# walking PCH / Highway 1



## kevin (Jun 13, 2012)

hello. I currently live in Long Beach, CA and am looking for cheap adventure. for awhile now I have been tossing around the idea of packing up my backpack with the essentials and hiking/walking up highway 1... my goal is to walk from long beach to oregon. and camp along the coast. any tips & advice on places to go or stay away from ? anything would be much appreciated.


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## Unslap (Jun 13, 2012)

I met a kid who was doing this from frisco to seattle, tho he ended up hitching some rides. I dont know why anyone would choose to walk on the road with cars coming around the corner and past you at 35 mph, especially when theres the pacific crest trail. But im a bit lazy. Food is expensive, at least north of san fran. And you will be eating tons if youre high all the time (which you should be :~]). Its beautiful though


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## Pheonix (Jun 16, 2012)

I've walked and hitched the PCH from Venice to Vandenberg Air Force Base where a really nice christian soldier picked me up, took me to where PCH and US 101 come back together and bought me a greyhound ticket to SF. I've walked and hitched down from SF to Big Sur where I was forced to turn back due to a mud slide south of Big Sur. I've also done it between SF and Humboult county where my hand with thumb out was hit by the side mirror of a car coming around a blind turn. In many parts of the PCH there is no shoulder at all, tons of blind turns, logging trucks in Mendocino county and once when I was walking down the PCH I seen a sign that said "one lane highway ahead" when I got to it there were orange cones marking where one of the lanes fell off into the ocean.


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## Kim Chee (Jun 16, 2012)

What happened to our choo choo ride with wedgies along the way?

Nice route to hitch. If I were to do it I'd walk/hitch from Santa Barbara. Hitching anywhere near LA is gonna sukk. Also, may want to consider using public trans to get to the north side of the bay area.


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## Pheonix (Jun 16, 2012)

mmmmmmmichael said:


> What happened to our choo choo ride with wedgies along the way?
> 
> Nice route to hitch. If I were to do it I'd walk/hitch from Santa Barbara. Hitching anywhere near LA is gonna sukk. Also, may want to consider using public trans to get to the north side of the bay area.


 
I got a ride from some surfers to malibu but then walked to ventura tried walking out of ventura and got a ride from ventura county sheriffs to the santa barbera county line. I used to take Muni to Golden Gate Bridge and walked over and through Sausalito to where PCH and 101 split apart.

One more thing when the PCH and US 101 are together and the US 101 is a freeway then it is illegal to walk it and the CHP will fuck with you if they catch you.


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## Cardboard (Jun 17, 2012)

I was camping in big sur in maybe 2006, and met a few people who were doing this. Crazy people, but they seemed to make it fine. One couple on bikes that had started in alaska, and were going all the way to tierra del fuego. 1 guy who travelled for years, only by foot, and had a pet goat. And finally this crazy guy, who was barefoot, and the only thing he carried was a small refrigerator, strapped close with a belt, and slung over his shoulder. he was maybe in his 50s, and was walking north, from the mexican border. I have hitched this route a lot of times, but can imagine it being a really nice walk if you have the patience.


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## bryanpaul (Jun 17, 2012)

hwy 1/101 is awesome... ive hitched up and down between oregon and LA a bunch...lots of freindly stoner surfers and cool coastal surfer towns down south and epic redwood country up north....you wont regret it......and no offense but walking is fun and all, but it dont hurt to stick outcho thumb.......... beware of tweekers!....if you suspect somebody's all tweeked out run the other way......(my only issue with hitchin that route)


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## Jack Armstrong (Dec 30, 2016)

kevin said:


> hello. I currently live in Long Beach, CA and am looking for cheap adventure. for awhile now I have been tossing around the idea of packing up my backpack with the essentials and hiking/walking up highway 1... my goal is to walk from long beach to oregon. and camp along the coast. any tips & advice on places to go or stay away from ? anything would be much appreciated.





Hey buddy im doing the same mabey we can do this as a team i live in simi valley and have routed this trip for a year to get ready message me back brother


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## Jack Armstrong (Dec 30, 2016)

Jack Armstrong said:


> Hey buddy im doing the same mabey we can do this as a team i live in simi valley and have routed this trip for a year to get ready message me back brother




There is also train hoping wich is interesting which i have heard and seen people do.


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## Rob Nothing (Dec 30, 2016)

Best hitch I ever did was with a tweeker. Guy brought me from eureka to crescent city, gave me beer and good convo, all the while twacked out of his head. I don't judge, not even if yer a lil tweeked.


Sent from my iPhone using Squat the Planet Mobile


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## big smote (Jan 16, 2021)

Ha everyone here is awesome thanks im planning on going up 1/101 from san fransisco to astoria soon helpful advice see ya on the road freedom junkies cheers


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## bip (Nov 15, 2021)

this is known to be the bombest hitchhike of all time and the bombest rail trip before they got rid of it, 
do it, you dont need to plan shit. 
oregon coast might give u some trouble though, about halfway up


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## MetalBryan (Nov 15, 2021)

Kevin created his StP account in 2011 and a year later walked to Oregon, living happily ever after.


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## HitchBiker (Nov 18, 2021)

Download copies of local buses. You can make it a lot better of an adventure by knowing sections you can cheaply skip. Oregon has a hiking route dedicated to the coast, part trail and some road. Most of the parks will have hiker/biker camping for $5-10 a night. In the couple times I’ve ridden my bike down the coast, I’ve met people just loading up on groceries and taking the local buses to the next state park. Then you have hella food, a safe place to camp, and you can hike park trails instead of breathing exhaust fumes all day.


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## hoebosto (Nov 20, 2021)

*been wantin to do this walk for a little while now. bookmarking this thread for later..*


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## Monkeytits86 (Nov 28, 2022)

kevin said:


> hello. I currently live in Long Beach, CA and am looking for cheap adventure. for awhile now I have been tossing around the idea of packing up my backpack with the essentials and hiking/walking up highway 1... my goal is to walk from long beach to oregon. and camp along the coast. any tips & advice on places to go or stay away from ? anything would be much appreciated.



I walked from Malibu to Oxnard. Then found a bus to Ventura. Walked east through a bunch of orchards till I got a ride by a nice old man and his dog to a rest stop by Magic mountain...(I think) and then I got another ride from another nice younger guy to Bakersfield. Spent a month I Bakersfield (don't recommend... also the central valley is kinda sketch) because my gear was spent, and I was too. Made a friend named Slayer, and we found a church to buy us a couple bus tickets to SF. I also did a little work in an Almond Grove to make some $$. After a few weeks in SF it was getting cold. The only thing Slayer wanted to do was drink. I made some quick $$ flipping some pot I scored on the Haight. I went back to LA til I broke my tooth, and then went back to my parents in TX. That was in late 2018 early 2019. I'm going to be in SD starting 12/2022, and plan to backpack throughout Westcoast and PNW. Trying to get back to a place of adventure, and when I still trusted the universe.


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