Originally Posted By: BruceZed

2) "They were tired and dehydrated, but otherwise OK, Webb said." They may have been relying on a stove to boil water for them and simply run out of fuel. I was hiking for a week just south of there two weeks ago. Every stream and river were still running higher than normal, so there should have been plenty of water. There rescuers said they were dehydrated so some part of their water purification system was not working.


Or simply forgetting to drink enough water when they hiking about. Since dehydration can happen in a couple of hours, they may have been concentrating on finding their direction and not enough time on drinking water.

The other day in Grasslands NP, I hiked for 7 hours in 32-35*C heat and drying winds and went through 4 litres of water via 2 water bottles and a 3-litre platypus. Using a platy and sip tube made hydrating myself easy. If they were relying on water bottles alone then I think it is easier to forget about drinking enough.