Hitchhiking: The Redux
On Friday morning, I woke up and had a quick breakfast of cereal at my hostel. I showered, packed all of my things, told the host goodbye, and set off. I made a quick stop at the Post Office to ship out some of the souvenirs that I bought. After that, I was off.
My plan was to walk about a mile or so to the grocery store at the edge of town. Every tourist leaving town should see me as they leave Seward. Hopefully one would pick me up. I did not make a sign for this particular trip.
I sat my bag down and stuck out my thumb. No one was stopping. I thought this would have been the perfect spot. However, after some time a car did stop, just not the one I wanted to. It was the local policeman. He stopped in the turning lane, got out of his car, and walked over to me. He told me that you can’t hitchhike within city limits. Weird, but whatever. He told me that he could take me to the edge of town. He said that I could sit in the back of his cruiser. He did ask for my license though. He called it in to the station, supposedly so that he would have my name if I tried to do something. Again, weird.
The back of a police car is different. Most everything is a dull, gray plastic, I assume for ease of cleaning. When we stopped at the edge of town, I tried to open the door. An idiotic assumption on my part. Of course you couldn’t open the back door of a police car from the inside. Duh. The hole where the locking peg that you could pull up to unlock the door was also missing. The policeman walked over to the door and let me out.
From there, I walked about a half a mile to this small shopping area. There is a dentist office, a drive through coffee place, and a marijuana dispensary (surprisingly, weed is legal in Alaska FYI).
This would’ve been a better spot. Literally everyone would pass by here to get out of town, and the people who are passing by are indeed leaving town. But I didn’t get a ride as fast as I’d have liked. And it began to lightly rain, that wouldn’t help. I waited about an hour before anyone picked me up. A guy named Jerry in his sixties eventually picked me up.
Jerry was from Seattle. He picked me up partly because he used to hitchhike as well. He was visiting with his family. I can’t remember where he said they were at the moment, but they were off doing something else. He said that he could take me to the Y. That was about an hour’s drive. Jerry was retired from the Army. He told me that he was in the First and Second Gulf Wars.
He told me that everyone that he knew from the First Gulf War thought that the Second would be over quickly too. With the power of hindsight, we know how that turned out. And, he told me, that everyone he was with at the time expected to be relieved by a second string of replacement soldiers; “We won’t be here that long anyway,” they said, “just a few months.” Oh, how reality can differ from expectations so.
Even though we both traveled this road before, it never ceased to be breathtaking. The mountain vistas are incredible. Sometimes it’s hard to concentrate on the conversation because you find yourself lost in a trance from the natural beauty.
I really enjoyed talking to Jerry, but, unfortunately, we reached the Y where he had to turn around. There is a small parking lot for scenic views. I walked over and set my bag down to take some pictures. In the middle, there is a lake surrounded by mountains on either side. A good spot for views indeed. I poked around for maybe ten minutes then made my way to the road going north.
I only waited about fifteen to twenty minutes before someone picked me up. This time, it was a guy named Tom. And, for the astute among us, you might notice some coincidence. Jerry and Tom, Jerry and Tom. Hmm. That rings some kind of bell. Anyway, back to the story.
Tom was also in his sixties. He lived all over the US. He said that he grew up in Pennsylvania, lived for a short time in Japan, lived in Utah with a friend, lived on a ranch in New Mexico for a time, and now settled down in Alaska. He also served in the military, eventually becoming a contractor who worked on predator drones. He is retired now though. Mostly he just spends his time hunting and fishing. He told me that he brings friends or friends of friends or children of friends to come hunting, either for the first time in Alaska or the first time in general. He was heading to Anchorage to get supplies for his next hunting trip.
He told me that he has a plane that he uses for hunting too. It drastically reduces the travel time to some of the hunting areas. Instead of an 8-hour drive, it’s a short flight, and not because it’s a particularly long distance. There just aren’t many roads in some places. He also told me that he has a boat and how he got stuck in bad weather for several days before anyone could rescue him. I asked if he was able to contact anyone when he got stuck. He said he could, but even emergency personnel couldn’t come to him at that point. It was too dangerous for them.
As we approached Indian, Alaska where Austin dropped me off previously, I noticed that the inlet was totally barren of water. This was weird. It was full and beautiful with shimmering water a week ago. Tom told me that the tide change is over 30 feet, sometimes even being negative. It’s one of the largest tidal changes in the world. I asked him if anyone could walk out there. He said that you could, but it can be dangerous. The mud in many places will sink and when you try to pull your feet out, a vacuum forms making it hard to get out. He told me about this couple that took their Jeep out there and got stuck. The lady got out and she herself got stuck in the mud. Eventually a helicopter came and tried to get them out, but the tide had already changed so much that it was no use. The breathing tube wouldn’t reach that far down.
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| View at the Y |
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| Me at the Y |
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