I don't know if you saw how they were dressed, but they did not appear to be climbers at all. More likely, they were geocachers -- people who go out looking for geocaches. Climbers are normally there to climb. Typically, they couldn't care less about a geocache. Climbers would have very different gear with them as well.

I wouldn't put much stock in something written by a journalist. If you think those two geocachers don't know much about the wilderness, try talking to a journalist.