Our group of 5 had several radios pre-programmed on the same frequency. My buddy purchased a pair of these and then had others purchase one of their own so everyone had one: https://www.amazon.com/BaoFeng-UV-5R-Dual-Radio-Black/dp/B007H4VT7A

With the whip antenna, you could make a connection from the trailhead all the way to at least the 99 switchbacks, and we were talking from the summit back down to trail camp. I think when we were halfway back to Lone Pine from the Portal, we could still communicate with a pair that hadn't made it all the way to the Portal yet. Not bad for $25 per radio.