I hesitate to get too picky, particularly if I wasn't there -- and who knows about the accuracy of press accounts.

Still, to be so completely turned around does seem like a lack of basic outdoor skills. You can't take along a compass as an amulet or lucky charm; you have to know how to use it. In this case, even a consideration of "which general direction should the sun lie in if we want to go east?" might have been really helpful. You have to keep an eye on the big picture in navigation.

HJ