Any incident has a systematic chain of events that can ultimately lead up to a tragic conclusion. This includes car accidents, airplane crashes, hiking injuries/death and so on. Science and post incident investigations has long proven that somewhere in that chain of events, poor judgement, not well thought, wrong or even worse - no decisions have played a role in tragic situations. The chain of events leading up, can be weeks, days, hours or minutes in the making. In this deceased person's case, we will probably never know. That does not mean I am passing poor judgement directly on the person, but simply stating a fact that is perhaps uncomfortable for many to realize.
Except that up thread you did seem to be passing judgement, when you explicitly said:
Judging by the info in the link, she was an experienced hiker - but experienced does not always equate good judgement which was missing on that fateful day.
However, you do make one good point. Decisions made days or hours before could certainly have changed the outcome. If she had just stayed in Seattle, then none of this would have happened.
One simple preparation will insure that you will never die in the mountains, and that is to never go into the mountains. If you do go into the mountains, there is some chance you might die, no matter how experienced you are, or how much survival gear you carry, or how many companions you go with. I'm "simply stating a fact that is perhaps uncomfortable for many to realize."
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