer! And it did not seem that far! Well over 5 miles later it got dark. I could see lights, but thought it was a ranch house. So I hop in my bivy next to the road. It was hotter than hell and bugs were out so I had to sweat an zip up the bivy. Next morning, totally out of food, I walked the last mile to the Taboose campground (these were the lights that I saw) where a wonderful odler couple offered me breakfast. We got to talking and they actually were relatives of the couple who I was going to hitch a ride from. The wife said that the young couple had decided to come out early so walked out all the way from Lakes Basin to the trailhead in one day!

Just as they were fixing me biscuits and gravy, two old fishermen walked over. They were going to Bishop for breakfast. Here was my ride. They must have been nearly 80 years old and the guy not driving never let his little poodle off his lap. They had tons of fishing stories to tell. They even invited me to breakfast in Bishop. After dropping me off at the Forest Service office, I sat outside with my sign that said "ride needed to South Lake".

In seconds, another old guy, at least 75, also with a poodle, said "hop in" his truck. He had a summer cabin up there and if I did not mind waiting while he did a small repair, he would take me on to my car. He had lived there forever and knew everything about the area. He took me to my car. As we rounded the corner I fully expected to see my car torn to shreads. Instead I found a black dried up banana peel on teh roof! I thanked the fellow and headed down the road. I do not know what it is with old fishermen and their poodles, but what luck!

I was no more then a mile down the road than I spotted a poor fellow walking down the road. He was a Brit who was hikint the JMT and was needing a ride to Bishop to re-supply. He hopped in. I rolled down the windows! It was quite obvious that he had not bathed since the start of his trip! Poor fellow would have never gotten a ride with anyone else but another dusty backpacker. I dropped him off a the store and headed home. Near Mammoth Lakes, I saw a couple with thumbs out. I picked them up (two Germans backpacking) and took them to Lee Vining. They happily told me their wild country stories too.

I hoped by now that I had repaid the kind deeds that came my way. All in all, hitching rides and giving rides I had met a bunch of great folks and would not have missed this experience for anything.

Actually the most amazing hitching I have done was years ago when my daughter, then 17 and I did an 18-day one-way trip in the WInd Rivers and came out down Bull Lake Canyon. We stepped out onto an arm of Bull Lake and stuck our thumbs out and got a ride with two fishermen in a tiny tin boat! They offered us ice cold Cokes - after 18 days of eating fish! Just about nobody goes down Bull Lake Canyon - a VERY difficult off-trail route so they were really surprised. We were spared a hot 12-mile hike through rattlesnake infested sage. After a 10-mile ride on the lake shore, they drove us 70 miles back to our truck! Now that was quite the hitch!