Hitching from Vancouver to Montreal?

[zedoktar]

Hey all, hows tricks?

So here I am planning to vagabond from Vancouver to Montreal in the coming summer, and I am wondering what the hitching is like across Canada. I've hitched around BC, the Kootenays and the Okanagan are both really great for finding rides. I've had people go so far as to pick me and my partner up, tell us they are going 20 minutes down the highway, and then cause their bored, take us 2.5 hours or so from Merrit to Penticton.

That's BC though. What are the other provinces like? I don't want some Albertan or something trying to make me squeal like a piggy
Is it better to train-hop? Any experiences or thoughts about thumbing across the Great White North?

 

[wizehop]

Man hitchen Canada is pretty easy if you have the time; and as far a getting the odd interesting ride its bound to happen at least once or twice no matter where you are if you travel long enough. I had a great time hitching the country and even after the odd guy wanting to molest me it was still good. I don't think you have anything to worry about, just don't hitch in tight jean cut off shorts and you'll be fine......

 

[steelcitybrew]

hahahahahaha

 

[lowerarchy]

BC is ok as you know, but you gotta be aware there. It's the only place Ive ever been close to being assaulted was in BC... plus there's the whole highway of tears thing which is a bit out of your way but good to know about anyway:

British Columbia Highway 16 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Praries are fucking awesome to hitch. People are nice, you never have to wait, and once I got an unsolicited $100 kickdown. Friendly people.

But then you get to Ontario, the main drawback of which is that people can be kind of nuts but mainly it's just fucking loooooonnnnnnng. The stretch in between Thunder Bay and Sudbury is brutal. That's like 1/3 of Canada right there. Very dispiriting. Better to ride the chooch through ontario in my opinion.

After that no problem except a couple things: 401 is illegal to hitchhike and cops WILL fuck with you so stay on the ramps. Same thing technically on the trans-canada through Quebec but the cops aren't so uptight about it; I only got popped once. Eastern provinces are a breeze except Newfoundland where some guy got robbed by a hitchhiker in 1983 and they never forgot it.

Canada is a wide, boring country for the most part. That said, there are awesome opportunities to meet interesting folks. I always wonder what happened to that truck driver who took my and my pal from Sudbury to Regina straight through... he'd just quit smoking meth after ten straight years of driving between nova scotia and california, 3 days there, 3 days back, no sleep. They guy was in tears half the time. His wife left him, took the kids, so he quit drugs. At the end he pulled over on the outskirts of Regina and said he couldn't go in to town because he said he knew six places to go score and couldn't face it so we left him after basically having a 16 hour brodown session about life, drug abuse, fucked-up shit you do to your loved ones, and all kinds of stuff.

 

[zedoktar]

I always expect high weirdness on the road. I mainly just want to make sure I can get rides and that those rides don't include a) free knifings or b)complimentary surprise sex. I honestly would happily bypass Ontario but I don't think I can hitch across Hudsons Bay.

 

[lowerarchy]

Well, you'll get rides for sure. As for rape and battery I'm sure you'll be fine but there's no way to predict that stuff... as always, safest to travel with a partner, and if you're a male/female team you seem to get the most rides compared to any other combo.

 

[spoonreceptacle]

I've hitched accross Canada numerous times and i've always had good rides. You will bring what you put out. The only creepo rides we're in B.C. and i find it may be due to a booming population of workers, i've also heard bad things of northern alberta but i never had trouble. We ditched the rides and got better ones straight to our destination. Highway 1 is easy, i've gotten from thunder bay to banff in one ride and i've taken that road too many times, always good, always fast, if you're in a hurry of course, even better when yer not. The yellowhead is a little slower but a better hitch through the prairies if you ask me. Ontario is LONG. Big stretch, small towns, lotsa bugs, 90 kmph max due to dangerous roads (kinda miss home). You're probably better off hopin'. Like I said though never had problems there although a few crazies. Quebec is easy hitchin if you're not drunk. And my time in the eastern provinces, all except prince edward, was some of the easiest friendliest hitchin' i've done. I don't ever disclude 4-8 hour waiting periods from a hitch i'll call "easy" either, through the yellowhead one time it took us 3 days to hitch an 8 hour stretch but every ride worked out perfectly and the people were great, nice kickdowns. Apparently two dudes with beards and a dog don't get picked up too quick when every 19/20 cars is an old lady or a mom. I have a strong feeling that if we didn't have to wait that long and walk so much, if we had gotten there in 8 hours, we woulda got messed up someway somehow. I've hitched mostly by myself, bring a dog ora friend to play it safe. Alberta is fine, not everyones a sasquatch, be open to conversation and differing opinions if you want a longer ride. Some trucks'll take ya all the way if ya got enough weed. Go with your gut, watch out for bears.

 

[woodstack]

im doing the same this summer. probably going to be mostly on trains though

 

[streetlight]

Same here.