" I have a grms radio (charged) and will be listening/transmitting on #x chanel at the first and last five minutes of each hour."
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Make sure you document your channel frequencies and privacy codes.

462.550
462.5625
462.575
462.5875
462.600
462.6125
462.625
462.6375
462.650
462.6625
462.675
462.6875
462.700
462.7125
462.725
467.550
467.5625
467.575
467.5875
467.600
467.6125
467.625
467.6375
467.650
467.6625
467.675
467.6875
467.700
467.7125
467.725

When the call goes out for a rescue in the wilderness area, there is ONLY one store on the way - CHEVRON. All tanks are topped off but no toys are bought. If you want to talk to SAR use voice on 155.160 Mhz and a rescue beacon on 122.500 Mhz.

Give us the PLB signal and you will only have to walk 100 yards to the horse.

Two lost snowboarders used the little personal radios to summon
help and direct searchers to them. We do have them on our SAR
truck and bring them if we know the lost have them with them.
More and more folks are using them. Leave off the personal security
codes and the radios have a scan feature. They are obviously not
as good as a PLB, but still something to consider for search teams.

Along those same lines, the 2300 news just reported that a family of three in Kent, WA, almost bit the big one. Seems that someone parked the family car in the garage, closed the outside door, and left the engine running. Apparently two adults never heard of carbon monoxide poisoning, or that you should turn the engine off when you are done with the vehicle...

The only problem with this is that 155.550MHz is not a HAM frequency. 2 meter HAM radio is 144 to 148.

I live in Boise and do most of my hiking in central Idaho (which is pretty much the black hole of cellular coverage) and have not been able to find much information on what radios or frequencies are in use. This is good information. I carry a 2 meter handheld with me and tell my wife if I come up missing I'll trasmit on 146.520 if I'm able and hope someone on the SAR is a ham. Any more information on this would be appreciated.

My wife and I decided that since I do a lot of solo hiking getting a PLB would be a good insurance policy and would give her a little more peace of mind while I'm out. It seems like a lot of money but it'll seem pretty cheap if I ever need to activate it.

The next time you are in the back country, give me a time you are transmitting and we will check for reception on 146.520. Just for my own information - who monitors this frequency?

You should also look into the HAM repeaters. If you can communicate with one of these, you can make a phone call. Monitor 146.620 - it is a HAM repeater. There are others.

155.520 is an IDAHO STATE COMMUNICATION frequency. You cannot transmit on it legally unless there is an emergency. It has very broad coverage within Idaho.