Do you talk on a cell phone while hiking?

[kmorgan]

It never ceases to amaze me how many people, supposedly out on the trail to get away from civilization, spend half the day either making or receiving calls on their cell phones! Why not carry a laptop and a fax machine too?

I carry my cell phone for emergencies only. I keep it in my pack and it's OFF! I want to hear nature, not "Hi honey, what's for dinner?" or some such nonsense.

 

[Pete_Hickey]

I hate those damn things

Yeah, well I hate them more than you do!

I hiked for years before they were invented, so I don't see why I should have them now.. And I don't need them when I go to the supremarket, in case I don't know which brand of butter to get.

I understand their usefulness and practicality, but I want no part of that.

I don't want people calling me at all kinds of times. I don't want people to expect ME to call them. Heck, the voices in my head are enough. I have to bring a device which lets me have more voices?

And I'll hop on my bicycle and ride down to the mountains and hike...without a cellphone.

 

[onestep]

Cell phones are dog whistles for people.
-Lisa Loeb.

Amen

Onestep

 

[Dalraida]

Nah

Don't own one anymore.

 

[jade]

I only use mine when I am in the produce section of Bread and Circus, gosh forbid I forget the papayas again...or

When I am walking down a crowded city sidewalk catching up on who's breaking up with who with my gal pals........or

While driving at excessive speeds on the Mass Pike, cell phone in one hand, Peets coffee in the other...people honk at me when I swerve in and out of traffic because I haven't a hand free to use my directionals--jeeez, how intolerant....or

At the theater--only for emergencies though, like when I want to order Sushi before the show is over so I don't have to wait in those gawd awful lines......or

From a funeral or wake ONLY if I have forgotten to program the VCR to tape my favorite show......or

When my tent zipper gets stuck and it's dark outside and I'll be damned if I'm going to spend the night outdoors on a mountain surrounded by wild animals..."Hello, Fish and Game? Ya, it's me again, Jade...you won't believe what happened to me this time"....or

To see if Cantdog has made it to my truck first so I can ask her to warm it up for me.....

I plainly see the benefits of cell phone use for AT thru hikers who can call ahead for food drops and such....luxury smuxury, it's a necessity!

Why all the whining?.....Ooops, I hate to be rude, but guess what's playing the theme song from Will and Grace?

...Jade

 

[king tut]

There always seems to be a lot of cell phone bashers out on this site. I own a cell phone, only because land lines make no sense to own. I am rarely home, and I normally talk a good amount to people long distance. I never go out of my way to talk on a cell phone when I am hiking, but if i hear someone call me, i'll answer. I also like to talk to people on some summits, if I need to reach someone during the day, b/c that is where the best signal is. I have never seen a "talkaholic" hiking and talking on a cell phone at the same time. This "person" who people seem to be so opposed to, I am convinced don't really exist.

If there is a really fat lazy person on top of mt washington yelling loudly into a cellphone about the idiots that walked up to the top of the mt, and he is smoking a cigar and wearing a hawaiin shirt that doubles as a tarp, that might annoy me.

The only people that really annoy me are the out of stater yuppies that come up to the ski areas like Sugarloaf(places where all trails empty out into the one and only base lodge) and yell loudly into their walkie talkies to their brat children about exactly where they are and exactly when they should meet. This normally takes about 2 minutes of static and yelling.

While we are on the subject of electronic equipment. I notice there is a large discrepancy between the support for cell phones and other equipment like GPS. If hiker A sees hiker B using a cell phone, he might regurgitate his lunch and scream at him for interrupting the sounds of his foot steps and the mating call of the chickadee. Yet, a moment later, he pulls out his GPS and my lord, he is now on the cutting edge of technology and everybody loves him b/c he can tell you exactly where you are, how much elevation gain you have hiked, and where the nearest roads are.

Sooo, until i see this mysterious Wall Street tycoon carrying his fax machine, copier, cell phone, and other equipment up the mountain, i will be a doubter. That would be pretty frickin hilarious though. Others might swear at him and throw eggs on him like he was an enemy of PETA, but i would enjoy watching this. How about a competition to carry this stuff up a white mt? Then at the top of the mt, you would have to go Office Space on the stuff. Sounds pretty fun to me, who's in?

 

[Clown]

I carry a cell phone on a hike, for an emergency only but I always keep it off. The rest of the time, I'm like king tut, it's practical to have a cell phone rather than a land line, they cost the same. Not only do I carry a cell phone, but I have a pager also, and I carry them all day long. Now I know people hate it, but some people have jobs that are necessary to use communications during the day. What can you do?

 

[alpinista]

This topic has been debated, mentioned, discussed etc., exhaustively. But ... here's my answer: Although I can hike and talk at the same time , I usually pull over to the side of the trail and try to stay out of earshot if I have to use the phone. Here's my reality because of work: I need to have a cell phone or I wouldn't be able to hike and get out into the woods. I'm on call 24/7. No phone, no fun, no hiking. That simple.

Am I one of those people who pulls out the phone on a summit and blathers on really really loud about some silly topic? No. Would I rely only on the phone to pull me out of a jam? No.

 

[jmegillon149]

don't own a cellphone, my take is this: you can call me at work, you can call me at home, you can call me at my parents house or weekend house, I almost never go more than a few days without being in one of those places, so if I am hiking, skiing, at the gym, etc., I'll call you when I get back, after all, there is MAYBE one time every few years when something so catastrophic happens that my involvement warrents immediate reaching, and its not worth monthly payments becasue some fluke may occur

off of my personal soapbox, I have never had a problem with cell phone users on trails, maybe a handful of times I've sen someone make a quick "hey I am at the summit" call, but thats not that annoying, if people were gabbing away as they walked up the trail, it would suck, but I never see that happen, not even at the Monadnocks of the world

 

[cushetunk]

I too have a cell phone as my only phone line.

I keep sane, both in and out of the woods, by remembering this: Just because my phone can go anywhere and be on all the time, does not mean that it HAS to go everywhere and be on all the time.

 

[Rick]

I carry a cellphone and if I am gone during weekdays, I might also bring my Blackberry if I am committed to tryng to get a few contracts negotiated via e-mail while I am out. I have the cellphone (turned off and in my pack) in case something ever happens to me from a medical perspective. If I have a signal at night, I discreetly call and whisper goodnight to my 5 year old from my tent - Otherwise one probably wouldn't know Ihad one unless they needed to borrow it for an emergency...

While I don't like to hear folks loudly blather on about every intimate aspect of their lives on a cellphone. I also realize I cannot change their behavior, so I don't let it get to me and simply move away from them.

It's funny, though. I was completely anti-cell phone until I got one a couple f years ago. No I wonder how I lived without it for so long.

 

[rhihn]

I've never owned one. That technology somehow just slipped right by me. I may break down and get one at some point, but wouldn't carry it when hiking. I've come across many hikers with them, mostly on mountain tops. I've never let them bother me.

 

[David Metsky]

<mod hat on>
We've done this many times in the past, and they've all turned into flamefests. I don't think this one is going to end any differently, but we'll give it a short leash and see how it goes.

Feel free to answer the poll (which listed biased choices to begin with) but no editorializing. If you feel the need to rant at other people, please find another forum to do so.

-dave-

<mod hat off>

 

[lumberzac]

I’ll admit it, I was one of those people that was on my cell phone on a mountain summit with the conversation starting with, “Guess where I’m calling you from?” It lost its novelty after the first couple of times. Now I rarely even carry a cell phone with me when I hike.

 

[Pete_Hickey]

Something I didn't mention. About people yaking away on a cellphone on the trail or summit. It hardly ever bothers me. There isn't much difference hearing a group yaking away, or hearing someone on a cell phone.

The only time if bothers me, is if I'm hiking with someone, and my partner is spending the whole time on the phone.

No, cellphones don't bother me when they are with others. Only with me. So much so, that I was willing to change jobs and take a pay cut to eliminate having to carry one. I'd rather be lonely and poor.

Use them and yak all you want.

But now, if you start asking me about putting up towers so that there is coverage everywhere in the mountains....

 

[sweeper]

I've carried one for years and have yet to recieve a call on it. I don't even know what the ring tone sounds like.
It's off and in the pack. Do I use it in the mountains? Yes. I'll call SWMBO at work as I summit, or call my mother who would love to be there but can't any more.
I will move well out of earshot of people to use the thing.

 

[mavs00]

Okay, Okay................. I admit it, Damn you people.

Last week, I pulled out my TREO 650 on top of Colden and called my wife to tell her that I was making better time than I thought and that I needed to be picked up 1 hour earlier than we'd planned (she dropped me at the trailhead and was picking me up at a guesstimated time). It was the 2nd-3rd time I'd ever done so. Not that it was an excuse, but I was hiking solo.

There was exactly 0 people within about 3 miles of me at the time. I try to hike off the beaten path so as to annoy noone....... Come to think of it, in the last year, I've shared exactly (and I checked) 3/34 summits with persons outside my immediate hiking party (Cascade twice, Porter once).

I also admit to the sin of carrying a cell phone, most of the time, both at home and when I travel, including to the mountains. I'm not sure why, I'm not that important, but I do.

I hope I can be forgiven by you folks, my friends, for my transgressions.

{hanging head in shame}

 

[kmorgan]

I have never seen a "talkaholic" hiking and talking on a cell phone at the same time. This "person" who people seem to be so opposed to, I am convinced don't really exist.

While we are on the subject of electronic equipment. I notice there is a large discrepancy between the support for cell phones and other equipment like GPS. If hiker A sees hiker B using a cell phone, he might regurgitate his lunch and scream at him for interrupting the sounds of his foot steps and the mating call of the chickadee. Yet, a moment later, he pulls out his GPS and my lord, he is now on the cutting edge of technology and everybody loves him b/c he can tell you exactly where you are, how much elevation gain you have hiked, and where the nearest roads are.

Was out hiking Friday in Harriman with a group of 10. As we reached the top of the first climb I saw one of the women talking to someone as she came over the top. We stopped for a snack and out came 2 other phones! So these people really DO exist (either that or I have to stop eating all these wild mushrooms)...

As for GPS usage, at least they don't create a disturbance. They are about as annoying as someone writing in a notebook on the trail, i.e. not at all. My only pet peeve concerning GPS's are the people who rely on them for navigation. You should be able to navigate with a map and compass, or at least with a compass. Personally, I like to keep records of my hikes with a GPS. It's nice-to-know information and I can make customized maps if I want on a rainy day (like today).

 

[Neil]

Sooo, until i see this mysterious Wall Street tycoon carrying his fax machine, copier, cell phone, and other equipment up the mountain, i will be a doubter. That would be pretty frickin hilarious though. Others might swear at him and throw eggs on him like he was an enemy of PETA, but i would enjoy watching this. How about a competition to carry this stuff up a white mt? Then at the top of the mt, you would have to go Office Space on the stuff. Sounds pretty fun to me, who's in?

http://www.vftt.org/forums/showpost.php?p=112291&postcount=60

 

[king tut]

To each his own. I am not bothered by cell phone users, but i do try to not be near anyone if i ever have to use mine, just b/c i know that there is a demographic that do not like them. As far as the wild mushrooms, i would stay away from those. I saw some friends in college talking to furniture for hours on end b/c they thought they were involved in a deep conversation w/ someone. ha ha.