A few posts have suggested that the women were reading their compass incorrectly. After reading the original article again and looking at some maps, that might not actually be the case.

Unfortunately the language in that article is imprecise, it states:

The women thought they were hiking back toward Upper Kananaskis Lake - but they had become turned around and were headed in the opposite direction, into B.C.

If they were where I think they were, they were basically hiking around a few peaks; heading into BC through the North Kananaskis Pass and heading back into Alberta through the South Kananaskis Pass. Roughly speaking this would require them to head SW and then at one point switch to a SE bearing.

If they missed the point where they needed to change their bearing they could have been "headed in the opposite direction, into B.C." as the article states while still being on a correct bearing, technically speaking (e.g., still heading SW, knowing they were headed SW). The error then would have been determining their actual position on the map as opposed to being an issue with their compass skills. I don't know if this was the case, but it seems like a reasonable possibility.

My map of the area says: "The trail from North Kananaskis Pass to Palliser River and north to Palliser Pass is overgrown, but passable. (not for the inexperienced)"

Interestingly, my trail book (highly regarded, but one edition old) shows a route between these passes on the BC side which is not shown on my (more up to date) topo / trail map. Trail 100 in this diagram is the one I am thinking of (this is from the trail book, not the map, obviously):



Interestingly the difference between my topo and the book is the section of trail between LeRoy Creek and Beatty Lake.

Based on the description from the article, it also sounds like this is the general area where the women were found (it said they were "by the Palliser River near Beatty Creek").

Regarding the dehydration, this is described as a fairly strenuous hike and we have been having weather as hot as it gets up this way, for what that's worth.
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Victory awaits him who has everything in order — luck, people call it. Defeat is certain for him who has neglected to take the necessary precautions in time; this is called bad luck. Roald Amundsen