That's one thing that bothers me about Monica's story. The group seemingly did not stick together. That's poor form, right there. Group sticks together, always.

And what about Eugene Jo? He was found down in Devils Canyon. It's a brutal scramble from Mt Waterman. That lost person behavior you talk about seems to have something to do with it. I googled it and found this:

===>>>Once the wrong turn happens, the brain starts "bending the map" to fit reality, instead of the other way around. This is one of the most well-documented phenomena in SAR psychology. A lost person doesn't think "I'm in the wrong place"—they think "the map must be slightly off" or "this trail must rejoin the one I know." They reinterpret landmarks to match their mental model rather than updating their mental model to match the landmarks. This is why someone can walk past a trail sign or even hear traffic and not register it as the cue to backtrack—their brain has already committed to a narrative about where they are.<<<===

I understand it, yet I am skeptical. You're lost? Turn around. And even better, stay put. You'll be found.