Picking Up Hitchhikers for the First Time

I never expected to say this, but we picked up hitchhikers for the first time. Here’s what happened.

After leaving our stretch break at Stanislaus National Forest, we mustered the strength and energy to keep going. We had the windows open for fresh air, and we see some people alongside the road (speed limit is between 25-45 mph in the mountains), and we hear “Can we get a ride?” from some nice ladies. I look at my friend and we decide to pull over. Over come two guys. I’m confused because I thought we were picking up girls? Then, the husky guys tell us that the girls decided to send the guys first because girls can get rides more easily than girls. Yup, if there was a scenario were there were girl hitchhikers, we would stop. If there were a couple guys, we would have passed. The guys tell us that the girls are like brides because their sweet, innocent voice attract more rides. So true!

It turns out that the guys who worked in the oil industry quit/laid off and started the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) in southern California and were traveling all the way to Canada. So, they needed to get to Bridgeport (where we were going) for some errands and would head back to where we picked them up to continue the journey north.

And so, here they are!