Missing camper found alive in White Mtns of Calif

It is certainly possible to get lost, even when hiking on trails. Here is one way to go wrong when hiking on unfamiliar trails: to fail to turn around frequently and to remember at how things should look on the way back. This is particularly important when passing a place where another trail comes in. It is very easy to take the wrong fork on the way back. Even a compass may not help in such a case.

I think that is what may have happened in the Hawaii case.

The facts are still out on this case.