In case of emergency

[rick56]

I'm planning a weekend trip in June in Yosemite near Hetch Hetchy. I have a small Cobra 20 channel two way. Anyone know if Park personel monitors a particular channel in case of trouble? I do not plan on using it unless someone is in need of emergency assistance. Back in the day I heard that police used to monitor channel 19 on CB band, but I don't remember if thats true. And no I'm not going to dial 911 on my cell. I don't own a smart phone and the cell I use gets no signal in the boonies. So I figure I'll bring the walkie talkie just in case, it does not weigh much and has a range of about 7-15 miles. But of course being FM I'd have to climb up high and scream real loud...just kidding LOL. Funny I've read alot on here about toys like kindles, and movie players and GPSs but never heard of anyone using a small two way to call for help if they come across someone in dire straights? Just 2 cents from an old Army grunt RTO. Last question, is there a phone number I can give to a friend to call in case we are not back on time? I plan to give him a copy of my map with details.

[dan]

No monitoring is done of radio frequencies. The backcountry rangers have a limited set of repeaters for their radio network, called ParkNet. Don't know anything about frequencies. I've found a cell phone does work. But you usually have to climb a high peak with views of the Valley below to get reception. Not really that hard--usually a fair-sized peak is reachable in a few hours.

The FRS radios have limited, line-of-sight range, if that's what you're talking about and aren't suitable beyond contacting people in your own party.

[AlmostThere]

FRS radios won't get the channels you are wanting to connect to. I do have a radio that does - but it's not an FRS and I doubt you want to spend that much money! It would be cheaper for you to buy a SPOT instead. You will find that FRS radios in the wilderness have a lot shorter range than they put on the box and border on useless unless you have line of sight with the other party.

You would want to give your friends the Yosemite main number, which is on the nps web page, so they can connect with the rangers to report you overdue.

[rick56]

Thanks, What is a SPOT?

[AlmostThere]

http://www.google.com/products/catalog?q=spot&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&ie=UTF-8&cid=10879286480957654461&sa=X&ei=wE7DTe3EBo2usAPqsrWaAQ&ved=0CEIQ8wIwAg#

It will leave your tracks on a googlemap for the folks at home to follow. There is a 911 button to press if you need to have emergency services find and retrieve you. If you go out a lot alone, this or a Personal Locater Beacon will be a good tool to give your family piece of mind and you a failsafe in the event you are injured.

[rick56]

Thanks I looked it up. A bit smaller than a regular GPS. Lot of boaters use them it looks like. Costs about the same as a hiking unit, they should just incorporate those features into a Garmin or other unit with a screen. Too much money for my budget. I'm not a Hollywood mogul.

[AlmostThere]

A lot of hikers use SPOT. There's a unit now that also connects to your smartphone.

[oakroscoe]

No monitoring is done of radio frequencies. The backcountry rangers have a limited set of repeaters for their radio network, called ParkNet. Don't know anything about frequencies. I've found a cell phone does work. But you usually have to climb a high peak with views of the Valley below to get reception. Not really that hard--usually a fair-sized peak is reachable in a few hours.

The FRS radios have limited, line-of-sight range, if that's what you're talking about and aren't suitable beyond contacting people in your own party.

Dan, I never get reception with At&t, but friends with Verizon have gotten very spotty reception, predicated of course on climbing to a high peak...