I am fairly certain that due to the laws of physics, there are no ham repeaters available anywhere within miles of that canyon either..
But I do agree with you on his stupidity, which is surpassed only by the 4 assclowns that decided to go Jeeping up Cleghorn on Saturday night in the middle of the blizzard/flurry.. and... got stuck/trapped... Lucky for them Cleghorn has cell-service almost the entire route -otherwise they'd still be there, Jack Torrance style..