What a crushing story to read. I'd read it before but forgotten some of the details. Mistakes were made to be sure; many of them trivial if made alone but as they stacked up it became tragic. The linked article was pretty good but still a bit incomplete, so maybe some of my assumptions are incorrect. But it seems she had no good topo map of the region nor any true understanding of land nav. She seems to have had no GPS, which combined with a bit of knowledge also could have made it a minor inconvenience instead of a years-long body recovery.

The media does indeed seem to consider anyone with their own backpack to be an "experienced hiker". Well, enthusiasm isn't the same as experience and love of the wilderness is not the same as knowledge. Knowledge is lighter than gear but just like gear, knowledge can fail you.

I don't presently own a PLB. I never venture [at the moment] to places far enough off the grid that I need one. But you can bet that if I get to take a more remote trip I'll be picking one up first.

As sad as this tale is, there's a small silver lining if it prevents someone else from making the same mistakes.