High Ground: The Crash of a Plane Full of Marijuana That Made History in Yosemite

A smuggling plane loaded with Mexican cannabis, a frozen lake in the heart of Yosemite, climbers ready to scale the mountain to retrieve its cargo, and, nearly fifty years later, witnesses who have finally agreed to tell their story. With High Ground, director Daniel Sharp tackles one of the most improbable episodes in the history of the famous California national park.

Premiering worldwide at the Yosemite Cinema, this Dash Pictures documentary attempts to untangle the facts, memories, and rumors that have accumulated around what is now known as the «Dope Lake» case.

A plane loaded with cannabis goes missing

On December 8, 1976, a Airplane carrying a large shipment of cannabis from Mexico crashed into the Sierra Nevada mountains. The wreckage was not discovered until January 27, 1977, in the icy waters of the Lower Merced Pass Lake.

Authorities intervened and removed several thousand kilograms of cannabis from the site before planning to return when weather conditions were more favorable. But in the meantime, word spread throughout the small community of climbers in Yosemite Valley.

At the time, many people were living on very little money, devoting most of their time to rock climbing. Several groups then headed to the frozen lake to retrieve the bales that had been left there. Some resold them, while others used the proceeds to pay for their gear or trips.

Among them is Ken Yager, who is now president of the Yosemite Climbing Association. He had just turned 18 at the time of the events.

«At my age, it’s a real relief not to have anything to hide anymore,» he explains today.

"High Ground" aims to separate legend from fact

The story of «Dope Lake» has since spread far beyond Yosemite. Articles, podcasts, climbers’ accounts, and even T-shirts have helped turn the accident into local lore. High Ground seeks specifically to go beyond this mythology.

To make the film, Daniel Sharp and Dash Pictures interviewed climbers who were there at the time, park rangers, a former U.S. Customs agent, the former head of Yosemite Search and Rescue, and the widow of one of the pilots.

The documentary also draws on archival photographs, partially redacted federal reports, and reenactments.

«We wanted to shine a light on this generation of climbers and Yosemite park rangers while they were still able to tell their own story—with all its contradictions,» explains Sharp.

Time worked in the production's favor. Several key figures who had long refused to speak publicly finally agreed to share their stories, nearly half a century after the events took place.

When Cannabis Meets the History of American Rock Climbing

The case may also have had a unexpected impact on climbing performance in Yosemite. Yager says he used part of his earnings to buy a Volkswagen for $500 and trade cannabis for climbing gear. Other climbers reportedly used the money to fund trips to Colorado, Europe, or other major climbing destinations.

One of them, Vern Clevenger, is said to have used his earnings, among other things, to buy a camera and become a photographer. Yager, however, remains cautious when it comes to establishing a direct link between this sudden windfall and his athletic achievements in the years that followed.

«Back then, climbers were making some truly impressive ascents, but I can’t say for sure if it was because of the plane. I’m sure it played a role.»

A story darker than Yosemite's folklore

Behind the almost incredible nature of the case, however, lies a somewhat darker story. The film focuses in particular on the death of the climber Jack Dorn, who died after falling at night on the Yosemite Falls Trail. Some people suspected a connection to the contacts found in a notebook belonging to one of the pilots, though this theory has not been confirmed.

This ambiguity seems to be precisely what continues to fuel the fascination with «Dope Lake.».

«It’s drug trafficking. It brings death and destruction,» a former park ranger says in the documentary. «And it happened in one of the most famous places in the world.»

With High Ground, that old legend of Yosemite thus once again moves beyond the stories passed down among climbers to enter the documentary archives of an era in which counterculture, rock climbing, and cannabis prohibition met in the most unlikely way.