He had planned his trip on a tight schedule. His water filter failed. He had a backup water supply plan. This much was stated.

My 2 cent theory: He was using water faster than he was used to, and his boiling water plan was slower than he was used to. With the thought of missing his scheduled return time, his flight, etc., he was consciously pushing himself to keep moving at the expense of his water intake. That started a downward spiral that was caught because he did other things right.

I'm about the same age as this guy, and also use a water filter as my primary supply. My backup is chlorine tablets first, and then just drink the water, next. (I've read stories of people in the Grand Canyon area dying of dehydration by a river. That won't be me.)

This story did strike a chord with me, but not specifically for the water reason. It's that my daily work leads me to push forward, to make an extra effort, and that could translate into something dangerous, as it did for this fellow, if I did the same thing in an environment more hostile than an office. Sure, I carry more gear, but that won't help me if my head isn't screwed on right. Ok, that's not the point...the point is I don't want to get in the spot where I *need* help.

So at the risk of rambling way off topic, this is causing me to re-evaluate my own normal plans, and add two things: 1) An early 'checkpoint' on any trip, to evaluate how I'm doing and decide to either continue or return. If I'm behind schedule, I return, pre-decided. 2) Padding an extra day or two on the trip, so that if things go more slowly than expected after the checkpoint, I can continue on at a slower, steady speed, or rest for a day, without setting off alarms. This also means that the standard supplies get bumped up 1-2 days, so I don't have to worry about that, either.

A final thought - Not to just throw out a plug for ham radio, but if he had a ham radio with him, he likely would have been able to get a message to his friends and the trail registration people that he was just behind schedule, that might have taken the pressure off and made things work better for him. Certainly would've made him easier to find.