US hikers reported a death. But they imagined it while high on mushrooms

A pair of hikers in New York called emergency services to report that a third member of their group had died, but when a park ranger responded to rescue them it turned out they were just high on hallucinogenic mushrooms, officials say.

The third hiker was uninjured - and not dead - and the hikers were "in an altered mental state", according to a report issued by parks officials.

The incident took place on 24 May on Cascade Mountain in the Adirondacks High Peaks of upstate New York.

The third person also called 911 during the hike, "and was not injured", the report states. They were allowed to continue their camping trip, while the pair were taken to police.

Details of the backcountry saga were reported on Wednesday in a weekly bulletin by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation.

It describes how a forest ranger responded to the 911 call of a "reportedly deceased hiker", after the pair called "to report the third member of their hiking party had died" and that they were lost.

Before the ranger arrived to find the group, they met a "summit steward" whose job is to stand at the top of the mountain to ensure the conservation of the sensitive alpine habitat.

The two hikers told the steward they were lost, the report chronicles.

A ranger then arrived and "escorted the two hikers, who had ingested hallucinogenic mushrooms, to a waiting ambulance and New York State Police unit".

The third hiker was taken back to their campsite, officials said.

None of the hikers were named in the reports, and it is unclear whether they are in any legal trouble following the bad trip.

Psychedelic mushrooms are illegal for recreational use in New York, however there have been several bills introduced in the state legislature to legalise it.

Its use has been legalised in at least one US state, but it remains illegal across most of the US and is outlawed on the federal level.