Cell Phones on Mt. Rainier

I don't own a cell phone. It has been almost two years since I had one in my name and I usually make fun of people who have them. On my recent trip up to Mt. Rainier I borrowed a Samsung Super-Duper 2000 just in case we got in a bind.

We hiked for about an hour when my partner suggested we take a picture. He took out his 7 megapixel mini digital to find the lithium battery was missing. This being our only camera for the trip we stomped our feet and knew we were in trouble if we returned to civilization with no proof of our climb.

I joked that the picture feature on my phone would save the day. After a *ding ding dong bing* when I turned on the phone and a *bing blong dong* when I took the picture we were somewhat relieved.

We had missed the DC access by a week and took the Emmons traverse up to the summit. We got to about 12,500 ft and I felt hypothermic and we both had altitude sickness. We decided to take one last *bing blong dong* picture and headed down. The climb was very fulfilling and the sites up Emmons are awesome.

I was amazed how well the pictures turned out and wish I would have taken more. So in response to should we have cell phones in the backcountry, I think its ok as long as you turn down the sound, respect others, and try not to look like a 15-year-old girl at the mall.

In response to Mike Gauthiers cell phone coverage question on Mt. Rainier, my T-Mobile serviced phone had no bars and our other Verizon phone didn't either. Walkie-talkies are always good to use and there are always flare guns. KA-BOOM! Watch for avalanches.

All photos here were taken with the AMAZING cell phone and I have already emailed the company to do a commercial.

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