I have to confess to being a frequent hiker and never carrying a spare compass except by accident (ex. occasionally loading the baggie containing an older Silva along with the baggie containing my map / newer Suunto). I'm not certain that's the conclusion I would draw from this example - there's not too much to go by, but was she in familiar territory, was it difficult terrain to assess, did she have a map, could she use alternative means (position of the sun) to assess general direction? I am not familiar with Utah at all so I can assume she got twisted in canyons and didn't realize her way out, and in that sense she had the lowest reliability emergency signaling device, her cell phone, and a signal.

Honestly, I tend to rely on knowledge of terrain, my maps and the one compass I have; failing that, I rely on knowledge, map and dead reckoning (which drainage I may be in, and where it may run to civilization). And of course dead reckoning sometimes means I may end up dead.