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Nature can be far harsher in it's indifference that brings an old axiom to centerstage, "better to be mocked than mourned". Feelings are not facts. These two didn't walk out on their own, they clearly had little concept of what they were doing and their misadventure required a rescue team to risk life and limb to find and escort them out. That they were ambulatory is a nice end to a difficult rescue, their plight could have more easily turned into a recovery had a few more hours passed.
We read stories about people who are totally unprepared for conditions they insist pursuing, many of them perish, some are miraculously rescued and brought to safety. "Not Without Peril" is a book anyone looking at hiking in the White Mountains should read that tell the tale of people who have died in those mountains, some having far more experience than most who made several decisions that individually could have been survived, but collectively doomed them as the chain of events leading to their demise was forged.
There are reams of material to prepare for hiking in various conditions and terrain. Though I have never seen any material that recommends a day hike these two attempted in the Mahoosuc Mountains, in the dead of winter, without appropriate gear and provisions, I have to wonder if they even had matches. These are some of the most difficult mountains in the eastern United States in summer. In winter, even with snowshoes, trying to bust trail while negotiating high rock fall walls, unstable snow drifts that can bury a person, and blazes that quickly blend into the winterscape and can disorientate even the most expert of us, much like the proverbial Sirens calling sailors to their death. It is clear they did not understand what they were walking into. Much like the aviation community, the hiking community reviews these events to better understand how it occurred and how best to avoid a similar outcome. Sometimes there are caustic comments made. Eh, in the scope of the event that's pretty minor. Better to be mocked than mourned.