If you "plan" an entire trip in wildlife with a single "hey google..." I'd say that you are personally very irresponsible and should or could be charged for any rescue operation.

That would be just a step short of driving onto the railroad tracks because your phone told you to turn right.

And when I am going hiking on a route I had not been on before, I take a map of the trail and use it, especially at a time of the year when one should expect temperatures exceeding 35°C.

If he had made his way to his intended hiking location, it is quite possible he would still have become lost, as the trail system there has many branches.

I would sure as shit double check. Google Maps is awful at locating any trail except the most well-trodden. You'd be a complete fool not to double check, as the person in OP demonstrated.

I would never trust an AI designed in the pleasant SV to guide me in wilderness, no.

why would I expect my phone to get that right on the first try and not verify it? how lazy have tech people gotten that they blindly trust terrible tech?