IMHO, long blonde hair would have worked just as well (my wife is blonde).

Inexperience and lack of preparation - that is what gets people in trouble. Carry a cell phone, especially in an area like that around Santa Barbara, where coverage is pretty decent.It helps to carry the Ten Essentials,including some sort of FAK, but that gets back to the original problem.

In addition to responding to emergencies, my unit carried out a fairly extensive public outreach/education campaign in an attempt to raise awareness