Hitchhiking

After we arrived at Pinkham Notch Visitor Center we knocked some dirt off and used the restrooms. When it looked like Dave was almost ready to go, I started walking out to the parking lot to see if I could find someone to give us a ride to Conway. As it happened, someone else was walking to the lot at the same time. He said hi to me, and we started chatting. In short order I asked for a ride to Conway and he said “sure, it’s the Expedition right over there.” Well, that was easy! He drove us the 35 minutes south to the Saco Ranger Station, just south of Conway and at the East end of the Kancamagus Highway (Rt 112).

We got out and thanked him, and then walked out to the road to hitch the second leg of our ride back to our car at Lincoln Woods Trailhead, which was another 40 minutes down the road. The 3rd vehicle that passed us stopped and offered us a ride. I was floored. Even if we’d had a car staged at Pinkham Notch, to drive ourselves directly back to our starting point, it would have saved us less than 10 minutes of waiting for hitches.

Hitchhiking worked out extremely well for us!