14ers.com

Anyone know if / how good cell service is at Horn Fork basin? How about Lake Como? May make a difference where I decide to go. Thx. I have Verizon.

Here is a link for some cell reception reports from Lake Como. I was there last about ten days ago and didn't get good reception with Verizon (one bar), but I didn't try a lot of spots around the lake. I know others who have had good luck at Lake Como though.

http://14ers.com/php14ers/cellreportmai ... &provider=

In a basin surrounded by mountains? Be surprised if you got anything. On a summit you might get Westcliffe, Crestone, something from Sand Dunes NP, or whatever that area south of Lindsey/Blanca is. Intermittent signal along Gash Ridge. Bigger question, why do you need cell service for? For me, like the bumper stickers that say "hang up and drive," I 'power off and hike' or at least airplane mode if it's my wake up alarm.

Lemmiwinks, thanks for info. I didn't see the Lake como option in the pull down menu. Horn Fork is also listed as an option, but no comments as of yet (maybe I'll be the first ?).

Tallgrass - as usual not helpful.

TallGrass wrote: Bigger question, why do you need cell service for? For me, like the bumper stickers that say "hang up and drive," I 'power off and hike' or at least airplane mode if it's my wake up alarm.

I agree in general, and prefer being places where my pay-as-you-go flip phone doesn't get reception.

But the OP's question may be personal (and not in need of justification). I've had a few outings where I wanted reception for personal family reasons. In one case, near Cameron Pass, after driving a few hours, I had to choose my campsite specifically to be able to get reception. Getting a phone update in that case that was delayed by a few hours (when hiking) was OK, but being delayed by a few days (camping) was not. I promised myself and my wife, if I didn't get reception, I'd drive back immediately.
So, something to consider when people ask these questions.

Hope you get what you're looking for, OP!

Doubt you'd get anything at Lake Como. My friend did call his dad yesterday from the summit of Blanca (2 bars, scratchy) to wish him happy father's day. It's pretty uncommon to get reception in the deeper valleys as mentioned above.

Eric

Thanks guys. Yes, I'm not normally joined to the hip with my cell, but I have my reasons for this particular outing.

I have made calls from Lake Como (Verizon) though you may have to go up the road to around treeline. You can see Alamosa from there. Forget about Horn Fork.

Dave

I had great reception on Lake Como road all the way to the lake in April- with Verizon and a Samsung Galaxy 6. Streaming some fresh tunes made the slog out surprisingly bearable.

I've been up to Lake Como twice this year, early March and last week. Both times I had intermittent service via Verizon and iPhone 6S. At the lake, I got mostly old 1X service at best. Did get a brief blip of 3G and LTE a couple times, but NOTHING that could be considered reliable. Once you gain LoS with Alamosa on the way up to the saddle, (Near 13,000) I was able to get good LTE service. As far as the road goes, I had pretty good service from Jaws .5 @ 9,950 feet to just past Jaws 1 as the road goes up into the valley more.

TL:DR Version: Don't expect good service once you pass Jaws 1.

-Ryan