Keep in mind there are some issues with the BaoFeng radios. The microphone in them isn't very good, and you have to set a lot of things before you can transmit on amateur frequencies legally. They're good radios though. I keep one in my go bag, one on my desk at work, one on the kitchen counter. For just talking in the woods over a couple miles, they might work... I've used similar radios for it. One option you might consider is not the BaoFeng radios, but getting used handheld radios, the 6meter band works VERY WELL for cutting through dense "woods." Check out this site for used gear, but get your license first. Most people won't sell to a non-ham.
http://swap.qth.com/
It's a very rewarding hobby. I think you're on my facebook list, if not message me and I'll add you. I talk about radio frequently on there.
Here's what my station looks like as of last week:
For HF, I've got an Icom IC-718 HF radio, an MFJ 992b tuner, Ameritron AL-811 with 572b tubes in it (800W output or so), feeding into an 135ft Off Center Fed Dipole. I do pretty well, and occasionally serve as net-control for some of the HF SSB (Single Sideband Voice) nets. There's about 50ft of RG-8x outside, and inside it's all LMR400 Flex after the amp, and RG213 before the amp. I'm waiting on a tuner to arrive so I can get a little bit more power out with less work on the tubes (the MFJ tuner isn't high power enough to work on the other side of the tube amp.)
For VHF, there's a Yaesu FT-2900r going through a diplexor (allows use of both UHF and VHF radios on one antenna) to a Dr. Ed Fong J-Pole on the side of my house using LMR400, up about 35ft off the ground. For UHF, it's the same, with the exception of a chinese made Golden One Telecom GOT GY-1907MU radio. VHF puts out 75W and the UHF puts out 65W, but there's about 62ft of coax between the radio and the antenna.
I have a portable HF rig, which looks like this:
But that's a picture on the roof of my building at work. Logged a few contacts while I was up there, but it was 45F that day, so I only stayed up there for about 35 minutes. I think it's 283ft MSL, and I was about 90ft above the ground.
Here's a close up of the radio:
Last weekend we went out to a local state park and I setup the portable rig:
I made a few contacts, Tennessee, Louisiana, Georgia, and tried to get an italian station (they're notoriously bad operators) but he didn't care to listen hard enough to hear my ~5 Watts.
Now that you're sorry you brought it back up, have any other questions?