Any point to carrying a cell phone?

[maybe clem]

I don't see much coverage of that area on any provider maps. What have your experiences been?

[Freedom Walker]

What provider do you use? I use Verizon and had good coverage when I hiked Springer to Neels. i have read here that Verizon may be the best. But I suppose that can vary from state to state.

[maybe clem]

CT, not AT.

[Mags]

Once past Copper Mtn (going Durango bound) or so, I suspect cell phone coverage will be spotty at best. You are leaving behind the Denver Metro area and the built up ski areas.

Mind you, I don't take a cell phone when outside, so this is all conjecture...

[ARambler]

Probably no point. Probably half carry a cell. I'm not tough like those who I saw signed in Parkview back in 2006.
Rambler

[garlic08]

I used to live in Evergreen, CO in the foothills, in similar terrain to the start of the CT. Coverage there, in a town of over 30,000, was very spotty. You'll get coverage pretty much only when you can actually see a tower, in my very limited experience.

[DuctTape]

There's a little coverage here and there. The section from just beyond Twin Lakes to Salida more or less follows the same ridge through a state highway travel corridor. I also remember having coverage on the final segment or two going into Durango. I found it convenient to able to call for reservations at the hostels.

[Mags]

Probably no point. Probably half carry a cell. I'm not tough like those who I saw signed in Parkview back in 2006.
Rambler


If you went to Parkview Mtn while attempting to hike the Colorado Trail, you were seriously lost. ;)

[ARambler]

If you went to Parkview Mtn while attempting to hike the Colorado Trail, you were seriously lost. ;)

I'm not sure I had a point. I most wanted to support your point that it is not neccessary to carry a cell... and your other posts: basically hyoh.

Unfortunately, I long ago went to the dark side, and have (since 2006 along with most CDT and CT hikers) been using my cell phone. This year, I saw that you and Skittles signed in the register north of Parkview (in ca 2006, do you remember Lex's and her Husbund who were the first to sign the register?). In 2008, I gave Skittles and Recess my car to drive to TN Pass. btw: cell phone reception was not good for "Lost" at TN Pass this summer, so some high points are good for cell and some are not.
It is my greatest hope that I will be able to add to this thread after my CT hike this summer. Whether Mags will have brought me a Ten Fidy or I will have lugged a cell are second and nth greatest hopes.

Rambler

[ShelterLeopard]

Any point to carrying a cell phone? Not much. If you have one, and don't want to pay for a payphone, and like the security of a phone in your pocket, go for it. Mine (verizon) often had coverage when I needed it, and I'm a young lone female, so my family really liked knowing I had a phone in my pack. But, I never ever turned it on on trail after the first week. I only used it in towns, and it was nice. But I would never miss it. (The only time I ever used it on the trail was to call Blood Mountain Cabins from the shelter about 5 miles from Neel Gap. Whilst snuggling with Cygnet, Axman and Cowboy for warmth, and realizing that we really, really, really wanted a warm place to stay the next night. We were pansies? What can I say? And loved it.)

[Mags]

Whether Mags will have brought me a Ten Fidy or I will have lugged a cell are second and nth greatest hopes.

Rambler

If I bump into you at RMNP, I'll drive you 30 minutes to Oskar Blues and get you a Ten-Fidy on draft along with a Silo burger.. (http://mailman.hack.net/pipermail/cdt-l/2010-February/003422.html). Yumm..
.

ps. I also signed the resister in Pie Town as "Couch to Fridge 2007"..so take everything I say with a LARGE grain of kosher salt (alsop yummy). :D

[mcskinney]

you can make and receive phone calls from the tops of most 13er's and 14'ers, can usually send and receive text messages from most 12er's and most passes. It's all line of sight, just get high enough and it will work.

[harryfred]

I have no knowledge of the CT. I do know with cell phones it is line of sight so if all else fails get high and clear of trees. cell phones on the AT and most of central PA and MD has been good with AT&T. I do carry one because my wife wants me to I check in quickly at the end of the day if I can or as soon as I can the next morning. I leave my phone off other wise. My rule to her is if it dose not require my immediate departure from the trail I DON"T WANT TO KNOW.

[kgottshalk]

I hiked from Denver to Creede last fall. I had a Tracfone (Verizon coverage) that I usually kept off. I mostly used it to text or send photos a few times a day, usually from spots where I could see a valley with a town. I was never able to send a text or call after Sargents Mesa until I was in the town of Creede.

Karl

[300winmag]

SPOT sells a cell phone companion that turns your cell phone into a "Sat phone" for e-mails and texts. Plus it has it's regular SPOT functions.

[flow]

When I was on the CT I saw a shuttler posting a note to a hiker saying to "double SPOT" at such and such point for a pick- up. Kind of a good idea. I presume this is pressing the OK button twice. You could pre arrange a code system of pressing the OK button at time intervals sent to the email list for resupply pick-ups, caches, etc.

[RWBlue]

SPOT sells a cell phone companion that turns your cell phone into a "Sat phone" for e-mails and texts. Plus it has it's regular SPOT functions.

Tell me more.

[300winmag]

RW,

GOOGLE SPOT's site and see all their products, SPOT II, SPOT CONNECT phone companion and SPOT/De LORME GPS & beacon combo