A true Yosemite legend
In December 1976 a small plane carrying two pilots and several tonnes of Mexican marijuana lost height over Yosemite. It clipped the trees above Lower Merced Pass Lake, deep in the backcountry, and went through the ice. Rangers recovered what they could from the surface before winter drove them out. With the wreck frozen in, the site looked safe until spring.
They hadn't counted on Camp 4. The young climbers living on next to nothing beneath the valley's granite walls made dangerous treks through deep snow to reach the lake, then hid, moved and sold what they brought back. A search for a missing plane became a drug investigation, a public scandal and a piece of folklore nobody could control.
High Ground brings together the climbers, rangers, investigators and the pilots' families, many speaking on camera for the first time, to separate what happened from the legend Yosemite chose to remember.
“This is the first time that I've recorded my story. And this is the first time that I'm using my name.”
In the film
The climbers
- Ken YagerCamp 4 climber
- Kevin WorrallCamp 4 climber
- Dale BardCamp 4 climber
- Dean FidelmanClimber and photographer
- Vern ClevengerClimber and photographer
- Rick CashnerCamp 4 climber
- Grant HiskesClimber
- Sean PlunkettClimber
The rangers
- Tim SetnickaYosemite ranger
- Charles ‘Butch’ FarabeeYosemite ranger
- Dean PaschallClimber and ranger
- Gayle SleznickYosemite ranger
- Rick SmithYosemite ranger
Park employees
- Ron LykinsAhwahnee Hotel, found the plane
- Barbara CarlsonAhwahnee Hotel
- Michele WhizinAhwahnee Hotel
- Steve GriswoldPark employee
- Mark BrightPhotographed the lake
The investigation
- Lenny DavisUS Customs special agent
- Rick SchlossResearcher
- Tom DeVriesJournalist
The families
- Peggy YostCousin of co-pilot Jeff Nelson
- Tina NelsonCousin of co-pilot Jeff Nelson
- Pam GliskyWife of pilot John Glisky