It depends. It sounds like he spoke to rangers who said "No, don't go there." and later on he went anyway...when no one was around. I am pretty sure that Trail Ridge Road had a gate with "Road Closed" sign. He might eventually get a ticket for"creating a dangerous situation" or some such.
The classic priorities for NPS folks are 1)saving lives, and 2)extinguishing fires.
You wouldn't believe the range of expertise one will encounter in park visitors. Some are unbelievably clueless and others may know more about the subject or locale than you do. Keeps you on your toes
Road Closed sign on TRR doesn't mean that hikers and xc skiers can't use it. In fact, it's probably pretty heavily used as it is a nice, wide, known route to follow.
I've had wonderful interactions with the RMNP Rangers during the many years I backpacked there. Often they expressed jealousy or admiration over the places my buddy and I were going or had gone.
I suspect the visitor did not intend to survive. That's pretty hard to fix.
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