Hikers on Mushrooms Call Police to Report Friend’s Death. Friend Is Behind Them, Very Much Alive.
By Logan Andrew, Editor-in-Chief | FreeWire — Your News, Your Voice
In today’s episode of “What were you smoking?”, we take you to the picturesque Adirondack High Peaks, where two hikers celebrated Memorial Day weekend by reaching new heights… mentally.
On Saturday, May 24, the New York Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) received a frantic 911 call: a hiker had died on Cascade Mountain. Tragic, right?
Except for one minor detail: he wasn’t dead. He was just walking a little slower.
The two hikers who made the call were reportedly in an “altered mental state,” having ingested hallucinogenic mushrooms and, as a result, taken a wrong turn into a parallel reality. When they encountered the summit steward, they claimed not only had their friend perished—but that they themselves were lost. Spiritually? Definitely. Geographically? Also yes.
Then came the plot twist: the “dead” hiker phoned in to say, “Hey guys… I’m fine.” Forest Ranger Praczkajlo quickly located him, alive and unbothered, and escorted him back to the group’s campsite—possibly after explaining that he had not, in fact, passed into the afterlife. Just… y’know, was walking twenty feet behind them the whole time.
Meanwhile, the other two were given the VIP escort down the mountain by ambulance and state police, hopefully to a place where trees don’t whisper secrets and rocks don’t breathe.
According to the DEC, the trail is popular, scenic, and “challenging.” Apparently, it becomes extremely challenging if you’re high enough to confuse a living friend for a ghost.
Moral of the story: Mushrooms belong on pizza, not on mountain trails. And if you’re going to trip, maybe leave the eulogies until after you check who’s still breathing behind you.
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