Hikerdelic Journal

The 1977 Yosemite Dope Lake incident

Every now and then, you come across a story that feels more like a fairytale than real life. And along the long, winding trail of climbing mythology, a few tales stand out - not for superhuman feats of endurance, but for their sheer surrealism. Chief among them is the most infamous, far-fetched, and mind-blowing story of them all: the Yosemite airplane crash of 1977, better known as Dope Lake. Ask anyone about Dope Lake and you’ll get a different version of the story. But here are the facts: in the dead of winter, a Beechcraft twin-engine plane - crammed to the wings with Mexican red-hair marijuana - lost its bearings in a snowstorm and crashed into the frozen expanse of Yosemite’s Lower Merced Pass Lake. The wreck sat quietly beneath the ice, holding not only the bodies of the two pilots but an estimated 6,000 pounds of weed, shrink-wrapped and waiting. Word didn’t take long to travel. News of the crash filtered through the trees and into Camp 4 - the infamous stomping ground of Yosemite’s dirtbag climbers, who spent their days scaling granite walls and their nights dodging Park Rangers. Suddenly, a new kind of expedition presented itself. Allegedly tipped off by a radio call relayed by a climber’s Park Ranger girlfriend, a small group of dirtbags set out on the initial hike to the crash site. What they found was nothing short of a miracle: a plane embedded in a frozen lake, surrounded by bales of high-grade hash. They hauled back as much as they could carry and made their way - slowly and carefully - back to Camp 4. Their return sparked something close to a second Gold Rush. Word spread like wildfire, and soon climbers from across the region were making pilgrimages to Dope Lake - some reportedly bringing chainsaws to cut through the ice and free the bales. Supposedly, some dirtbags walked away from the affair with their pockets well-lined, and there are rumours - unsubstantiated, of course - that this is how Yvon Chouinard got Patagonia off the ground. Not saying we buy that… but it's a good story. The product itself, by all accounts, was absurdly potent. Joints were known to singe eyebrows on lighting, thanks to jet fuel soaking into the bales during the crash. Sadly, though, the high times didn’t last. Eventually, the DEA caught wind of the operation and shut it down. But by then, the legend had taken root. Dope Lake became climbing folklore - a hazy crossroads of wilderness, rebellion, and wild opportunity. Slogan tees appeared, emblazoned with: “I got mine at Lower Merced Pass.” The tale even helped inspire the 1993 musclebound mountain thriller Cliffhanger - well worth a watch, by the way. Stories like Dope Lake don’t come around often. And to us, they represent the raw, unpredictable magic of the outdoors. One day you’re climbing El Capitan; the next, you're hauling 30 kilos of jet-fuel-steeped weed out of a frozen lake.

Remembering The Baltic Way

On the evening of 23 August 1989, nearly two million people across Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania stood side by side, hand in hand, forming a human chain that stretched over 600 kilometres. Known as the Baltic Way, it was one of the most remarkable acts of peaceful protest in the 20th century - an unbroken line of people linking the capitals of Tallinn, Riga, and Vilnius in a shared call for independence. The date was significant. It marked 50 years since the signing of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, a secret agreement between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union that paved the way for the annexation of the Baltic states in 1940. For decades, the pact had been denied or dismissed by Soviet authorities. In contrast, the Baltic Way made it visible—geographically, historically, and emotionally. Organised by the independence movements in each country, the protest was meticulously planned. Radio broadcasts gave instructions. Roads were closed. People arrived by car, by bus, on foot. Some brought flags; others came with candles or handwritten signs. But most came simply to be there. No stage, no speeches. Just presence. The chain itself was silent, almost reverent. Along rural highways and city streets, through forests and over rivers, strangers held hands. In some places, the line was dense; in others, it thinned and wavered, but it held. For fifteen minutes - at 7:00 p.m. local time - the Baltic people stood together as one. Not shouting. Not pleading. Just standing. It was not a spontaneous act. It was the result of decades of cultural resistance, political organisation, and quiet resilience. But in that moment, it felt both grounded and transcendent - a peaceful assertion of dignity after nearly half a century of occupation. The world took notice. The images - grainy, sunlit, resolute - spread quickly. The Baltic Way made a complex geopolitical situation strikingly legible: three small nations, long overshadowed, now unmistakably present. Within two years, each had restored its independence. Today, the Baltic Way is remembered not just for its scale, but for its clarity. It remains a model of civil resistance - calm, coordinated, and powerful in its simplicity. It’s easy to think of protest as something loud, chaotic, or angry. But the Baltic Way was none of those things. It was steady. Human. Intentional. Proof that sometimes the most enduring statements are made without saying a word.

The Archive: Climbing Magazines 1980 - 1990

Something that never fails to capture our attention is old outdoor ephemera. Leafing through tea-stained pages of climbing magazines is an activity we spend hours doing at Hikerdelic HQ, and we're fortunate enough to have amassed a pretty hefty archive as a by-product of this pastime. The golden era of outdoor catalogues is up for debate, but in our view, you can't get much better than the '80s and '90s. The colours were brighter, typefaces were bolder, and smiles were wider. There's something irrefutably motivating about magazines from this era. Something that makes you want to put down the bundle of paper and head outdoors to assimilate the feats of Joe Brown & Don Whillans. As much as our office could be a library, it's not. Therefore, the only way we can share our mountains of outdoor ephemera with you is through scanning pages and posting them here. So, sit back, start dusting off your hiking boots, and revel in the scans of the golden era below.

The Way We Were - Camping

Nostalgia is a key influence behind what we do here at Hikerdelic so from time to time we'll be sharing an insight into what inspires us from the past. There's something wholesome about camping in the olden days. Here's some of our favourite camping-related ads from the past.

Radio Hikerdelic #13

It's been a warm one so far this week and we've been bowling right into the heat with some summer sounds.

Hikerdelic & The Climbing Hangar take North Wales

It's the world's worst-kept secret, or at least Hikerdelic HQ's worst-kept secret, that a few people here are into climbing rocks. Trips to the kettle are frequently accompanied by conversations about weekend bouldering trips or post-work gym sessions. Our climbing-obsessed individuals are very welcome here, and rock-centric conversations are most definitely encouraged - they're probably the reason why a great deal of our SS25 offerings reference stone, whether that be Petroglyph carvings or Todmorden's Bridestones. Occasionally, the kettle conversations are followed up by something a bit more serious than an after-work session, and recently, that happened to be exactly the case... What started as a rock-climbing content ideas spitballing extravaganza quickly turned into a fully fledged collaboration with The Climbing Hangar. The parameters for the collaboration were about as open as they could be, but there was one rule - Hikerdelic and Hangar staff were to climb together and trade tees. A pretty good format for collaboration if you ask us. The location of choice was situated in the Welsh bouldering mecca of Llanberis pass, so after a quick Liverpool detour to pick up our scouse climbing accomplices, our crew headed for the fabled Wavelength Boulders. A short journey in the van and a few fistfulls of fruit pastilles later saw the gang tackle a typically meaty Llanberis approach to the boulders, cover one set of extremities in tiny shoes & the other in chalk. The outing was fantastic by all accounts, exactly what you want from a day's bouldering. A few sends, a few falls and plenty of laughs, all taking place in one of the most beautiful locations in the British Isles. Not bad. See our Petroglyph Tee here See what our friends at The Climbing Hangar are up to here

Inner Circle - Finn Hall of Headstrong

Finn Hall is the main man behind Headstrong, a business born out of his desire to stay sharp and keep competitive. The use of functional mushrooms is something we've been following keenly here at Hikerdelic, so when we crossed paths recently it made sense for us to catch up and find out more.First of all tell us about yourself and how you came up with Headstrong. My childhood and adolescent years revolved solely around sport, namely BMX racing. I first got on a bike when I was 5, and didn’t leave one until I was 18. After a big injury I called it a day, but it’s hard to shake the training routine engrained in you over 13 years when one day it all stops. I put my energy into other forms of training whilst at university, and it was there that I began to experiment with functional mushrooms after coming across them online. At first it was just a personal endeavor, but after experiencing the benefits for myself I had a lightbulb moment and knew I needed to share this with the world. Some opportunities are too good to ignore and after that, my dissertation stood no chance. I launched two months before the end of final year.What do you think it is about mushrooms that has made them so prominent in a number of ways in recent years? There has been a huge shift away from mass-produced, lab-made products in recent years. People are naturally sceptical of large corporations in the supplement space and rightfully so, because more often than not, the quality of the product comes secondary to increased profit margins. As humans we are closely connected to mushrooms, sharing over 50% of our DNA with them, and when people realise they can supplement using something grown by the earth, it all just seems to click.What do you say to the cynics who suggest it's a fad?I think the cynicism towards functional mushrooms comes from people using them out of curiosity rather than necessity. This is something that I think is always important to touch on. Functional mushrooms are seen in a different light to other supplements because they are still relatively niche in the Western world, and therefore a little novel and exciting. Mushrooms have some genuinely incredible benefits but ultimately, they are intended to supplement in areas that you feel you may need support, and work alongside an already healthy and balanced diet - not replace. What they aren’t is a miracle cure and something to be used without intention, as it is then that people won’t experience their full potential.You've worked with some clothing brands on collaborative stuff. How did that come about?We worked with Hiking Patrol on a bespoke product to release alongside their FW24 collection. This initially came about from one of the guys at Diemme Footwear purchasing our Lion’s Mane in-store at Goodhood. They loved the brand, connected us with Hiking Patrol and we took it from there. It’s a great partnership and something both parties look to expand on in the future. We’ve also supported a number of brands such as Hoka, 66 North, Soho House and Healf at events/activations. I think the brand is well-positioned to move within these circles. I don’t want to be restricted by the stereotype of how a ‘Health & Wellness’ brand should act, so we will continue to push these cross-industry partnerships. Describe a typical day for yourself.I wake up and make myself useful. What would be your advice to a newcomer to mushrooms?Use when necessary, not when curious. Don’t just buy what's cheapest, chances are you’ll be left disappointed. Invest in quality products that show proof of being dual-extracted, organic, sufficiently dosed (1,500mg+), free from fillers, use only 100% mushroom fruiting body and are third-party tested. Due to a lack of regulation, the mushroom space is a bit of a minefield, with a lot of sub-standard products flooding the market. This might all sound a bit daunting to a newcomer, but if you’re serious about supplementing naturally with mushrooms, these checks are worth making to avoid being ripped off. To find out more about Headstrong, head to their website here

A look into the Futuro

Who remembers The Jetsons? It was a bit like the Flintstones but for the future instead of the past. Coming from the celebrated Hanna-Barbera stable of animated productions it first aired in 1962. Its vision of the future took in space-age imaginations, with cars replaced by flying saucers. At the same time, a similar aesthetic was influencing Finnish architect Matti Suuronen, whose Futuro pod design reimagined how humans might live in the future. Though fewer than 100 of these prefabricated non-flying saucers were made, their cultural influence far outweighs their practical impact on the world.As ever with the best designs, form followed function and this lightweight pod was first intended to be used close to a ski slope. Its rounded roof meant heavy snow would be more likely to slide off instead of accumulate.The Futuro embodies the spirit of late 1960s design, architecture, interiors, culture, and lifestyle in a single form. It served as a symbol of faith in the potential for better living during an era of abundant optimism. Today, the remaining 60-odd strong family of Futuros serve as powerful artifacts not to remind us of past failures but to inspire a sense of possibility for the future.Oh, and to take our heads to a slightly other-worldly place while thinking about designing t-shirts and Chore Jackets, more of which we'll share in due course.

Hikerdelic x Kelme celebrates football heritage

For our latest release, we've teamed up with iconic sportswear brand Kelme to celebrate football heritage.Launching as a pre-sale at hikerdelic.com only, on Friday 28th February at 5pm UK time, the Hikerdelic x Kelme 98 shirt comes in both short and long-sleeve iterations and features subtle edits to an enduring design.The shirt takes its inspiration from Real Madrid’s 1998 Champions League triumph, when Predrag Mijatović scored the only goal in a final victory over Juventus. This iconic win was the club’s first European Cup since 1966 and it heralded a new era for the Spanish giants. These were the formative years of the famous Galacticos, with homegrown heroes like Raúl and Guti graduating from the youth system in ‘94 and ‘95 respectively, and legends like Roberto Carlos arriving in Madrid in 1996. Head to our 'New In' page to get yours in the bag.

Radio Hikerdelic #12

As we bring in the spring, we thought we'd share an appropriate soundtrack, channelling all the aural delights we allowed into our ears while pulling together our SS25 range.

Inspiration from Exploration

In recent years our quest for nuggets of inspiration for our clothing has seen us gravitate towards the late 1960s on a pretty consistent basis. It was an era of great political and social upheaval and that naturally led to, and arguably was led by widespread creativity, expressed in a multitude of ways.1968 always seems to rear its head in particular. In Search of the Lost Chord is the third album by the Moody Blues, released in July 1968, though the summer of 2024 was when we played it to death, while designing Spring 2024's releases. It's a fitting backdrop to the final full range designed by our longstanding design team before multiple members moved on to pastures new. The songs of In Search of the Lost Chord form a pretty loose theme concerning quest and discovery, including both world exploration and inner self-realisation. The album takes inspiration from the spirit of the era, in which psychedelics grew in use.Justin Hayward of the Moody Blues acknowledged the influence of psychedelic drugs on the band's creative process: "Oh, almost all of us dabbled in all sorts of things. Usually, they were the more psychedelic type of drugs. I must admit we always had a great time on acid. And those trips inspired a lot of our music at the time."In its 42 minutes playing time, the album takes in exploration both spiritual and literal, referencing the journeys of David Livingstone, Robert Falcon Scott and Christopher Columbus, all of whom pushed the boundaries of discovery via the most extreme corners of the globe.The outspoken psychologist Timothy Leary also features, with the band having studied his advocacy of psychedelic drugs. This was the guy who popularised the phrase "Turn on, tune in, drop out". That journey of exploration our research for this range took us on increased our understanding and awareness of just how important an era the late 60s was for the human race and where possible we have tried to incorporate elements of it, albeit in a contemporary way. Without that era of enlightenment having happened, who knows what the world would look like now. Listen to In Search of the Lost Chord below.

Praise the Petroglyphs

When looking for inspiration for our first few drops of the year we found ourselves immersed in an age largely beyond our understanding. All over the world you'll find enduring evidence of ancient civilizations. Rock carvings found in Scandinavia, Siberia and Africa all share similarities which make up what we now identify as Petroglyphs. The word comes from the Greek prefix petro-, from πέτρα meaning "stone", and γλύφω meaning "carve", and was originally coined in French as pétroglyphe.History is always open to interpretation and many have speculated as to the meaning of this primitive art form.Those who have studied them suggest that petroglyphs could have been carved by spiritual leaders, such as shamans, in an altered state of consciousness, perhaps induced by the use of natural hallucinogens. We put together our own take on Petroglyphs, with each of the letters in the word Hikerdelic getting recreated in that idiosyncratic style. We have then applied this pattern to various items in this season's range, some you've seen, some you will see soon.See our latest releases here