If you can pick out an object in the distance in the right direction, you focus on that. A tree, a hill, a rock, whatever.
When you reach it, verify your direction. And do it again. It takes a little training. And you can do it without a compass. If you have a watch, you can use the sun. At night, hunker down and build a big fire.
Although, once you realize you are lost, you sit your ass down. Build a fire and wait. Someone will find you. Don’t panic. Think about what you are doing.
In this case, she wandered 3,000 yards off the trail? Thats about two miles (just shy of two miles.) She broke a lot of rules.
There are vast patches of woods in the US that do not have any readily available landmarks or defining features to use as a marker. Using a compass takes some experience. I find city slickers lost in the outback around here once or twice a year. Even with a real smartphone GPS feature - no map preloaded and out of cell range.