I live in Nederland and work in Boulder. It is 17 mile commute through windy Boulder Canyon. In that 17 miles, there is 2,500 foot elevation gain from Boulder to Ned (as we locals affectionately call it). Up in Ned there is a lot of national forest land that allows long-term camping. There are quite a few hitchhikers that want rides from Ned to Boulder in the morning or Boulder to Ned in the evening. A lot of them are folks who make their lives in the woods of Ned and go to Boulder to make money as street musicians, odd jobs, panhandle, or just go to the soup kitchens in town. Some are “regular” working folk. I frequently pick these hitch hikers up. I have some interesting conversations as a result.
I have decided that one good thing to do with my blog is to create a series of “Hitchhiker Diaries”, explaining the people I pick up. This first entry I have is about a pair of men I picked up in Boulder a few days ago. They were camping in the West Magnolia forest area. One sat in the front seat, the other crammed into the back because my back seat was down for storage and it was all he could do. The one in the back was more drunk and/or high than the one in the front, although both definitely were. The one in the back was the leader of these two. He was a little older and the one in the front deferred to him about where they would get out and if they needed to go to town before making their way back to camp.
When I pick up pairs of men, it is almost always the case that they have banded together in some way for some period of time, and one is always more “senior” than the other. Next time I pick up a pair, I’ll ask more questions like how they met, if they travel together, etc… I’m curious to know more about them.