Luck, fate, chance, destiny, probability, call it what you will; some things are just beyond our power to influence, and a small but significant subset of these are also beyond over power to meaningfully mitigate, regardless of our knowledge, abilities, preparation or equipment. The universe does have a sense of humor, and abhors hubris.

An important part of the "wilderness experience" that many seek is precisely the challenge of the unfamiliar, the discomforting, and the not entirely safe. Wilderness merely reminds us what it is like not to be able to rely on the trappings of civilization. But we are, to some degree, kidding ourselves if we think we are, or ever can be, entirely "self-reliant." Nature, in the form of chance, always plays a part, and the best laid schemes o' mice an' men gang aft agley.

So, anybody may find himself overtaken by events and in want of a rescue (just ask Bear). I have to question, however, the widely held notion that neophytes disproportionately tend to get themselves into trouble because, in their mental calculations of risk, they have an expectation of readily available rescue. Or, stated in the reverse, they do things they otherwise would not if they knew that there was minimal possibility of rescue.

I'm just having trouble picturing that internal monologue. "Gee, this could be dangerous, too dangerous for someone like me. But I've got my cellphone, and I can always call for help if I need it, so I'll just go ahead and risk it." It seems far more likely that no such consideration ever occurs. The neophyte's error is not undue reliance on rescue, it is obliviousness of risk. A sunny morning, an inviting, seemingly well-marked trail leading off from the campground, and the thought of a pleasant stroll in the woods are the only things likely to be in the neophyte's mind.

Any thought of rescue just doesn't enter into it. Only later, when they are "lost," maybe wet, cold or tired, it's getting dark, and the woods don't seem so friendly anymore, does the first thought of rescue occur to them.

Fortunately, these are usually the easiest type of rescue, often little more than a hasty front-country search or an easy hoist back up to the overlook parking lot. But takes an "expert" to really screw things up. More complex, larger-scale back-country searches and many technical type rescues are for more experienced, presumably better trained and equipped "expert" outdoorsmen and women plucked from cliff faces and out of river gorges or the like.