BAD TRIP

Hikers Rescued After Getting Lost While on Magic Mushrooms

What began as a Labor Day hike in the Catskills ended with four hikers lost, high, and in need of rescue.

Four hikers have been rescued in the Slide Mountain Wilderness after getting lost while high on magic mushrooms. The Department of Environmental Conservation, says they got a call on August 29 from someone saying the group consumed psychedelic mushrooms, with one member suffering a “debilitating high.” At around 6:45 p.m., Forest Rangers found the hikers and transported them back to their rental lodging, the DEC reported. The next day, one of the rangers returned to find the hikers’ missing car keys and other belongings. “The PBA of New York State commends our Forest Ranger members in the Hudson Valley for their recent rescue of four hikers who were lost in a state wilderness area while experiencing a debilitating psychedelic mushroom high,” said President James McCartney in a statement released by the Police Benevolent Association of New York State on Sept. 4. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, the chemical psilocybin found in psychedelic mushrooms can lead to “distorted sights and sounds,” along with a diminished sense of time and space.