Murder Mountain

I started to watch this and need to get back to it. The first episode was interesting, but dark. 

its a bit overdramatized, the atmosphere is overly dark and ominous, but overall i thought it was a killer documentary and captured alot of what it is like to live as a norcal cannabis farmer. im not sure if it was accurate enough to convey that world and lifestyle to people who are totally unfamiliar with it, but for me, all the grows pictured could be any one of the countless grows ive worked on or visited, and all the farmers and mountain people interviewed all seem like folks i could run into at a hydro shop or visiting a friends garden. the dark and dangerous atmosphere is fairly spot on for certain times during harvest when the fog is rolling in and risk of theft is high, but most of the year its much sunnier and much more boring.

ive been running in pretty safe circles for the past several years and am now working on a licensed grow with some very chill folks, but this documentary really made me look at my first few years in the industry in a new light. ive been in many of the situations in this documentary...shit, the whole reason the main murder victim died was going up to try and get 50k this guy owed him and he got shot...i have done exactly that...gone up to the mountain looking for my 50k from a potentially dangerous employer while driving the truck i stole from him and was holding hostage for my money...at the time it did not seem so out of the ordinary. the "outlaw" mentality was very very real, and very very engrossing. especially after an uneventful suburban adolescence, suddenly finding myself in the middle of some kind of situation that seemed like it was straight out of a crime movie was intoxicating.

i eventually broke ties with that crew after developing a somewhat violent rivalry with another worker on the farm who had left las vegas and changed his name after shooting a teacher accused of molesting another student in the balls in the middle of the school day...last time i saw him he was trying to pull me out of my drivers seat thru my open window, i gunned it and threw  him into the bushes once i got going fast enough he couldnt hang on anymore. 

got together with the bosses and i decided to leave, got a job with another group that was much more relaxed and not involved with the gangster shit. i never had some moment or made some decision to leave the more dangerous groups and lifestyle, it just kinda happened so that the next job open to me happened to be with a trustworthy and reasonable group of people. 

ive had a few very very mild brushes with that kind of lifestyle since, but overall my experience with the industry outside of my first two years is that the elements shown in this documentary do exist, but generally only if you put yourself in those situations, and its generally very easy to remove yourself from those situations.      

The series could have stood solely on the history of Humboldt and the cannabis trade. There's a fascinating history to it all and they do a decent job of addressing it, or at least part of it. The coverage on the murder was a bit forced with all of the recreations, etc. Overall worth a watch.

the local blogs here in Humboldt County were all over this story a few days ago

predictably, most of the general public seemed to like and support the documentary, whereas the HumCo Sheriff's Dept. was all up in arms about its sensationalism and inaccuracies

https://lostcoastoutpost.com/2019/jan/7/hardin-watching-murder-mountain/

http://kymkemp.com/2019/01/04/humboldt-county-sheriffs-office-addresses-...

Started watching last night, thanks for the tip.

I had some dealings with folks up in that area back in 1978, as they make clear in the documentary the scene was a lot different back then.

Watched over the weekend.

Lots of different messages can be taken from it for sure.

Almost feels like they could do a follow up, either way, pretty dark shit.

"Live by the gun... Die by the gun"

binged it while sick.

comments in that kymkemp link are interesting.

my buddy up there said the only way to get cops out to some places is dead bodies, like more than one...

too bad the cops go after the guys that did their job for them..

Sheriff went uncontested in his re-election bid.

They better wake up or they're gonna be a victim of their own demise.

Shits changing fast, real fast.

This is east of Shelter Cove and Avenue of Giants? 

East of Redway/ Garberville  Called Rancho Sequoia   about an hrs drive  east from shelter cove.

What Daylight said.

I was considering starting this thread last week but didnt have much to say other than i’ve had a lot less sketchy scenes now that I only play In the legal sand box. Prop 64 has plenty of problems for sure, but hotel room deals with lots of cash and gangsters isnt one of them, at least for me. Overall a good expose that shows alot of what we’ve had to deal with. 

I lived in Northern Humboldt from '88-'94.

The meth problem was really ramping up then; that was weird to watch unfold.

I clearly remember stories about the folks in Alderpoint and Harris; you did not want to go there

unless you knew someone. CAMP had operations going the entire growing season; obviously people

were very distrustful of LE------ so many of them were corrupt...taking cash and personal property without reporting it, etc.

I haven't yet watched this but I might.

Local- its a very interesting show. You’ll probably enjoy it. I watched it straight through. Like Daylight said: thought I might see some folks i know or knew.  I got on Google Earth afterwards and looked around a bit. Some folks really like to pike up dead cars and trash on their property. 

Thanks Sur. I'll check it out.

Must feel better to be on the legit side. 

Used to be pretty damn sketchy coming down through Garberville on 101 during harvest while bringing 

something to the Bay Area....but you clearly know all that.

did a uhaul van filled with bins of freshly cut colas once across the GG bridge - no bueno

my friend has some pretty scary stories...

one of which is being questioned late night at a warehouse. 

he was sat on a chair on a tarp.

one guy asking questions, the other big dude for cleanup...

glad he's not involved in that bullshit any longer.

"Yeah the Sheriffs department looked really bad."

Not defending them but it's also pretty obvious that this production was edited to convey that impression.

"Some folks really like to pike up dead cars and trash on their property."

After watching this I never want to hear any more comments about hillbillies down south.  Humboldt appears to be doing just fine in that area.

>>> "Yeah the Sheriffs department looked really bad."

Not defending them but it's also pretty obvious that this production was edited to convey that impression. <<<

Blue Lives Matter right Thom?

That Sheriff can eat a dick.

Question is...

If you take all your hard earned cash and comply with all regulations and permits, is that motherfucker gonna 

help go after rip offs and people who bring harm to your legally compliant farm?

Well not to defend them but they do chase down crooks who steal product from unlicensed farms and licensed farms in Mendocino and Humboldt. One of the reasons the crooks are usually armed

So this is more or less just an Alder Point problem?

Seems like, it's heading to a civil war between white market and outlaw.

Does this lower the property values? 

you should get your self a costal meth trailer slack.

We want something east of the Pygmy Forest.

>>>After watching this I never want to hear any more comments about hillbillies down south.  Humboldt appears to be doing just fine in that area.

despite the common perception of the state of CA, the vast majority of its landmass is inhabited by rural/blue collar conservatives, hillbillies, country tweakers, libertarians and right leaning outlaw types...its really just the greater bay area and LA/san diego area that fits the typical stereotype of a liberal state, and due to population density the state always leans left, but when you are there, driving from county to county and meeting people all over the state, CA is nothing like the typical liberal stereotypes. my experience of CA is much closer to some sort of libertarian utopia than an over-regulated democrat/liberal haven.

and slacker, property values in the rural counties of CA where commercial cannabis activity is banned are dropping and availability is much higher than just a few years ago. suburban type homes very close to town or in town are still in demand and have not dropped much, but there are rural homes that are more available than ever before. one of my old bosses even has a property with a small, off grid home that he is looking for someone to live in rent free if they upkeep the property. if youve ever thought about moving up north, now is a good time to look in counties that previously had alot of cannabis grows, and have now banned all commercial cultivation.

Any of you guys with legal grows, are you allowed to sell your product on-line? 

Do you have a brand? 

cant sell online.

our brand is ridgetop botanicals, although with adjusting to the new regs, we have not released branded jars since 2017 and have been selling to distributors in bulk for them to package under their own brands...thats probably going to change fall 2019 or spring 2020 and we will be back to packaging our own jars.

the hash brand errl hill does most of our hash/live resin, but last year it was all nudge nudge wink wink and never hit retail shelves...this year hash from our fresh frozen flowers under the errl hill brand will be available retail and will likely be at barbary coast in SF sometime in the second half of this year. 

Cool good luck

Humboldt has always given me an uncomfortable feeling that there is a serial killer silently following me around. Its a strange swath of land.

Big Sur Canna+Botanicals dispensary.

No online sales...yet.

Our garden got regulated out of existence, for now.

Working on permitting for a new site.

now you too can claim a part of Humboldt County history by buying a piece of property prominently featured in the gripping docu-drama MURDER MOUNTAIN

http://kymkemp.com/2019/01/12/trash-strewn-property-from-murder-mountain...

I especially liked two of the comments following the news item and photos:

Y Knot? January 12, 2019    11:00 am

Marijuana leads to a desire to stack garbage in piles as tall as possible, collect junk cars, kill people, collect welfare, and live in a dirty shed.

This series truly represents the horror non drug users see when looking at marijuana growers and users.

The more marijuana a person is around, the larger the junk pile grows.

The drug must warp their perception of the world because the marijuana user will stand next to a pile of trash and speak about the beauty of nature.

Marijuana users all seem to be waging a war against nature be it cutting trees to grow more weed, killing fish with pesticides, pouring used motor oil down water wells, burning old tires to keep warm in the summer, etc.

If you can think of an environmental problem, a marijuana user is behind it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Reply
Bob January 12, 2019    1:00 pm

Most true growers properties dont look like this. This is what happens when tweekers try to be pot growers.

I like this one: 

Wabbajack - January 12, 2019 1:27 pm

“Anyone that thinks living on your own landfill (minus the burying things part) is limited to dope growers and users has not been in Humboldt County very long. The size of your trash pile used to be a sign of prestige in McKinleyville when I first lived there; it indicated you were a well-established member of the community.”

can anyone confirm? that’s some funny stuff

>>>Do you have a brand?

If the one legal grower in the show doesn't trademark the name "Murder Mountain Magic" for a strain of weed, he is a fucking idiot.

Do they grow any expando orange bud at Rancho Sequoia?

{{{{Murder Mountain Magic}}}} = SOLID GOLD

>>That’s what happens when tweekers try to grow weed.<<

So true. 

can anyone confirm? that’s some funny stuff

there are many properties all over norcal that are absolute labyrinths of junk and garbage. some of them are actually pretty cool and are filled with all kinds of obscure old things, ive been to one where you could spend hours walking through narrow alleyways made of old cars, shanty shacks and piles of junk dotted with trailers inhabited by random tweakers, finding all kinds of obscure stuff, rare machinery/parts, and run down antiques

So do people/tweakers just squat on other’s land around there? Or grow for that matter? Sounds like you can really get lost around there

you should go trim bucky.

trimming sounds like fun but after watching that documentary and reading stuff about that area I’d be afraid of ending up in some sort of “Deliverance”-like scenario 

and it sounds like when you go to collect your wages they give you meth instead of money or just shoot you in the face

maybe when I was 18 but no way now 

im slowly putting some things together, is this the area where you guys go to see David Nelson Band shows? 

lol

david nelson band is the secret house band of the norcal cannabis industry

"dirty business"

^ Took you long enough...slacker. 

But that show was a bit sensationalized. 

There’s a university up there? http://www.humboldt.edu/

i thought it was gonna be one of those oaksterdam schools but it looks legit

I find this area intriguing now and it’s all due to the murder mountain tv show. Hopefully season 2 comes out sooner than later maybe they can get some David Nelson music in too.

do hell’s angels really wear helmets?

UPDATE:

seems like the trashed property featured in the Murder Mountain docu-drama has been substantially cleaned up in recent days/weeks...

check out the last 6 photos at the end of the news story, which were added to the blog post on Sunday Jan. 13

http://kymkemp.com/2019/01/12/trash-strewn-property-from-murder-mountain...

still doesn't change my impression of the trash-heap culture exhibited by most green-rush grow bros

yes bucky, it is part of the cal state system. my kiddo almost went.

better hurry up and see a nelson show while you can. don't bring those orange zig zags...

"Marijuana leads to a desire to stack garbage in piles as tall as possible, collect junk cars, kill people, collect welfare, and live in a dirty shed."

"Marijuana  Meth leads to a desire to stack garbage in piles as tall as possible, collect junk cars, kill people, collect welfare, and live in a dirty shed."

Fixed.

IME most pot grows have some slightly messy corners, but ive never been on a grow that looks anywhere close to that dirty.

however, i have been to several properties owned by lifelong, local residents who do not grow pot at all, that look just as dirty as the property in the link garyfish posted.

im not saying growers are all clean, they are not, but the trash collecting things is more just a general rural thing than a cannabis thing. either way, owners of those properties are generally meth users.

Collecting trash in your rural yard has a long history in our area (PNW), from long before meth arrived.

I’m guessing there’s no garbageman coming around to pick up your trash every week? 

Do people just start digging a hole and throwing their trash in? It must stink. 

is everyone compost-ing? 

>>>>Do people just start digging a hole and throwing their trash in? 

Here is a comment from the link to the news story GaryFish posted:

"Pouring used oil into a hole in the ground is not polluting according to my hillbilly brother. He’s sez 'Jus puter back where it came from!'”

I used to live in a cabin out in the woods of Montana and we never let it get that bad.   We had an old converted school bus on the property and an old couch we used for target practice (which we eventually burned).  Other than that, we kept it pretty tidy.

>>> Collecting trash in your rural yard has a long history in our area (PNW), from long before meth arrived. <<<

As does having a blue tarp roof.

We lived in Humboldt county between 1969-1974 while my first husband went to what was then called Humboldt State and built a large sailboat. The growers we knew in Southern Humboldt were sweet, live-off-the-land hippies, nothing like what appears in those pics. That was before meth was a thing.

i have definitely heard that yelled by rednecks as they throw beer cans into the woods, ken.

no garbage service for most of us. we built a dump trailer and take loads to the dump.

and... the plot thickens

"Murder Mountain" documentary prompts family of presumed murder victim to publicly call out the Humboldt County Sheriff's Office (HCSO) for gross incompetence

http://kymkemp.com/2019/01/21/family-of-garret-rodriguez-accuses-humbold...

ya can't make this shit up... don't know whether I should be laughing or disgusted

http://kymkemp.com/2019/01/22/inside-edition-comes-to-humboldt-hyping-mu...

https://lostcoastoutpost.com/2019/jan/21/video-masked-humboldt-pot-growe...

inside edition, lols.