[at-l] Hitchhiking 101

[Marielle & Paul" <hikers99@yahoo.com (Marielle & Paul)]

I am nearly through my backlog of 4000+ messages.=20

Two of the recommendations made about hitchhiking were that a guy should =
hitch with a woman companion and never put yourself in a situation where =
the vehicle can take off with your pack.=20

With that in mind, here is an edited version of our first hitching =
experience in 1999.

Mid afternoon on March 20, we arrived at Dick's Creek Gap where the AT =
crosses US 76. We had made good time on this cool foggy day because we =
were anxious to get here to hitch a ride to our first town stop in =
Hiawassee GA. We crossed the highway to a little parking lot with picnic =
tables and took our packs off.  It was a desolate area in the mountains =
and there seemed to be very little traffic on this winding mountain =
road.=20


The place where we were standing was exposed and we found it much cooler =
than in the woods. This was our first hitchhiking experience and we were =
a little apprehensive. We stuck our thumbs out and hoped for the best.  =
The few cars that went by ignored us completely.  I decided to take off =
my hunters-orange baseball cap, thinking it was too hillbilly and would =
scare away rides. That did not help. =20

Finally an old Ford Bronco went by and pulled over just beyond us.  My =
first reaction was that maybe we did not want a ride, and I think Ma had =
a worse reaction. We grabbed our packs and hiking poles and walked up to =
the vehicle.  Two dirty looking men got out and came around back of the =
vehicle to meet us. They were short and dark and my first (and accurate) =
impression was that they were Mexican.  There was a three foot high pile =
of construction material and junk in the back. As a result, they could =
not lower the tail gate. They raised the window above the tailgate, and =
motioned for us to put our stuff through the window onto the pile.  As I =
put Ma's bag through the window,  I remembered the stories of hikers =
having their stuff stolen in these situations.  My solution was to tell =
Ma in French to get in the truck while I loaded it. (She still has not =
forgiven me for this great feat of logic.)  There was not much room in =
the back and the window would not shut when the bags were inside.  When =
I went around to get in the truck, I found that one man was sitting in =
the back seat and Ma was in the bucket seat in the front.  It became =
immediately clear that she was not moving to the back and that the only =
place for me was in the seat with her.  I smiled and explained that I =
was very comfortable thank you.


The truck was put in gear and rattled and sputtered into motion. It =
shook and creaked as it started its long winding descent into town. I =
noticed right away that this vehicle had seen better days. The pedals =
were worn down to the metal, wires were exposed, and everything was worn =
and faded.  I looked back and noticed  my bag which seemed precariously =
close to the back window.  The man in back noticed my apprehension and =
reached back to grab the straps of the bag. I can still see him sitting =
sideways in the seat holding onto my bag for the entire 20 minute ride =
to town. =20


The man in the back spoke no English whereas the driver spoke very =
little English and had obvious problems understanding our accents.  I =
tried to explain what we were doing (which is hard to do even without =
the language handicap) and where we were from, but I am unsure if he =
understood.  As he went by a side road, he indicated that it was the =
direction he had to go, but he continued on and drove us the few more =
miles to town.  He let us off across the street from the Hiawassee Inn. =
When our stuff was unloaded, I shook their hands and thanked them for =
their help. I felt really guilty for having made a quick opinion about =
them.

PA (Ma & Pa 99)

www.hikers99.homestead.com


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