Hitching virgin (hi)

[ElderGreen9]

Hey all!

I'm a big traveler but never hitchhiked before. Looking to explore the free traveling world more so I was thinking I'd hitch up the coast (in LA right now) to SF or even NorCal as a little sampler. I'm a big backpacker/ naturalist so I have all the gear. The only thing I feel a little clueless on is sleeping outside.

Anyone whose been that route/ feels like imparting some nuggets of wisdom to a first-timer, hit me up!

Also just saying HI, HELLO, HOLA, ALOHA, BONJOUR

 

[Eli Stoneberg]

You can hitchhike from LA to Nocal by way of Highway 101 or Interstate 5. In my memory the most challenging part of that hitch was getting out of San Francisco... What I personally did was took a bus to Berkeley, hung out at People's Park for a few day, until I found someone over Craigslist who was leaving the city. Big cities can be a pain to get out of sometimes. Check out Hitchwiki (the wikipedia for hitchhiking) for more advice on leaving specific areas, it has always been a great resource for me.

As far as sleeping outside goes... You're going to want a sleeping bag and some sort of cover in case it rains, whether that be a tarp, tent or bivvy sac. For what you're going to be doing, a bivvysac I find is ideal as it gives you a lot of options to stealth camp in places a tent couldn't fit. And as far as where you can camp... Be creative about it. I like to look on Google maps fpr patches of woods that can conceal me and then check them out. But I've slept behind dumpsters, in ditches, in a shed that was for sale outside of Big Lots... Your options are near limitless. Just look for your site just as it's getting dark, leave early, and nobody will even know you were there.

 

[ElderGreen9]

Thanks man! Good tips on SF!!!

 

[VikingAdventurer]

The only thing I feel a little clueless on is sleeping outside.

One tip that I was given awhile back is that during inclement weather, find a Home Depot, or some other hardware mega-store, and look for the display models of the sheds outside; They're rarely locked up.

A few words of advice if you do this, though:
1) Arrive late. After 10 pm is usually good, because the employees will have gone home for the day by then.
2) Leave *EARLY*. Before 6-6:15 am. If you sleep in, the risk of getting caught rises exponentially with every minute past 6 am.
3) Always, and I mean FUCKING *ALWAYS* leave absolutely ZERO trace that you were ever in there. This way, you won't accidentally fuck things up for the next guy that might need some shelter after you're long gone.

Safe Travels, and welcome to StP! ::drinkingbuddy::

 

[Will Wood]

If you make it to Ukiah, a friend of mine might help you with where to camp.

 

[CricketsChirping]

I've had semi decent experiences sleeping at truck stops, had a ride put me up in a king suit motel room once, some gas stations that have benches I've had good luck with. My first few times hitching I stuck with a tent (never actually used it) and stayed at truck stops or what not. Now I have a hammock I used mostly at rainbow and I decided screw it. I look for a secluded location then I lay out a tarp and sleep on that in my sleeping bag. was woken up by rain this morning lol but it was a good alarm clock.

 

[Will Wood]

How big is your sleeping kit? A tent? I use either a bivy or hammock. Both fast and small. In one town I was in, a bunch of kids camped in the cemetery. But they went in after dark and left early. And they found places where a driver could not see them.. You may need to talk with local campers..?? Bike paths sometimes offer places where someone could bed down after dark.. Anyway, good luck..

 

[ElderGreen9]

How big is your sleeping kit? A tent? I use either a bivy or hammock. Both fast and small. In one town I was in, a bunch of kids camped in the cemetery. But they went in after dark and left early. And they found places where a driver could not see them.. You may need to talk with local campers..?? Bike paths sometimes offer places where someone could bed down after dark.. Anyway, good luck..

I have a little one person backpacking tent (basically a coffin) but I was thinking I'd just put down a tarp and sleep in my bag if the weather is nice. If I get higher than SF tho will prob need a wet weather option.

 

[Medic0307]

Hey all!

I'm a big traveler but never hitchhiked before. Looking to explore the free traveling world more so I was thinking I'd hitch up the coast (in LA right now) to SF or even NorCal as a little sampler. I'm a big backpacker/ naturalist so I have all the gear. The only thing I feel a little clueless on is sleeping outside.

Anyone whose been that route/ feels like imparting some nuggets of wisdom to a first-timer, hit me up!

Also just saying HI, HELLO, HOLA, ALOHA, BONJOUR

So I use a eno hammock. In golden gate park you can be there until midnight. If you have a camera or something you can get away with saying "oh I'm just taking a couple photos before the park closes". Almost every time they inform me that I need to leave soon and left me be.
The park opens at 5 am so really you have time. If there was a way i would give you a couple of specific pins of some of my favorite spots in golden gate park but about two years ago I was here for two months and straight up slept there every night in a different spot.
Also if you use a hammock your not pitching a tent like a lot of the other people do. That's also a huge reason the park gets mads at people and kicks them out. When you have a hammock though they completely dismiss me as a homeless person.
You might get the its illegal to throw your hammock around the trees because it hurts the bark. I only got that from the other squatters that were concerned about me getting a ticket. They suggested i put a towel or something around the straps that go around the tree , because then it doesn't hurt the bark. Personally I never got in trouble for that problem.
Overall I had a lot of people who were impressed I was using a hammock. I just put my sleeping bag on before I hopped in my hammock and crash there I went.
Its also really good for a security device. You can hook your bags up to the carabeaners that come with the eno hammock . So if anyone tries to roll up on you and steal from you , you'll feel it because the hammock will start shaking.
Also something funny I realized in a hammock in s.f., so when there's earthquakes and your in your hammock your hammock will start shaking randomly because the trees or whatever you hooked it up to willl start shaking. Its actually really trippy.

Hope this helps.

p.s. Most raccoons , I found out, are pretty chill in golden gate park. There are a couple that were like rabid , I believe. but for the most part I had raccoons come up to me look at me , see I'm not a threat and walk away.