My beloved Mercury News is not one to pile on or anything, but this morning’s edition does have one more update on the couple lost for five days: a point-by-point recitation of everything they did wrong. Oddly enough, the story missed one of the most obvious precautions: tell somebody where you’re going to be hiking. Our lost couple neglected to do that. They were trapped in a brushy canyon from Saturday till Wednesday before the authorities put two and two together and figured out the car that’d been sitting in the Castle Rock parking for days belonged to people who were missing. Once the light bulbs went off in their heads, they found the people within 24 hours.

As long as I’m pounding this subject into mulch, I may as well add this entry from the Summit Post bulletin board, where our friend Fedak posted a link yesterday. Many correspondents rained ridicule on our hapless hikers, but one stood foursquare for common decency, to wit:

Castle Rock State Park seems pretty darned civilized, but it has some steep, brushy, and rugged terrain. I’m glad these guys were found. I hope that their story motivates evening walkers in rugged country to take a few essentials with them, and avoid the need for rescue.

It’s easy to second guess or poke fun at people who need a rescue in a situation that would seem trivial to the second guesser.

But it’s rarely appropriate.

When I f**k up and need a rescue, I’d prefer to see the following kinds comments on my favorite bulletin board:

* Expressions of sympathy for me and my loved ones while I’m missing.

* Expressions of joy once I’ve been rescued, or expressions of condolences once my body has been recovered.

* Assuming I’m not dead, analysis of how the situation could have been avoided, for future epic prevention.

Not a bunch of clowns telling me I’m light.

We’re all light compared to somebody out there.

Exactly.