For sure, buddy.
Pros are freedom. Nothing like it anywhere else I’ve been. Neighbors and law enforcement don’t care what ya do as long it doesn’t harm. It’s outlaw country. Being outlaw is simply living outside the law, not harming anymore. Once ya harm someone, it’s a crime. And crime is around, but not like cities. Around here crime is always personal - it’s a person ya know that wants to fuck you over or felt slighted. So if ya stay chill, it’s a very safe place.
Nature is immersive and purifying here. The black-tail deer are so trusting and chill that you could hand-feed them (Jayplantspeeker posted a bunch of videos of him doing so til some outsiders on Instagram reported him to federal wildlife). The air is some of the cleanest in North America. There’s any climate you want depending on where you go - Mendo/Lake are mostly dry desert. Humboldt/Del Norte are very mild temperatures (bring hoodies) and very wet. Trinity is a blend of Mendo and Humboldt where it’s 110⁰ for a couple months, but then 45⁰ for most of the remaining year.
There are some good doctors around but you gotta look. Usually it’s better having a PCP/Specialist in Redding/Santa Rosa/Sacramento, then have a report with the local urgent care center for most of your everyday needs.
Any ambulance emergency is gonna be a long call. I’ve been on hills where when I do a dry run of an emergency descent in my car, it can take 90 minutes from my door to the door of the nearest urgent care. So, while long Backcountry roads bring security, they bring you further from rescue. And, now that basically everything is legal, there’s no longer a need to be so far from the main road. So that’s something to weigh.
Pollution from neighbors can be an issue. Spray-over, poisoned animals, poisoned water can be an issue - so evaluate your neighbors and their proximity.
Weed can be super cheap while living up here, lol. You can sometimes find a buddy who will give ya half of a whole freezer bag for a hundred.
The culture is one of my favorite things here. Lots of sensitive people - healers, yogis, crystal folk, etc.
Damn, I miss the trimmigrants.
Some locals hated them, but it was such a a unique coalescence. People from all walks of life from around the globe coming here to make a few hundred bucks a day trimming or pulling tarp. The Montreal naughty-librians were my favorite. It was also a great safety-net for a lot of Americans. It was like a social service for many neuro-divergent and those running away from home to find a community. Molly, Lucy, and all the others flowed freely, everywhere. But now Rec laws require W-2’s, so the whole scene evaporated. Now those jobs go to either cartel or friends of the farmers, and it’s usually $15-20/hr instead of $80-200/pound.
Black widows and rattlesnakes are common, hence knowing quickest route to Urgent Care.
Bears are around but ya barely see them, they’re very shy.
But, big cats. That’s what scare me the most around here. Pretty much worth open carrying on your property because of them. I saw one around 10pm a few weeks ago while I was hiking home. Hair-raising moments. Shit, if an 8pound house cat can fuck you up, even a 20-30lb bobcat can’t decimate you - and I’ve seen bobcats as big as dogs. The mountain lions are no joke. I walk slow in the hills because fast movement entices them - being fast means lots of energy for them to consume; hence they love mountain bikers. If ya hear something that sounds like a witch/siren/woman screaming bloody murder, that’s a mountain lion. I think maybe they developed that call to entice men out of their huts/homes in a white-knight moment, that ends up being Uber-Eats, predator style.
Food and gas are very expensive. 5.00-5.80 for gas. A can of progresso soup is about 4.50. Because of the windy roads and remote location, it’s some of the most expensive trucking routes to truck resource in - gas, food, anything. Amazon . Com coverage is minimal and when they outsource a package to USPS or FedEx here, it arrives beatup and mostly open. Amazon doesn’t like rural life. Agenda 2030 shit.
Methheads are a problem mostly in Humboldt, and close to bigger cities - Santa Rosa / Sac / Redding.
Keep the plant count below 45 and nobody notices. Federal numbers were 90-ish before Rec, but I’ve heard 50 is the new number since big money is involved with Rec and protecting Rec sales/taxes.
Lots of gold mining done throughout NorCal.
This means polluted water and displeased spirits. Purify the water, land, and local spirits.
The local Natives are great and inviting if you show them respect and fellowship. You can find an ONAC/NAC around pretty easily. Pomo nation are Mendo/Lake and I’ve done many great ceremonies with them. You can apply online for an ONAC card to get protection for using and carrying medicines.
Lake county is the best for sativa’s. The season goes long, into December. Some valleys stay pretty warm til the light snow.
Humboldt is great for monoterpenes, like berry/fruit flavors short season, ass the rains come in Sept/Oct and stay until Spring. Very narrow spread between day and night temps.
Trinity has the worst gap of up to 60⁰ between day and night temps. I was told that’s why purple haze came from there because it was adapted to this wide shift of temp and had to finish faster.
Learn to homestead and prep - roads get closed to landslides, washout, and fires all the time.
Have a plan for evacuation during fires that includes primary, secondary, and tertiary routes.
All the nurseries I’ve seen have root aphids and other crap, so grow from seed or just get fresh cuttings from locals.
Thrips are bad in the Triangle. Broad mites haven’t been too bad since 2018 (the 2014-2018 cycle was horrible). Spider mites get kept in check by local rural insects. But thrips are the one thing that survive and establish a foothold.
The cartel sucks up so much of the LEO heat that you gotta motive somebody to fuck with your business.
for the epic response dude.
🤦
