Sounds like he's the unluckiest lucky guy or maybe the luckiest unlucky guy. At least it was summer so he didn't die of hypothermia. It was unwise to venture from camp without any gear, but it's easy to understand the motivation. I'll just be fifty feet away, camp will still be visible, you think. But it's very easy to get turned around. Hike a short ways in the wrong direction in unfamiliar territory and getting truly lost is suddenly a frightening possibility.

If survival is graded pass/fail then he passed! But it's a shame to take something that could have been very routine and turn it into a harrowing ordeal.

Dissecting the issue, he did some good things. He recognized the importance of water and finally elected to stay near it. That alone maybe kept this from being the story of a body recovery. Being without food and supplies is morale-crushing but you can go a long time without food.

The obvious thing is that you need to have a good map, a compass and the ability to use them. And this completely validates the rationale of something like the Ritter AMK PSP! With minimal gear carried on body you will at least some stuff to help if you get lost.