Fwd: [pct-l] cell phones

[Ddd51 at aol.com (Ddd51@xxxxxxx)]

In a message dated 12/14/2003 5:53:17 PM Pacific Standard Time, 
sierra_marmot@yahoo.com writes:


> I did an I-8 to Idlywild section this past April and took a cell phone with 
> me for the first time.  I was hiking alone and a bit ahead of the pack.  
> ......
> 
> 
While cell phones are handy, they are not useable on a large section of the 
trail outside of the High Sierra. Last year, I climbed Mount Talac, which is 
just east of the trail, overlooking Lake Tahoe. I could pick up a clear signal 
on the summit, but I could not make a call.  According to the people at a 
cellar store in my area, the small "flip" phones can only transmit about 2 miles.  
Hence your typical cell phone will only work if you are with in two miles of a 
tower, with an unobstructed view. Unless you are paralleling a major road, 
odds are you won't get to use your phone. Even areas where one would expect cell 
phone coverage, like Carson Pass, you shouldn't depend on it. As far as I 
cold determine, the only place a cell could be used between Ebbots Pass and the 
north edge of Desolation, is at Echo Summit.