If any of this is surprising, then I recommend you investigate further in any good guide to survival and get yourself equipped. There's a phenomenon going on in the US today in which some hikers have concluded that if they bring their cell phone along, they can take more risks since the ranger is just a call away. Thus distress calls are becoming more frequent and are exhausting state and federal rescue resources. Quite justifiably, states such as New Hampshire and Oregon, I believe, have started charging for rescue. Lately, I've tried calling my wife from the woods to test the odds of getting through when there are mountains all around.
Cell phones are line of sight devices with limited power for transmission.
Calling from just anywhere doesn't work and there aren't many towers in the woods. Don't depend on this as a survival technique. It was a nice day amidst a week of almost constant rain. Just before ascending Tabletop we decided to take a look at the nice view from Indian Falls. There we ran into a man and his daughter bound for Marcy's summit.