High Sierra Topix

Just posted...another HST front end article by markskor on HITCHHIKING, BUS CONNECTIONS AND RIDE-SHARING

THANKS Mark. Great advice and info. A go to for all.
Cases in support. I was coming down the road from the th at North Lake. Offered a ride which I assumed to the th parking which is a considerable distance from the th. I was going to the lake anyway. The guy need to get to S Lake where his car was. His buddy was behind him up the cyn with a twisted ankle and they had to cut their trip short. I asked to go to 168. I gave him a ride all the way, and gave him a beer. He offered Cliff Bars, I passed and just said your welcome; karma. All it cost me was a bit of time of delaying my fishing.

Another was I was on the phone checking in with my wife exiting Mammoth going to Bishop. I passed a threesome as the were walking to 395. God forbid in my wife's eyes that one would ever pick up hitchers! I non nonchalantly ended the call before hitting 395, looped around and stopped to picked them up; crammed them in the car. They were from Albuquerque and had been out 12 days and needed to get back to Lone Pine. As I dropped them off at the bakery I gave them a bit of info about Bishop where to eat etc. They were pleasant, grateful and thankful for my generosity.

Great article! I remember hitching to North Lake from Bishop and it was one of my longer waits of an hour or so. Spent one night in the North Lake campground with my daughter before hitting the trail for some Humphries adventures. The guys camped next to us remembered passing me an hour earlier and felt really bad for not picking me up and shared some beers and their fire with me. They were campers and not backpackers.

Another tactic I have used to complete semi loop trips is to bring a bicycle. I drop the car off at the exit trailhead and ride to the road of the starting trailhead. I ditch the bike in the bushes somewhere and hitch up to my starting point and hike back to my car. I don't ride up to the starting point because a 4000 foot accent will take to much energy out of my old body. Works great along the 395 corridor.

Nice work, Mark! We took a (very civilized) trip to Yosemite Valley in December by flying to Sac'to and Amtraking to Merced, where we picked up YARTS. It helped enormously, of course, that we had a good friend in Sacramento who could pick us up at the airport, put us up for the night, and then take us to the train station (at 6:00 AM!), but of course it could be done without that. You recommended flying to Sacramento long ago, and I'm glad I finally listened.

Would it be fair to include Visalia with this article as well? With the Sequoia Shuttle going to Sequoia during the summer pretty consistently, and I think they are trying to expand it to Grant Grove from Fresno (Sanger?) but haven't heard anything lately on that. Also, there's a new line that quickly links Visalia and Fresno that starts out 4:00 AM that hits Fresno Yosemite and the Bus Terminal dowtown, (as well as Fresno St). Theoretically, it should take less than a day to go from Visalia to Mammoth on public transit (though it looks like the Yosemite Valley to Mammoth leg isn't running mornings?) and shouldn't be too difficult to get back (either YARTS or Sequoia Shuttle, depending on how far you hike--Devil's Postpile to Crescent Meadows?). Though this still might be a pipe dream haha

https://ridevline.com/

cslaght wrote:Would it be fair to include Visalia with this article as well? With the Sequoia Shuttle going to Sequoia during the summer pretty consistently, and I think they are trying to expand it to Grant Grove from Fresno (Sanger?) but haven't heard anything lately on that. Also, there's a new line that quickly links Visalia and Fresno that starts out 4:00 AM that hits Fresno Yosemite and the Bus Terminal downtown, (as well as Fresno St).

Great! As stated in my write-up - "There are other west side (Mineral King routes, etc), but as I have never taken these, maybe someone else can do a write up on any missing route information." Thus, we still need a detailed write-up - will add it to the article - someone who has actually used any of these connectors, west side?

Excellent stuff Mark, I plan on to sometime in the future, and you guys will be the first to know. Happy trails!

Excellent, cslaught! Much appreciated.

Load up your experiences with hitching in the Sierra, things that work and don't, like signs, climbing helmets, being in pairs or solo.
Also, sections that you have had repeated success and those that have repeatedly struck out.

Should start here as Mark already has a very nice article on the topic: http://www.highsierratopix.com/hitchhik ... e-sharing/