If you call swinging around in the top of a tree during a lightning storm being prepared, then JM was prepared. Starting out with just some bread and tea, scrambling across scree slopes and across ridges, having no shelter and having to stay up all night to tend a fire for warmth etc. does not look like a prepared hiker to me. I have a lot of respect for JM but he is not exactly a role model for preparedness. He could very easily have died during many of his trips.
Horsecookies.
It's not so much the fact that he died as to *How* he died. Muir may have gone into areas somewhat minimally equipped by today's standards, but from reading his biography, usually spent some time in the
area first and was aquianted with what he was getting into and what to expect - no matter what the season. While Muir very well could have died in an accident or unusual situations, he was prepared
for what he would face and had the knowledge to deal with where he was. John Muir very well might have bought it in his travels - but probably not from Ignorance.
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