Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Cell phone coverage

Is there cell phone coverage on the east side of Whitney? We're a group of 7 who will be driving in from LA and Donner's Pass and a couple of folks flying. We'll want to coordinate pickups, etc. If cell phones don't work we can bring radios, would rather not.

Thanks for whatever attention you can give this.

(I know about the pristine nature of the wilderness. And, as someone who has climbed and hiked a lot, they are a safety matter. One of our guys is 82 y/o, another 70.)

If you are talking about in the Owens Valley, yes.

If you are talking about on the trail, generally, no.

I know I've been able to use cell phones while on the PCT if I could see Mt. Shasta, the south side of Mt. Hood, or the I-5 freeway no matter how far away they were. I kind of thought they'd work on the east side of Whitney since Lone Pine is line-of-sight.

Time to re-think. Thanks again.

Spotty coverage even in Owens Valley, sometimes you wonder what's going on. My AT&T Razr didn't get any signal downtown Lone Pine, while my son's older model Razr worked just fine, same AT&T carrier. A few miles out of town, my phone worked fine.

Calling Lone Pine from Whitney or the trail up Whitney has never worked for me, alhtough we sometimes get a signal. Too far to initiate a call. Last year on Taboose Pass we were able to call from about 10,500 feet, but lost the signal a few minutes into the call, then were not able to connect again. It's a hit and miss. Need communication up there, get an Iridium Sat phone.

1 word......VERIZON!

I live in the Eastern Sierra, and generally speaking, there is cell service along US 395, as well as CA 14, out of LA. There are dead spots along the way, but as your parties are converging and need to stay in touch, try calling around towns/settlements. You should at least have some success leaving msgs for each other via voice mail.

In the peaks themselves it's a different story. Many times I've been on Whitney and of the 20 or so people there trying to call out, maybe 3 or 4 were successful, regardless of the bars on the cell phone. Verizon and AT&T users seem to have the most success, but personally - I think it has more to do with the model phone itself than whether you have Verizon or AT&T. On Thursday a group of us hiked up to Kearsarge Pass for lunch, and watched two fellows try in vain to place calls. Both has Verizon, and had 2 bars - nada.

It's been my experience that once you reach a trailhead, cell service is a bonus. Much higher than 6K' and the connection rate drops quickly.

I've had cell coverage from Onion Valley to Kearsarge Pass, and in the Pine Creek area from just below Lower Pine Lake to near the Pine Creek pack station - using Alltel.

There is also a short section of coverage just below Long Lake, on the South Fork of Bishop Creek.

I have Sprint.

There's a Sprint tower somewhere near Bishop, so I can make calls on my network while I'm very near Bishop.

The rest of of 395 from Lone Pine up to Reno is hit or miss, mostly miss, for roaming calls. ( who wants $1 a minute calls? )

Coming soon. A smartphone, perhaps even an iPhone, that does all the usual cell phone tricks, with satphone connection when required. It's all IP, so you get full internet, with voice running as VOIP.

I know it won't be cheap to use the sat. connection, but if you are in trouble & out of reach of cell towers...

Think of it as a great big cell tower in the sky.


http://www.terrestar.com/
http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Green-IT/Worlds-Largest-Commercial-Satellite-Blasts-Off-855538/

How about cell phone coverage at Whitney Portal? I'm planning to meet 5 other hikers at the trailhead at 5:00 a.m. on Sept 25. If they don't show up on time, will I be able to call them? Thanks.

We had no coverage in the Portal, on the trail or on the summit using Blackberrys and Iphones with AT&T service, but were able to make calls using a simple flip phone with Verizon service from everywhere in the area...unfortunately we used up the last of the battery on the summit due to limited availability of electricity up and around portal and trail area for recharging purposes...So make sure you have a full charge before you get up there.

BillB, thanks for the information. I have a Verizon cell phone. What do you mean by "flip phone"?

My iPhone (AT&T) seemed to work fine for most of the Mountaineers Route this spring, I could even check my emails, mostly below upper boyscout lake though. Most of the time text messages will go out, because it will wait for service to send out, although it kills your battery very fast.

I'm not sure what the brand was...It could have been a Motorola. I think they are also referred to as "clamshells." It was older than all the rest of the technology that was up there but seemed to work the best.

You may have to go "Old School" and just............. wait for them.

I was able to make calls with my Verizon phone from Lone Pine, the Whitney Portal Campground, and the summit this past week. Seems on the summit, Verizon was fairing best.

Last year, from trail camp, I was able to go back down the mountain about 5 mins walk, and could get a signal (Verizon) whereas my climbing partner had no luck whatsoever with his IPHONE until nearly back in LonePine.