Hitching with a Hippie

As I stepped on to the crumbly asphalt on the edge of the road, I rehearsed in my mind the things she had told me. “Stand up the road a bit from a spot that is easy to pull over. It will take the driver a few seconds to make decision on whether he wants to pull over, and even then, he will only pull over if there is a spot where it is easy to do so.” I found my spot close to the downward sloping ramp to get on to I-70. Then I thought through the rest of her words. “Take off your pack and place it on the ground in front of you, so that people can see that you are a hiker.” I proceeded to carry out this step, but then I froze.

This was as far as the tips about hitchhiking had gone that I received from Lane, a girl I met while hiking Quandary Peak last week. I new that there was only one step left, but my body resisted carrying out this action. I had to stick out my thumb. This was my first time hitchhiking. I heard that it was a common practice for hikers in Colorado, and I had met many people that had done it. Nevertheless, standing out there on the street in front of a stream of folks cruising by in their plush Sport Utility Vehicles left me feeling vulnerable and exposed. I resisted putting my thumb out because of the humiliation. I felt like I was panhandling; I felt dirty.

I ended up just standing on the side of the road, clutching my pack that sat on the ground for what seemed like an eternity. Finally, I forced my hand up, and timidly popped my thumb up. I felt disgusted with myself, so I looked away. I stood there for ten minutes without having any luck. Ten minutes may be a short time to expect a ride, but I had, had enough.

I crossed the four-lane road, and plumped down on the bench at the bus stop. The free bus would take me to the next town, Frisco, which was five miles closer to my destination: Denver. After riding to Frisco, I got off the bus and once again found a spot near an I-70 entrance ramp. I stuck my thumb out, hoping for a ride. As families and couples walked and biked by me, I once again felt embarrassed. So, I sat down on a bench a few yards away and texted a few friends to complain about hitching with the hope that they would feel sorry for me and come pick me up. Of course, I didn’t want to outright ask them for help though because then I would feel guilty.

After sitting on the bench for a little while, I realized that sitting there would not get me any closer to my destination, and with no better option available (since none of my friends responded to my text), I resumed hitching. Two people stopped, but they were headed in the opposite direction. Nevertheless, their kindness gave me resolve to continue trying. Finally, a guy in well-worn red jeep pulled over on the side of the road. He was well built, had long blonde hair and a full beard. He looked like a typical mountain man. He was headed East, but only one exit further. I figured that traveling one mile closer to home was better than zero miles, so I hopped in his car.

Two minutes down the road, I resumed hitching at a new on ramp. This road was much busier, but I did not seem to have any luck. It might have been the result of the fact that there was no clear place to pull over. In any case, I began to feel degraded after fifteen minutes, so I hobbled on my blistered feet down to Wendy’s and grabbed lunch. After eating, I returned and tried thumbing for another twenty minutes before feeling utterly hopeless. I decided to resume riding the free bus system in order to get back to the point where I got my ride from the mountain man. Unfortunately, I did not know the Summit County bus system well, so I ended up riding around Breckenridge and Frisco for two hours before making it back to my first hitchhiking spot in Frisco.

Once there, I committed myself to thumbing for an hour before seeking other help. After thirty minutes, I received a ride down five miles to Silverthorne. The new location had a busy on-ramp and a clear place to pull over. However, there was already a guy thumbing there. I figured that it was taboo to try to hitch from a spot where someone was already hitching, so I considered abandoning my plot. But, before I could turn around, the guy warmly invited me to join him. His name was Tyler. He is from Missouri and was returning home form the Rainbow Gathering in Utah.

Tyler told me all about the Rainbow Gathering, which is an event that happens once a year for a week that aims to build intentional community. Simply put, it is a gathering of “hippies.” It takes place in a different National Park every year and ten thousand people come. At the event, camping is free, and all food is free (although donations are accepted to offset the cost of food). The use of money is not allowed in the camp, but trading of precious stones, drugs and other things does occur. There is also party-like aspect that some people participate in that involves a drum line and people dancing naked all night long. Upon dawn though, the whole gathering is required to remain silent in reflection until about noon, before gathering together to offer up a blessing of peace for the world. After the event, a group of participants work with the Forest Service to restore the site to its previous condition or as close to it as possible (as Tyler mentioned, no matter how environmentally-thoughtful the group is, ten thousand people are going to leave a mark on the land). I was very intrigued by the way that Tyler described the loving community and the genuine kindness of the people that participate.

Tyler’s description of the Rainbow Gathering kept me entertained as I sat on the side of a busy road breathing in car fumes. I was also humored by the fact that Tyler put two fingers up in a peace sign, while holding his cardboard sign asking for a ride, rather than putting out his thumb. After about thirty minutes, Tyler and I got a ride from a guy named Ross, who was awesome! Our engaging conversation continued in the car. As we drove, Tyler told us more about the gathering and the people that he met there. These people seemed to care for one another with great love even though they did not know each other previously. A couple had given Tyler a ride to Colorado from the gathering and had put him up in their house for a couple of days. As his words rung through my ears, I couldn’t help but think that this was the kind of love that Christians should be displaying. We should be willing to invite in the needy and the traveler. Then, I realized that I could do this. Tyler was traveling to Missouri and had no contacts along the way. The least I could do was offer him a place to stay for the night. Tyler gratefully accepted.

Taken near Grays and Torrys Peaks

Once we got dropped off in Denver, one of my roommates came to pick up Tyler and I. On our way home we picked up some grub, which my stomach welcomed after living off of Ramen and Cliff Bars for a week. When we got home, the conversation with Tyler continued. He told his roommate and I about his home in Missouri. During the last year, Tyler opened his home up to hippies without a home, as well as homeless youth (there are a lot of teens and young adults that travel the country, but have no place to stay). Tyler invited theses folks into his home for free. He didn’t charge them rent and he even used his own money to provide them with food. There were often a dozen or more people in his house. He said that he loved taking care of these people.

As I listened to Tyler talk, I realized that he was more of Christian than I was. I do not know what he believes about Jesus’ death and resurrection and Jesus’ victory over sin, but I do know that he follows Christian practices better than I do. He loves the outcast, gives away all that he owns, has faith that God will provide for him, and cares for nature and the environment. He realizes that the most important thing is that he loves others and gives them what he has been blessed with. After all, everything in life is a gift. We do not own any of the things that we have. Having this perspective makes it easier to give to others.

While Tyler is not a Christian, and he believes in a universal spirit rather than God, he does revere the teachings of Jesus and others in the Bible. He explained that he believes the book of Job teaches us that all in life is a gift. Our belongings do not determine our worth, and the stuff that we acquire is not representative of what we have earned. Job was a righteous man that had an abundance of wealth, then it was all taken away, and he was a righteous man with next to nothing. With the snap of a finger, what he had was taken away. As we read this story, we should realize that our wealth is fleeting too, and should be used for good use.

19 “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. [Matthew 6:19-21]

Tyler also said that as long as he kept his heart open and loved these kids, he was provided for.* He retold stories of how people approached when they heard of what he was doing and handed him cash to help buy more food. He then told us about how he didn’t think he was going to be able to afford to come to the Rainbow Gathering because he lacked the gear needed. But, then he was given a tent to use for free. His roommate ordered a hiking pack off of Amazon, but there was some confusion on Amazon’s part, so they ended up sending his roommate a second pack, believing that the first had been lost. That extra pack ended up being the last thing Tyler needed to be able to head to the Rainbow Gathering. While some may interpret these events as mere coincidences, Tyler realized that these instances were signs of him being cared for. These were loving acts of a gracious God, a universal soul. Tyler also believed that he would be cared for as he traveled home just as Jesus was when he traveled throughout ancient Israel. He took to heart the words in Matthew.

25 “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? 26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27 Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life[a]? 28 “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30 If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? 31 So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ [Matthew 6:25-31]

Tyler’s only criticism of Christians is that we too often make excuses for our bad choices. We often say that the devil influenced us as a cop-out to confessing our guilt and accepting the fact that we have the ability to choose. He mentioned that we all have a god inside us (the Holy Spirit) and we have the ability to listen to the Spirit or to ignore it. I agree.

I think that all Christians have something to learn from Tyler and “hippies” like him. Didn’t Jesus teach us to love others as our brothers, to love those that are different than us, to welcome the needy into our homes and to be stewards of creation?

* Eventually, Tyler began to see his charity as a chore though. Once that happened, he began to harbor resentment in his heart while among those he was helping. Then, a lot of the folks in his house began to drink, and things went downhill. Unfortunately, the group ended up getting evicted for their noise level and the presence of dogs at the house, which the travelling kids had brought with them. While the end was not ideal, it was definitely a learning experience for Tyler about the harms of alcohol as well as a cold heart.