and I'm continually surprised by how often I find cell coverage in the middle of nowhere. Note that the lost soul who was the subject of this thread was able to use her cell phone. It's a tool, whether it works or not is another issue. I'd prefer to use my GPS compass and map to just walk out.

Like KenK I preload key locations into my GPS before a hike and then I add waypoints on the route: car location, key points on the trail, et al -- waypoints are cheap.