Hitchhiking from Moab to Denver

Climbing Weasel wrote:

That is a trip report I would like to read. Watch out for serial killers.

Alright, here is my trip report! After sending the only route worth climbing in the creek (Annunaki - 5.11a), we went to Joes Valley so that is my starting point. 

Ride #1 - Huntington to Price (20.7 miles / 21 minutes) - Shawn & Tiffany. Wait Time - 5 Minutes

I started on 4/26 at 9:00am from the town of Huntington. Within 5 minutes of waiting, I got picked up from a nice couple - Shawn & Tiffany. They were headed to Salt Lake City to see some family and we talked about them downsizing houses, van life, climbing, etc. They were a nice couple and I got to ride in a brand Toyota Tundra. They seemed surprised that I had a job and were very interested in what I was trying to accomplish. They dropped me off by the Sinclair's at the front of town in Price. 

Ride #2 - Price to Wellington (8.2 miles / 10 minutes) - James. Wait Time - 45 Minutes

I got dropped off at the Sinclair's at the beginning of town which was a rough spot since a lot of people were driving straight through and not onto highway 191 to Wellington. I positioned myself in-front of the on ramp with good distance so cars had time to stop. I thumbed it for about 15 minutes before noticing a guy walking towards me from the distance. He walked by and I said "hi" and he asked where I was going, I said Wellington and then he said I could just walk there - 6 miles. I said I was trying to get to Denver by EOD so I needed a ride. He kept on walking and then disappeared. He came back about 30 minutes later and then asked if I wanted a ride, I said hell yes as I had now been waiting about 45 minutes. He said follow me and we walked to his "house".. As we walked there, he started talking about how if there's a day and night and 365 days then there should be 13 months and how the government was stealing time from us and not paying us for this 13th month. I quite enjoyed this and then we walked into the front gate of what looked like to be an abandoned house with trash all over. He said, "sorry for the mess, the car's just out back" and we walked to the back of the house. I was quite gripped at this point but decided to follow him anyway... lo and behold, there was two broken down looking cars and we hopped into a Mercury Sable. He drove me 10 minutes to Wellington and I asked him about his life and why he was in Price. He stated he lived there all of his life and that the last decade he was taking care of his dad before he passed. Dropped me off at the Chevron outside of Wellington and said goodbye. Nice guy!

Ride #3 - Wellington to Crescent Junction (74.9 miles / 1 hour, 7 minutes) - Alexander. Wait Time - 15 Minutes

After saying peace to James, I pissed in the Chevron and then walked across from the gas station across the road to get the best position possible for traffic heading East on 191. After waiting 15 minutes, I noticed a semi-truck coming out of the gas station onto the shoulder where I was standing. The truck stopped and then the driver waived at me and I opened the door, he said, "no hablo ingles" and then I jumped in. After using some broken spanglish and busting out google translate, we talked about where we were both headed. He said he was taking a truck full of pollo to El Paso and I was going to Denver so stopping at Crescent Junction would be perfect. He offered me drinks/snacks and I did the same with what I had in my pack. He called his wife and they had a long conversation filled with a lot of laughter. After our initial discussion about logistics, we didn't talk much and jammed out to some Spanish music for the ride. He was very nice and even tried radioing ahead to see if a trucker at crescent junction could take me the remainder of the way to Denver. I was jazzed to get a semi-truck ride as I thought that was no longer possible for insurance reasons. 

Ride #4 - Crescent Junction to Grand Junction (81 miles / 1 hour, 9 minutes) - Ken. Wait Time - 25 Minutes

Once I got dropped off at Crescent Junction, I went into the Alien gas station and took another piss (I was chugging water). I walked by some climbers and said, "you guys headed to Denver?", they looked at me confusingly and said "Not that far.", I got the hint so I fucked off. I looked around and found the on ramp for I70 East, I once again positioned myself advantageously and started thumbing it. After 25 minutes of listening to some music and waiting, a sporty looking red Lexus LC stopped and the window rolled down, "Need a ride?!" said Ken. I jumped into the car and we took off. Ken was heading back to Grand Junction from a car show in Moab. He was retired and lost his wife a fews year back. He made his money in the printing business before digital was a thing. He also talked about how he would hitchhike back in the 1970's and how he had not picked someone up in a while. We talked about the economy, trump, cars, love, and motorcycles. We got his Lexus up to 120mph and avoided a few tickets with his in car radar. He gave me some dating advice and then dropped me off at the Taco Bell on the outskirts of Grand Junction. His parting words were "Thanks for the company and have a nice life!". Ken is the man. 

Ride #5 - Grand Junction to Palisade (10.4 miles / 12 minutes) - Denise. Wait Time - 20 Minutes

After slamming a Crunchwrap supreme at Taco Bell, I was eager to get back at it so I posted up on the on ramp to I70 East. This spot was the worst as there was two roundabouts that then merged into a single lane on ramp that was up a steep uphill so cars had to speed up. I waited here 20 minutes and then a lady named Denise stopped with cars behind her (sorry), I sprinted and hopped into her car and we were off. She was on her lunch break and we talked about what I did for work, her son in the military, and how Palisade had cheaper weed than Grand Junction. She dropped me off at the Golden Gate gas station at the edge of town and then we said bye. Very nice lady and talked about how she used to hitchhike back in the day.  

Ride #6 - Palisade to Golden (232 miles / 3 hours and 57 minutes) - Lindsay. Wait Time - 1 hour

Once again, I positioned myself on the onramp to I70 East and started waiting. I stood here for about 25 minutes and then a guy in a blue FJ cruiser stopped but said he was only going 10 minutes into the canyon so I passed on that ride. At this point in the day, it was around 3pm or 3:30pm so I was really hoping to get a final ride to Denver. I waited another 10 minutes and then two younger girls in a beat up ride asked me where I was going, I said "Denver" and then they said they were headed the other direction. Denise passed going back the other direction to Grand Junction and she honked her horn and I waived. I was very grateful to not be stuck at the last location. I stood there baking in the sun and started contemplating where I would illegally camp if I didn't get picked up. I played some music and then waited another 25 minutes.. Finally, a white Subaru Outback pulled over and a purple haired lady named Lindsay picked me up. Upon rolling her window down, she had one hand on the steering wheel and the other hand on a massive ice cream cone. I walked over to the passenger side and we started moving a mound of stuff out of the passenger seat. She was driving from California to Boulder after finishing up a pet house sitting gig and was now going to see her parents in Boulder. She said she had to stop in Glenwood Springs for a kayak and I agreed that was ok and I would help-out with sticking it on the roof. We took off and talked about basically everything.. I was exhausted after the 4 hour drive but very grateful she picked me up. We got the kayak and then she dropped me off in Golden (final destination). She was figuring things out after having her two kids leave the house. She was also contemplating breaking up with her boyfriend because he wouldn't leave Minnesota. 

That's it. I got back to Golden around 7:30pm and then ordered a celebratory pizza and cannoli. 

I don't write often so this probably reads like shit (Sorry.). 

Thumbs Up!

Wow that’s an awesome write up! You have a good sense of story telling. I’m glad you did it and had an adventure. The people you meet hitching, it runs the gamut of the human experience, though in my time on the road, it’s skews towards the poor and middle class (the nicer the car, the less likely it is to stop). Those with the least to give often give the most. Right on for ya dude, hope you try it again sometime! 

Awesome. I waited 10 minutes for a hitch this morning. A guy named Mike picked me up after asking if I was dangerous. "No, just a dirty backpacker". 

We swapped stories, one where he got lost hiking and had S&R called on him -- turned out he was 13 miles from the trailhead in a spot they've often picked up lost hikers. He initially got off the trail to take care of some business, but noticed there were these rock circles in the ground. He mused there was witchcraft involved and I mused the witched probably lured you into their circles for human sacrifice. That's about the time we got to town. 

Loved this TR! What if Lindsay's boyfriend is on here? haha