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You never know exactly what you’re going to experience if you decide to take some psychedelics, and it’s easy for things to go off the rails. That was the case with one hiker who decided to scarf down some magic mushrooms in the Catskills only to find himself being rescued by forest rangers who responded to a call for help after his trip took a turn for the worse.
There’s archaeological evidence that shows mind-altering substances like alcohol, tobacco, and marijuana have been enjoyed by humans for thousands of years, and the same can be said for ayahuasca, peyote, and the magic mushrooms capable of inducing the psychedelic effects that are responsible for the label given to the drug umbrella they fall under.
There are countless horror stories (both real and fabricated) concerning the potential downsides of consuming psychedelics that have scared many people away from trying them.
It’s certainly not an experience you want to rush into without doing some research and ensuring you’ll be in a setting where things go as smoothly as possible. However, many people are drawn to them due to the potential to have a profound, eye-opening, and (in some cases) literally life-changing trip for reasons that are difficult to explain unless you’ve experienced one for yourself.
Many people who’ve checked that box will tell you their journey fostered a enhanced sense of connection with the world we inhabit, and psychedelics subsequently tend to be a fairly popular pastime among users who use them to enhance an excursion into nature—a decision that came back to bite one man who went that route while hiking in New York.
Park rangers in the Catskills had to rescue a guy who got too high on magic mushrooms while hiking with his buddies
New York Department of Environmental Conservation
Earlier this year, I encountered one of my favorite stories in recent memory courtesy of two people who took shrooms while hiking in the Adirondacks and called the police to report the death of a friend who was still very much alive.
According to a report from the New York Department of Environmental Conservation, psilocybin was responsible for another incident that unfolded around 200 miles south of that one on August 29th, as wilderness officials received a 911 call via satellite text from a group of four hikers who’d gotten lost in the vicinity of Giant Ledge in the Catskills’ Slide Mountain Wilderness.
The person who sent the call for help admitted they “had consumed mushrooms and one of them was experiencing a debilitating high,” and three rangers were dispatched to track them down. They were able to locate the group a little less than two hours after the SOS went out, and an ambulance was dispatched to evaluate them at the trailhead.
The responders also had to give them a ride back to the rental where the group was staying after they realized they’d managed to lose their car keys at some point, although a ranger returned to the area the following day and found a bag containing them underneath a log.
At least it worked out in the end.