# Portland OR



## Hoghead Bob

Hey

I have been picking up kids when I leave Eugene lately. I have been dropping them off around Pioneer square or near Albina/Brooklyn. Is that cool or is there a better place?


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## Plague

yeah around the water front is good and that area lots of squats and great spanging


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## Hoghead Bob

The last kids I picked up I dropped at Union Station. I said Albinas is that way Lake Yard is that way and Brooklyn is that way. You can get food over there, and MAX is more or less free. Be safe Adios.


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## Poking Victim

Does anyone know of a good spot to hitch out of Portland?


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## Doobie_D

Dont even waste your time trying from ine the city. I usually take the Tualtin bus and start walkin the 5 from there. If your headin south that it. Really theres a city bus outta PDX to Wilsonville and from there you can get a $1 bus down to Salem. Going north its all about the Vancouver to Salmon Creek to the CAP


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## Matt Derrick

*Doobie_D wrote:*


> Dont even waste your time trying from ine the city. I usually take the Tualtin bus and start walkin the 5 from there. If your headin south that it. Really theres a city bus outta PDX to Wilsonville and from there you can get a $1 bus down to Salem. Going north its all about the Vancouver to Salmon Creek to the CAP



what's the CAP?


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## Doobie_D

I swear the CAP exists only for the benifit of travelin no-good-niks. Every time i ride it thats the only type of people on it. If you catch the CAP at the right time of day (7am in Salmon Creek) you can get all the way to Tumwater (1 mile outside of Olympia) for a buck cause they give you a free transfer in Longveiw and you connect from there.


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## Matt Derrick

damn, that's awesome, ive always heard rumors about that, but could never find out how to get that bus. so... now that i know this, i can pretty much city bus it all the way up to seattle! sweet...


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## Doobie_D

Its really the fastest way from Portland to Seattle. Really you can get all the way up to B.C doin the cheapo bus thing. Just another reason i love the NW so much. outstanding public transportation!


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## Robot

i just got to san fran, and about to go up to portland. is there anything like that from sf to portland?


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## macks

If you go to 1235 Mission street by 9am on weekdays you might be able to get a homeward bound ticket. They try to reserve it for people who are homeless living in San Francisco so you might need to extend the truth a bit but I have friends who this has worked for. 

Also about the CAP buses they aren't giving free transfers at Longview anymore, it's a buck for each leg of it now. For a whopping total of 2 bucks for like 150 miles. And I've seen kids, moms, old peoples, all sorts on the CAP but yes also scummy kids too.


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## ben-david

i've never heard of the CAP, thats awesome, is there a website for this or something with more info cause im going up to seattle next month and that would help alot. the bus from wilsonville to salem has gone up a few times, its now $2.50, just so you know

if you are going west like to the coast i suggest taking the MAX to beaverton and then walking to your highway.

homeward bound is a good way to get out of san francisco, they even give you money for food i think. you can only do it once though and you need to have a contact in your destination.


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## veggieguy12

*Hitch S from PDX in the city!*



Poking Victim said:


> Does anyone know of a good spot to hitch out of Portland?



The only two times I hitched south from Portland, I did it in the city and I got picked up w/in 10 min.
You can access this spot from the Portland Streetcar eastbound, it's the SW Harrison St. stop.

When you get off, walk down the road the way the streetcar goes (SE), and about two blocks away is a road that feeds to I-5. There's enough shoulder to wait in and show your destination sign, and it's big enough for rides pull over - _and_ the traffic lights before & after your position here will keep them from going to fast.

The streetcar stop you want here.
The waiting/pickup spot here.

I caught a ride one Sunday @ 5pm, and most recently again at 6pm on a Thursday.


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## bikegeek666

*Hitch S from PDX in the city!*



veggieguy12 said:


> The only two times I hitched south from Portland, I did it in the city and I got picked up w/in 10 min.
> You can access this spot from the Portland Streetcar eastbound, it's the SW Harrison St. stop.
> 
> When you get off, walk down the road the way the streetcar goes (SE), and about two blocks away is a road that feeds to I-5. There's enough shoulder to wait in and show your destination sign, and it's big enough for rides pull over - _and_ the traffic lights before & after your position here will keep them from going to fast.
> 
> The streetcar stop you want here.
> The waiting/pickup spot here.
> 
> I caught a ride one Sunday @ 5pm, and most recently again at 6pm on a Thursday.



yeah, that's a good spot for me. even with a bike, i got a ride out of there in minutes once. at, like, 3 or 4 in the afternoon.


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## bikegeek666

as far as not getting fucked with by cops, in oregon i've heard almost no one say anything about it, i've never been fucked with, just...it seems like oregon in general is pretty chill about hitch hiking.

i fucking hate cave junction, though.


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## Staralar

In regaurds to the whole "CAP" conversation... the busses are a god send if you're lazy & want to get places more efficently without having to wait for a ride out- although what sucks if you don't catch them accordingly. My first time in Portland I ended up taking the busses back to Washington & got suck in Vancouver, Salmon Creek area I believe? [At least something along those lines].

But hey, good news is there's a gas station across the way from the bus stop & some bushes behind it that make an awsome wind-block. I also woke up to a HUGE egg mcmuffin, pastrie, & doughnut breakfast from the man who lives on the other side of the fence. Turns out a lot of kids end up staying there on their way through & he enjoys helping 'em out.


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## macks

yeah it doesn't connect from portland to seattle, you have to take the city buses out to the outskirts of each metro area and go from there. but there's buses from each end of the CAP route that go into the metro area of each city.. yep it's the salmon creek park and ride in north vancouver. you can call for CAP times if you want to make sure to make the bus next time.. it does only leave twice a day.

sounds like a nice guy though, maybe I'll miss the last bus on purpose for a free hot meal in the morning next time!


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## Staralar

Yeah, it's like playing tag with the bus system. Salmon Creek was kind of nice though, there was a Safeway & a Subway across the street in the other direction... snipe heaven. <3

& yeah, that was the highlight of my stay in Vancouver. Although I believe his wife is dying of lung cancer or something along those lines? :/ Makes me feel kinda bad that we ate his food.


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## rebequah

Yeah- ridin the cap from salmon creek north, just make sure to make the cap cause the cops arent really cool with travelers. But the people in the area kick down.


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## gadabout

Hey, yeah, the CAP works out rather well... just make sure that you are on time. Get a CURRENT schedule. If you miss a bus it is a long time in a small town for the next one. Me and Foothill missed our early bus in Kalama and tried hitching north to get ahead and wait for the next. Took several hours to make up the short distance by missing the bus. Caught a ride and then a short walk into the town of Castle Rock, WA. Stole a nap on benches by the river near the grocery store where the bus stop is. The local PD was interested in our presence, but didn't hassle us. In fact when we woke and rolled up, we walked past their cruiser and exchanges hellos. There is a cheap bar in town that serves food as well just east down the street from the CAP stop.
CL's rideshare has worked out well for me in the past. Both as a rider and as a driver looking to get a little help w/ fuel costs. People have been descent.
Safe travels.


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## nobo

my friends and i got stuck in longview washington off the CAP bus a while back. fuck that place. it seems like a huge meth town or something because the people there are fuckin WEIRD. maybe just that small town vibe, but yea definately very conservative. ended up staying up all nite in a donut shop because everytime we tried to catch some sleep someone would call the cops on us. when the sun came up we finally just went and slept in the bus terminal, where we were baited into "saved" conversations no less than 30 times. it was worth it when we finally made it to seattle though. oof.


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## nobo

oh also, yea oregon rules for traveling in general. i love the fact that you can walk on the highway, makes it so much easier to get noticed/picked up! outside of eugene a cop pulled over while a friend and i were on the highway with our sign and we totally thoght we were busted or something but then he walks around to the trunk of his cruiser and just hands us a few bottles of water then tells us to have a good day, be careful etc. then just takes off. 
i briefly considered the possibility of the water being poison...but it was hot out....


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## bikegeek666

ha ha...good story....


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## Angela

nobo said:


> my friends and i got stuck in longview washington off the CAP bus a while back. fuck that place. it seems like a huge meth town or something because the people there are fuckin WEIRD. maybe just that small town vibe, but yea definately very conservative. ended up staying up all nite in a donut shop because everytime we tried to catch some sleep someone would call the cops on us. when the sun came up we finally just went and slept in the bus terminal, where we were baited into "saved" conversations no less than 30 times. it was worth it when we finally made it to seattle though. oof.




I've had much the same experience in Oregon from the cops but the wait can get long in certain parts of southern Oregon where the folks in cars seem to be leery of picking up hitchers. I've had very good luck in the Portland-Eugene area but very bad luck south of Eugene(as in waiting for days to get a ride out). But a ride does always eventually come.


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## macks

going southwest out of eugene to the coast i've done fine, but i guess that wasn't I-5 for more than 15 miles south of Eugene. 

oh and about Longview I totally know what you mean nobo, going on junk nbd from portland out cars got cut out there and we camped out the weekend waiting for the CAP since we weren't in a rush. it's all about the river camping spots! we had a fire and everything.. no hassles. long walk from downtown but it's worth it. and the people there are really strange, busking downtown on a sunday was like a damn ghost town, we played for 2 hours and didn't make a dime.


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## nobo

whered you catch a junk train north out of portland? i waited by the golf course (thanks widerstand...again) where the two tracks split, i think theyre UP and BNSF. anyways i was there almost three days and didnt see one damn junk train. i was pretty bummed, but whatever.


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## macks

same spot, but on the other side of the bridge from the golf course. three days? holy shit, i thought all northbound UP traffic came through there, that's a long time to not have any trains.


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## nobo

oh there were a ton of trains, but little to no rideables. plus you know when you have your bedroll out and youre all comfortable and kind of asleep and then your ride comes its like...ohhhhh shit....im pretty sure i missed a couple of rides like that, haha.


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## macks

oh, that makes more sense. and yes i know what thats like haha..


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## Tiphareth

How about that New Avenues place? It seems like a better idea, at least in my experience to let people know of what resources are freely available right way, maybe if that is too far into town for your taste, the MAX is always great. Morrison and 3rdish was probably my beginner traveller corner. I enjoy it a lot.


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## tunnel

Doobie_D said:


> Its really the fastest way from Portland to Seattle. Really you can get all the way up to B.C doin the cheapo bus thing. Just another reason i love the NW so much. outstanding public transportation!



Is this actually possible, if so can someone let mew know how. thats would be so much easier than hitching! thanks


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## Tiphareth

Yeah someone was telling me that you can get to Seattle on 12 bucks using public transit, which is really ridiculous.


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## Angela

tunnel said:


> Is this actually possible, if so can someone let mew know how. thats would be so much easier than hitching! thanks



Yes, it is very true and Widerstand already went to all the trouble of writing up a nice detailed trip planner for it so I won't bother repeating it but here's a link to the thread
http://squattheplanet.com//getting-there/other-forms-travel/6200-city-bus-cap.html


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## thefourthgeorge

For anyone who's been that way-what's the best spot to hitch east from Portland towards Boise?


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## WapatoGreyer

Widerstand said:


> The CAP is a county bus thats goes up to Oly for about $3


 
This sounds sick! I was planning on hitching with my boyfriend down to pdx from Seattle starting the 2nd of August. I've never hitched before and he doesn't have great experience, so. This trip is kinda going to be our whole yay-finally-18-lets-get-outta-here thing. CAP might be a better option?

I think some of my friends just took this, actually. They took some bus from up here all the way to pdx but they had to pay about 15 bucks. I'm wondering if it's the same bus? Also, my friend who went down suggested that we don't hitch because it's dangerous. But I really would like to, to get more experience with it... so.. what do I do? Any suggestions/safety tips? I practice nonviolence..


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## mylon

WapatoGreyer said:


> This sounds sick! I was planning on hitching with my boyfriend down to pdx from Seattle starting the 2nd of August. I've never hitched before and he doesn't have great experience, so. This trip is kinda going to be our whole yay-finally-18-lets-get-outta-here thing. CAP might be a better option?
> 
> I think some of my friends just took this, actually. They took some bus from up here all the way to pdx but they had to pay about 15 bucks. I'm wondering if it's the same bus? Also, my friend who went down suggested that we don't hitch because it's dangerous. But I really would like to, to get more experience with it... so.. what do I do? Any suggestions/safety tips? I practice nonviolence..


 
Is this a joke?? There is a comprehensive thread about the CAP, and tons of threads about hitching safety, hitching in WA, hitching in OR, what have you. I have never had great luck hitching in WA but I would say it is definitely not one of the more dangerous states. Also I have never personally gotten in a particularly dangerous situation while hitching (many sketchy rides turned down, and a few drunk drivers) but I think you will find when you enter the real world, particularly the part of which where you are GETTING INTO STRANGERS VEHICLES, you might want to be think about the possibility of having to defend yourself.

Goddamn. Seriously I'm not trying to be an asshole but this is every annoying STP stereotype rolled in to one.


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## shwillyhaaa

when i tried hitching from oly to pdx it took us a week untill we were offered a ride by the artesian well by some hipsters...
but i guess it only took that long cause we werent even really that dedicated to getting out...
we kept getting drunk with our bus money


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## jimivickery

bikegeek666 said:


> as far as not getting fucked with by cops, in oregon i've heard almost no one say anything about it, i've never been fucked with, just...it seems like oregon in general is pretty chill about hitch hiking.
> 
> i fucking hate cave junction, though.



Yeah hitching as far as i know is legal and you can walk down the interstate too it awesome there got from pdx to grant pass in one day and even made a guy pull over and let us out at rest area cus he was wasted then got a ride within 30 mins and got kicked down an ounce ! Love oregon


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