Great point!
I think if it was someone you knew and you were home waiting for them (hopefully looking at a note stating where they had gone and what time they'd return, of course), it might be different.
What if the story had played out just a little differently? From the article (there was one in the local paper as well), it doesn't say what time the hikers called 911 to say "we're lost." What if it was just a little different...what if someone from home instead had called the authorities at 10 pm and had said, "Our friends went out on the AT and should have been home 3 hours ago?" Then, when they were found safe at a camp, would they still be morons or just lucky?
Is it because they called for help that they are morons? If they were found dead of hypothermia, would we be saying "Those morons had a phone, they should have called for help!" ??????????
By the way, I agree with the practice of charging for rescues, especially based on a bonehead scale.
Landshark