Separate phones for reporter and photographer

Here's the deal on the satellite phone: We're taking two -- one for photos and one for words.

We're doing it just in case we happen upon an ice mummy and there's a national story that needs to be done right then and there. As the movie line goes, "Wouldn't it be nice to have a face to go with a name?"

News can be creepy. You should have seen the first homicide I covered in Bakersfield about 30 years ago. I'll tell you about it some time.

I'll be carrying the one for voice only. Supposedly, you can hit satellites easier with it. So I'll be calling regularly from the trail to dictate blog items, which you can follow. If you have questions, send them along. I'll answer you from the trail.

The other phone is heavier and doesn't hook up very well with satellites because of the mountains. It's for data. Photo data. This fussy contraption could be the source of much dismay from the photographer.

In the photo above, you see three of us from the Muir Trail hike two years ago. We're at the Muir Hut, near the pass. That is the one and only place that we connected on the trail with a satellite phone.