The phone idea is theoretically good but in that type of area (I think she said they were on their way to Lake Tahoe in the Sierra Nevada mountains) most likely wouldn’t have cell reception of any kind. I say this having lived in the coastal mountains of California most of my life and on the 12 mile stretch of road from town to home there are only 2 spots that have actually service. So don’t count on cell phones, but also truly don’t go walking up to some dark cabin like that and be forewarned that there is a good chance you’ll get a gun pulled on you (mountain folk be paranoid!!😉)