I agree; she was not competent. She wasn’t well prepared and she didn’t make good decisions. She relied on that cell phone too much, which was the dumbest thing of all. There are no cell towers in the wilderness.
That area in the photos looks so wooded. Ten paces from the trail she could have had her privacy to do her thing and get back to the trail.
Next mistake: she decided to go to higher ground for cell reception rather than try to find the trail. She knew correctly she was north of the trail. Walk [bleeping] south! There was, if you look at the map, no way that if she walked south she would not cross that trail!
Third mistake I’m not knowledgable enough to comment on but why couldn’t she start a proper fire? Perhaps that was a preparation mistake. But she had lighters. Not getting that.
We camp in a very rainy place so everything is always wet. My husband uses gas it is fastest but we have taught the kids and grandkids how to start fires. Steel wool, newspaper or dryer lint dipped in wax make great fire starters and are very light.