Don't forget, those comments were posted in a local newspaper, not on a hiking forum, so expect some to be far more critical than what we might expect to see here or on other outdoor forums.

As for what anyone should carry, I would suggest carrying enough to survive until someone would find you if you did not return. That could mean anything from a light jacket and a few energy bars to a full kit of winter gear, bag, shelter and stove included. In Yosemite in winter, for example, if I was walking out of sight of my tent, I had enough to support me for at least two days, which might not have been enough for an extended bivouac, but probably would so given the possibility of being found in a busy park, even in winter.