the first theory was possible toxicity, it didn’t pan out, another person noticed he consumed similar forage as prisoners in a concentration camp during WWII who developed paralysis the plant has animo acids that most people can tolerate, but then you are stressed and starved they can cause paralysis, so there is some chance he was paralyzed by the time he knew he needed to hike out. all of it is speculation though, as others have pointed out a lot of people tired to get him to turn around and he may have been trying to end his life.