Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Cell Phones or walkie talkies

Will cell phones work on the trail ??

I plan to go to Whitney with a family group and I tend to think some of us will not stay together and or some of us will stay at the camp in the portal and I would like to keep in contact as I Summit ( wishful thinking I guess on my part !!! )

So does anyone know if sell phones will work there ?? Or are a good grade (maybe someone can hlp me there as well) of walkie talkies would be better.

Thanks

I definitely know that my cell phone didn't have a signal at the portal. The only reason I brought my cell was to call people at the summit. I would imagine walkies would be a far better choice.

Cell phones? In most places they will not work and on the summit your cellphone may get confused where as to get a signal. Now tell me, how a walkie-talkie adds to your wilderness experience?

Thank you for your thoughts. I understand, I was just thinking about sharing my hiking experences with those that stay at the camp site.
I will not bring any type of walkie talkie then, instead I will try to convince those that would be staying at the camp site to share my wilderness experience with me by hiking alongside, we have 7 permits and I will be giving them up as people drop out.

Sorry if I caused any problems.

I've never been able to use a cell phone from the top of Whitney. Muir is a different story. I called my wife from the summit of Muir and the signal was so strong that it sounded as if I was calling her from my home to the neighbor's house. Why such a difference between two peaks divided by only a couple of miles on the same ridgeline? That's beyond me. A cell phone will be of no value if you want to communicate with others that are on the trail. Maybe a walkie talkie will do the trick. On a hike of halfdome last week I saw some people communicating with members of their party that stayed at Quarter Dome from the top of Half Dome. I thought it was a great idea. I use Verizon and I've found after many years that it is the best for those needing to make a call while in the mountains. Some folks need to realize that many are obligated to contact their loved ones to let them know that everything is going fine and on schedule. So what if its not astheatically pleasing. Be more tolerant.

Rafael...

Cell coverage will partly be based on your carrier. Verizon works reasonably well but Cingular and Sprint don't.

The most reliable form of communication is a ham radio. The license is easy to get but takes a little bit of work. A small 2 meter hand held unit will get out a long way and is almost as light as a cell phone. It can also be used to communicate with search and rescue personnel in the unlikely event of an emergency.

Walkie talkies are more or less line of site and probably won't work through most of your hike.

When I was on the summit a few years ago, I was able to place a cell call over the Cingular network, but had NO coverage on the rest of the mountain. It is probably hit or miss with coverage at the top, but do not plan to have any other coverage along the trail. We assisted with a heart attack victim lower down on the mountain, and none of the 15 or so people could get coverage on their cells to aid in this situation.

The ham radio route is a lenghty one and does require taking a test. However, another alternative would be to obtain a GMRS license that would provide a very similiar frequency range and much higher power that the standard walkie-talkie with is also known as FRS. THe GMRS license can be obtained thru the FCC over the internet very quickly, and does not require taking any tests. There are many vendors selling GMRS type handie-talkies.

However, please be aware that there are many people that want a wilderness experience when hiking, so it would be important to try and isolate yourself (to some degree) when using communications devices.

My Verizon cell did not work anywhere from the Portal to Summit.

You have not caused any problems for me. However, you might consider the other folks on the mountain who actually might not like their wilderness experience lessened by the static from your radios.

I have a Sprint cellphone..one that does both analog and digital. I've successfully made calls from the lip of the Iceberg Lake plateau (on one of those pinnacles that overlook UBSL) and once I even called Kurt from a bit below Iceberg a bit lower than the waterfall pitch. I also was able to call from the summit. I'm not a big cell phone fan, but I've made 4 calls on 4 trips out there I guess...so they can work.

Chris

10 years ago no one could call anyone from the wilderness. So what has changed? Why do people *have* to call everyone daily? Or has nothing changed, and people that had to stay in contact just not go before? That would partially explain why more people are venturing outdoors...

-lance

Having a means of communicating within your party is a very good idea, especially if the party thinks it will likely split up. It is good to know that someone is not lost, injured, or anything but delayed when they don't arrive meet when they should, and it is good to be able to find out of someone's injury when a party is split up.

Never rely on being able to communicate by cellphone or radio, always have a plan in case you can't communicate, but things don't always go as planned, it is good to be able to communicate.

I don't understand people who want to spend a lot of time in the wilderness (or quasi-wilderness in the case of Whitney) talking on a phone or a two-way radio (and if you insist on using a radio for lengthy conversation, get an earphone). But I do understand people who need to communicate about location, rendezvous points, ETA's, etc., because plans change, things happen.

I was on a hike 8 years ago when I really wished I had a walkie-talkie. We were on a loop trail, a little over a mile from returning to the car. My 4 year old son and I left the trail so my son could take a piss, with my wife and one year old son staying on the trail waiting for us. We got back to the trail, and my wife was nowhere to be found. I went back up the trail a little, I couldn't find her. Did I misunderstand what she was doing, and she went on ahead? It was the only thing I could think of. So my son and I hiked to the car. And there was no sign of my wife or my 1 year old. So back up the trail we went. We were almost back to where we left my wife when we found her coming down the trail, a little steamed that we had left her. Somehow, we had returned to the trail from our piss site well below where we thought we were. My wife hadn't moved, we got way off track. If only we had radios, I would have called right when I couldn't find her, and this would have been avoided.

I know 4 people who were on a hike last summer, two got ahead, and a person who was behind tweaked an ankle badly and not only couldn't go on, but needed help to get down the mountain they were on. The radio sure made life easier when the injured couple could radio the party ahead and ask them to come back. If they hadn't been notified by radio, how long would the couple ahead have kept hiking before stopping? How long would they have waited before turning back? Who knows, but life sure was better because they had radios.

I don't think it is a great idea to spend endless time chatting on a telephone or radio while hiking. But I think it is a great idea for any party with the potential for splitting up to carry a communication device that will work.

"I don't think it is a great idea to spend endless time chatting on a telephone or radio while hiking."

amen, brother.

Walkie Talkie... only cel reception I had was on the summit and at the portal. Verizon worked I know others on the summit didn't have service cingular/ATT & Sprint

I often backpack in Yosemite or Desolation with my 15-year-old son, and usually a few of his friends like to come/tag along. We usually go out for three or four days... I also like to fish...get up early...most often alone.
Having a walkie talkie with me allows the security and peace of mind to stay in touch while across the lake.
I cannot see where the harm is.

Secret 237
I have found that there are many who use this forum that REALLY need to get a life. They want wilderness experiences and yet they only go to the most popular trails and complain that they are overcrowded. There are many uncrowded places to hike that are miles from all modern convienences if you choose to do so.
First 14

Walkie-Talkie for sure - cell phones dont work most of the way. Use it only for coordinating/emergencies, but definitely carry one! You never know when there might be an emergency - you can read my post (Summited Whitney, an AMS story), where a walkie talkie would have helped tremendously.

From time to time we have tried to use the hand held walkie talkies on the trail. I am referring to the ones with a four mile range. It was mostly to keep in touch with others in the group who had gone on ahead, or sometimes when the group got separated.

They don't really work well unless you have a straight line of site. Get very far away, like a mile or so behind trees, and the reception goes way down. Occasionally someone came on line and told us to get off.

A few years ago I ran into a boy scout troop high up the Cottonwood Pass Trail. Only problem was, they thought they were heading to Mulky Pass and Bullfrog Meadow. Because of the various ages and fitness levels of the group, they were strung out for a long distance. The leaders argued strongly that I was wrong, but finaly settled down after we got our respective maps out. Both the front guy and rear guy had walkie-talkies, so they were able to get reassembled and figure out what to do. They were close enought to the pass that I suggested Chicken Springs as an alternative, even though a couple of the young scouts and one of the overweight leaders were hurting.

Perfect world solution is solo or small groups and no electronic gadgets - but sometimes the perfect world solution isn't possible.

Back in April when our group was basking in the sun on top of Whitney there was a large Korean contingent coming up the main trail and reaching the summit plateau. Some of them had two-way radios and they were crackling and hissing and garbled stuff was coming over them. Richard said it sounded like Everest base camp for a bit..hehe.. Those guys had all kinds of cutting edge jackets, boots, equipment.. But I noticed all of them were breathing just as hard as I was..so I guess it isn't the equipment that makes it any easier.. I didn't feel like the noise of the radio (just an occasional squelch break and a short message) was out of place or anything..and it didn't bother me.. Some folks use an earbud or something with them..might make more sense if the goal is to be less intrusive on others..I dunno.

Chris