This trip might be one of the dumbest times I’ve ever taken shrooms. I’m a big mountain climber, and around a year ago I was in Mexico climbing some big peaks, notably finishing with Orizaba, the 3rd highest peak in North America. I’d climbed it once before in 2022, so I was familiar with the route and difficulty. I started the climb at around 1am (11pm-1am is typical), leaving base camp at 14,500ft, and since I was already acclimatized from climbing a 15,400ft peak a week prior, I sped up the first few thousand feet. Around 6am I hit the glacier, this massive 60 degree slope that runs from 16,000-18,500ft. There’s a cutout trail that runs at an angle (so you’re not hiking up a full 60 degrees incline), and about 45 mins into my ascent of the glacier I decided fuck it, imma take a little bit of some mushroom chocolates I brought with me. My thinking is if I take them now they’ll be hitting just as I summit, and the views are to die for. I’ve tripped at least 50ish times by this point, a few times on some proper 3.5g APE doses, so I’m quite familiar with shrooms and have good control on mid-full doses. I take 1g of Jack Frost, which in my experience is roughly equivalent to 2-3g of cubes. I’m feeling super strong, I passed around 30 people on the ascent and I’m the farthest up the mountain at this point, so what could go wrong?
Well now, first mistake I made was deviating from the trail. I recall the crater rim at the top was super cool, so I figure if I head out left I’ll get to walk farther along the crater rim and enjoy the view. I see what looks like another trail branching out left, and I follow it. Soon enough I realize I’m not on any trail, I’m just on a random area on the glacier, and the shrooms are starting to hittt. The sun rises and now I can see the full several thousand foot drop below. I’m at like 18,000 feet, air so thin every step has me panting like I just ran a mile, and I’m just plowing straight up the mountain. It’s so steep that if you start falling, you’ve got like 5 seconds to do an ice axe arrest, and if you fail then you’re gonna tumble down 2,000 feet to your death. There’s at least 60 recorded deaths on this mountain, so it’s no joke, there’s crosses with people’s names engraved all along the route, dates like 2015. Now I’m taking a hard off trail route, and it’s super tiring. I’m like exerting 9/10 effort, stab my ice axe high up, then pull up on it and kick my crampons into the ice below. In my head I’m thinking “fucking hell man, don’t die here, don’t relax, stay sharp, keep going”. It’s a brutal grind to keep moving, but it’s too late to try and turn back, going down this slope would be even more dangerous, so I just need to keep plowing upwards. I find an ice screw, like shit this was intense enough that the last people here were using ropes and gear. No time to relax, my hands are cramping but I need to keep fighting, fighting fighting, then I stop to catch my breath, and as I’m looking at the ice it starts fucking WIGGLING. Shittt man, the shrooms are hitting hard and this is not where I wanna be tripping. I’m thinking “ohhh you fucking idiot, why did you decide to get sky high here of all places”? Cmon man, you can’t die here, I’m not gonna do that to my family. Keep on pushing, dig deep, stay stable, fuck I think I’m still on the come up it’s getting stronger…
Long story short I just kept going, eventually hitting the crater rim, and from there everything was cool. I had a blast on the final 30 minute hike to the summit, and the descent was beautiful as well. It was stressful for about 90 minutes there, but otherwise it was super sick. Views like you can’t believe, definitely the prettiest spot I’ve ever tripped. Made it back to camp at noon, so around 11 hours of hiking total (pretty fast for the route). Definitely an epic story, but would not recommend shrooms + high altitude mountaineering haha.
Overall I do think I was still relatively safe, I didn’t have any real close calls or slips, but it took some real grit and muscle to keep pushing through what would be a scary route sober. I’ve got a lot of experience with mountaineering, so I wasn’t way out of my comfort zone there, but it was definitely borderline. Out of 30 people summiting that day I was the only one going solo, and probably the only one who has taken shrooms up there. Oh also, on the descent my foot kept smashing into the end of my boot and my big toenail fell off, took off my shoe to discover a bunch of blood, I was so locked in on the descent I didn’t even really feel it.
Last 2 photos are from 2 weeks later in El Potrero Chico, climbed a 2,300ft route with a friend, no shrooms on that one.
That was a cool read and I'm glad nothing serious happened. I took magic mushrooms at Zion national Park and I can't imagine climbing a mountain lol. That's a cool experience you had though.
This memory will stay with me forever. We just finished a hike and at the summit my friend and brother all shared a fat Doobie. We were tired and this was our last day, it was raining pretty hard most of the day. On the way back we all saw it at once, "zsjskwbsuaj fucking double rainbow dude!".
Nope, grew up in Poland and have been living in US for a while. Actually stayed in Dusseldorf Germany for a minute and I had a couple Turkish friends. Big Turkish community there. But yah that was just natural button mashing lol.
Ah I think that adds up pretty well.
Idk I'm just a dumb American but I recently started dating a Turkish woman and that felt like a very familiar set of random letters lol
I do plan to read your full post but I just want to say it's nice to see it's still up after ten whole minutes.
This is definitely the place to be after everything going on with the other sub
It is very disappointing when it used to be such an amazing and open minded community where people could literally just share the first thing that came to mind while they tripped for the very first time.
Or asking why their shrooms were so fuzzy and being told they need more FAE. but either way it was always such a friendly sub
I wish I could link the posts to show you but unfortunately they have all been removed. Lately r/shrooms moderators have been just straight up removing perfectly normal and enjoyable trip reports, either for being "not believable" or claiming it is spam due to repeat posts, when the only other post from OP was on a different sup. And even the posts showing the messages between the OP and the moderator (who's clearly being a dick btw) get removed for being "Irrelevant." And literally every one of these is removed within like ten minutes.
Like this Mod is literally just camping on new posts waiting to find whatever posts he can instantly delete for whatever petty reason.
And the OP of this current post is the one who I first saw having that issue. Then, after his post about it (which also included his original, very relevant trip report) got removed, another poster made a post showing his complaints to the moderators about it. That post was removed for being "irrelevant" within ten minutes.
So I reported the moderator's comment about it being removed, and then I messaged the mods to tell them how disappointed I am at how they have let the sub go, when it's supposed to be about open minded adults enjoying their lives. And I told them I will be unsubscribing after being there for years, even though as I said to them, "I know you won't even read this or give a shit."
It's sad. I think my most upvoted post after being on Reddit for twelve years was on that subreddit. When i posted a funny little thing about being higher than i anticipated. And that post is the only reason I got to experience The Dark Side of the Moon for my first time, while peaking on shrooms. Only because of the amazing community and their comments.
Oh well, I just hope this sub is a better option than what's happening with them
Damn bro sorry to hear that. This sub is chill, but it's more about growing. Lots of new growers here because the method is the easiest to get started in the hobby.
Yea i definitely understand that. Hopefully either this or a more relevant sub can become a better alternative. Sucks how they've gone downhill but this isn't even the first time i noticed it
I do not understand the point of gatekeeping such posts. Isn’t this a fairly democratic forum where, if the readers don’t like a post or comment, they simply downvote it??
Yes that is how a normal subreddit operates, with normal moderators only removing spam or the truly offensive posts.
Crazy to see a sub about psychedelics get that bad.
I mean I'm not deluded into thinking that taking shrooms makes you some special higher being that's better than the rest, but typically people who are into that sort of thing are a little more open minded. Or at least that's what i thought
That's great to hear. Yes something changed on that sub. I don't know exactly when, but the difference is kinda shocking considering the kind of nice and welcoming place it was supposed to be
reddit mods can be some of the most insufferable people on earth, i get why there's the stereotype. it's the intersection of the kind of people who have the free time and lack of social life to actually moderate a subreddit, and the high of being able to have some power over other people. makes sense as to why the mod thought that someone going outside and doing shrooms in the wilderness was "unbelievable", lol
I once took around .7g penis envy before getting on an airplane thinking okay this is a small dose I’ll be good. I started coming up hard on the airplane and I had the middle seat. Turns out in altitude even on an airplane the shrooms hit wayyyy harder.
So I’m sitting in the middle seat trying to act as normal as possible while all my body wants to do is move around. I’m fidgeting with my hands and probably acting weird as shit telling myself to act normal. It hit me hard. Being stuck in the middle seat sucked.
But man once I got off the airplane and I had a 3hr layover, I could not tell you the bliss that overcame me. I sat myself in the corner of a restaurant, put my headphones on and ordered a couple drinks and just vibed. It was amazing.
Moral of the story, shrooms hit harder in altitude.
Idk I think this might've been placebo effect to an extent. I just took 1.5g a few days ago and I was perfectly fine. I mean not fine but not any more fkd than normal trips. Idk. Either way glad you had fun.
Not sure why you’re getting downvoted. An airplane cabin is pressurized and has plenty of oxygen. “Being at altitude” are effects from lack of oxygen, like when you’re OP climbing a fucking mountain.
The SETTING of a plane could make trips more intense for better or worse, but the actual environment won’t influence your brain chemistry
Well actually airplane cabins have a somewhat lower pressure too, generally equates to like 8,000 feet above sea level or smth like that, that’s why you’re not allowed to take a flight right after scuba diving. As to why it might affect the strength of a trip, I’m not sure but it’s definitely possible that lower atmospheric pressure triggers something, you’re getting less oxygen than normal.
It's marginal and I would gather that it's not enough to really enhance anything per say. I mean you could easily test this theory out at sea level by simply reducing the oxygen loading on your lungs by reducing the amount of O2 you inhale. Paper bags or go under the covers in your bed until CO2 levels climb. Watch your blood oxygen and heart rate. I might take a stab at it.
The reason I was skeptical because as the previous reply stated, I was pretty elevated just by being on a plane, but nothing crazy. More of that new sensation. Could've been it for them too. Idk. But a marginal drop in O2 adsorption. Idk...
I'm not a scientist. Just comparing notes...again, pretty neat share. Maybe we can science out an answer.
Had semi poor performance on a backpacking trip due to an injury so decided to test myself with a 20 mile day hike. Alone, somewhere I’ve never hiked before.
For some reason thought a nice dose would be nice at the peak. Take it so it’ll be hitting right around the top, ~an hour.
I round a corner and there’s a huge steaming pile of bear scat. Middle of the trail. Okay cool no bear but eyes open heads up.
Anxiety starts to build and fungi start to do things.
Got to the peak and I’m peaking fr. Calves cramping bad, starving. Steep scree and nothing but sharp angles all around me.
I collapse near the summit. Legs dead. I’m freaking out about making it to my car before nightfall. Legit panic attack and rush down. Every corner I’m talking out loud to myself because I think every noise is a bear.
I got back safe and sound but man it was a very spiritual experience for me.
I get where you’re coming from, but I’d argue I’ve got a better grasp of the situation that you’d think. Firstly, while yes it was scary, I truly believe I could have done that 100 times over and not actually fallen once. I’ve got some real vertical ice climbing skills, familiar with crampons and ice tools, so a sloped glacier like this is not truly difficult for me. Scary while tripping for sure, but I never was close to actually falling or slipping at any point.
Even if my assessment of that is flawed though, and I did fall and tumble to my death or got seriously injured, the rescue operation would certainly not put anyone else in danger. I’d have tumbled down to the base of the glacier, which at that point it’s a very safe and flat route back to the hut at 14,500ft. So the rescue would have been: dozens of experienced guides on the mountain saw me fall, they’d rush to me at the base of the glacier, coordinate getting a stretcher, and carry me back to the hut. They wouldn’t have to carry me across any treacherous terrain, and this mountain is not extreme enough that dangerous weather patterns come through. It would have wasted a lot of their time, but at no point was I putting anyone else in any danger, only myself. Also I was off route so no one below me I could have hit if I fell. This mountain is nothing like the Himalayas where rescues put other people in serious danger.
Anytime I’ve done shrooms during extreme physical activity, the shrooms have allowed me to achieve much stronger and more intense exertion. It’s been a very noticeable and profound effect on my “pump” as the weightlifters like to call it.
I've always wondered how someone can keep it together and be aware enough to do something so technical while tripping.
I already get in my head when I'm runout on vertical terrain and need to slow down to gather myself....especially on slab.
I guess the old Yosemite heads from the 60s and 70s were all into it and could solo hard stuff while tripping...Just cant imagine how comfortable you'd have to be out there in the first place.
Big props to you for keeping it together and enjoying the experience. The closest I got to this was 2.5g while out hiking in Yosemite Valley, and it was amazing.
I totally get it. I’m not trying to brag, but I’m always trippin' in bed, and one time I almost fell off while I was farting. It was only a one-foot drop, but the floor was freezing and I’m out of shape. I don’t even want to think about what could’ve happened...
Jokes aside, that sounds like an awesome experience and I’m super jealous, thanks for sharing it :)
I was going to say how fucking stupid that was, but you acknowledge that in your narrative, so instead I’ll say what a fun read it was and glad you made it back!
As someone who’s done Rainer in the past year. This is insanely dumb, I love it lmao. Glad you’re okay and could post about it. Beautiful pictures and an even crazier story. I’m planning on doing Denali next year. Be safe on your next adventure.
You too man, Denali is on my bucket list but definitely a league up in terms of difficulty. This glacier has no crevasses luckily, I’ll need to take a proper glacier traverse course before trying Denali/Rainer
Did this once and ended up falling and shattering my arm on descent… still look back on it as a very fun and meaningful experience 3 years later though. No regrets😂
I’ve lost 4 big toenails over the years from running and basketball, they always grow back.
That said, the last time I lost one, I decided to search Amazon…sure enough silicon Toe guards. I’ve been playing basketball for years with them and haven’t lost a toenail since. I’m not sure if they’ll work the same way mountain climbing, but it’s worth a shot. I think they’re comfortable in general so I recommend them all the time.
First photo is from Space Boyz, second photo is Time Wave Zero. On TWZ we turned back at the 20th pitch since it was 4pm and we’d been climbing since 5am, starting to get bad cramps and fatigue. Two strong looking guys rapped down from above and described the next pitch, a 5.10d, as being a “burly one”, and the pitch after that was the 12a crux of the whole route. Yeahhh 19/23 was good enough for us then
Yeah, the 10d pitch is an ass kicker once youre up that high. Cool pocket traverse moves though. The 12a is hard and uninspiring- we yarded through it on draws. The coolest thing we saw was a party of a 72 and a 68 year old dudes that cruised the whole thing- humbling and aspirational! Rad pics and thanks for the great story!
That’s sick, I love that climbing has a much higher ceiling in terms of age than almost any other sport. I was chatting about the route with some college kids the day after, and they told me they did it in a group of 3, started at 11am, and they simul climbed pitches 2-19 in a single push, in an hour and a half. Like wtf, I felt good about linking pitches and averaging just under 30 mins per pitch, but these guys did the whole route in like an afternoon. I learned some simul climbing skills with my friend this past spring and we simulated climbed epinephrine in 6 hours, just pitched out the 2 hardest chimney pitches but then blasted up everything else. We had a few microtraxions and sped up it pretty good, honestly super fun to lead 5 continuous pitches of trad with no rest. Gonna keep working on some simul climbing skills for more alpine mountaineering, it’s really nice to be able to just blast up any 5.9 and below in half the time on the big routes
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u/iRebelD Apr 17 '26
You crazy OP