Welcome to SoHum
Humboldt County has more coastline than any other County in California. Most of the County’s population is concentrated near Humboldt Bay in the cities of Eureka, Arcata and Fortuna, leaving the mountainous and forested areas largely vacant of humans. In my grandfather’s day, this meant the land along the coastal King Range was a good place for hunting, and he referred to the area as “down around Petrolia”. Today, this remote section is the home to Humboldts most reclusive characters, and the locals refer to it as SoHum (Southern Humboldt).
Ferndale is most definitely not a part of SoHum, but it does serve as its gateway due to the town’s location at the Northern terminus of Mattole Road. Ferndale has a two tier economy, the slow, reliable dollar of the dairy business and the feast or famine of tourism. Long distance tourists are drawn by Ferndale’s Victorian architecture or perhaps the desire to see Guy Fieri’s hometown (He was known as Guy Ferry when he sold pretzels to these same tourists as a teenager). Locals come for the Humboldt County Fair held every August.
Second only to the Fortuna Rodeo, the Humboldt County Fair was a big deal to my family. Grandma Betty loved to examine the entries in the gardening and “home arts” competitions, and sometimes would enter one of them herself. But for my Aunt Betsy, the horse racing was the thing. Betsy loved to gamble, and they served beer at the racetrack. We’d get a racing form and she would study it carefully, making ten dollar bets on her picks for each race. I knew nothing about horse racing (and still don’t), but I would choose a horse that had a neat name or looked spunky in the gate and Betsy would place two dollar bets for me. It was her money and I almost always chose losers, but she didn’t seem to care. A day at the track with her favorite nephew was the payoff, and we both had a big time every year.
Mattole Road, secret entrance to the Lost Coast
The way to the Lost Coast isn’t exactly hidden, but if you don’t know where you’re going you aren’t likely to find it. Drive South out of Ferndale on Wildcat Road and take a right up the steep hill behind Fireman’s Park – that’s Mattole Road. The best way to describe the Mattole Road is “often paved”. The occasional transition of the roadbed to gravel is actually welcome, as those sections are usually smoother than the quilt of cracked asphalt, patches and potholes that comprise the default surface.
This poor state of repair is no accident; three forces combine to keep it this way. The first is the geology of the coastal range, a mixture of sandy soil and crumbly rock that is only temporarily fixed in place by the shallow roots of Douglas fir and beargrass. Since the area receives some of the highest rainfall in the lower 48, the mountains are constantly calving off chunks in slides that often carry away sections of Mattole Road. Repairs are made, but only just barely, because of the second factor: SoHum is allocated minimal tax dollars. Government allocates the bulk of their budget to the more populated parts of the County, leaving the few residents of this remote area short funds. Finally, the road is crappy because the people here want it that way. Isolation is a major factor in why they chose to live here, and the last thing SoHum residents want to see is a parade of tourists pouring up from Highway 101.
So who are these people who choose to live here? If Humboldt County has a reputation for attracting odd characters, SoHum represents the fringe of that fringe. Pick your label: hippies, hillbillies, pot growers (legal or not), fugitives, religious extremists, subsistence farmers, antisocial ranchers or hermits. All apply at some level, yet none encompass all of the people of SoHum. In a lot of ways, the area is similar to Appalachia back in the Southeast. There is one trait that is common to all: resentment of intrusions by outsiders.
Is it a Cult or Not? Chapter Two
It should be no surprise that such a place attracts one of the most bizarre groups in the US: the Scientologists. Despite all attempts to maintain secrecy, the Church of Scientology (CSI) has attracted the attention of everyone from to the tabloids to the IRS. High profile stars like Tom Cruise wobble along a line between crazy public outbursts and tight lipped silence about the organization. It seems like half of Hollywood is a member of the Scientologists, while the other half makes critical TV shows or documentaries about it.
The Scientology Vault
For reasons only they know, the Scientologists decided to build a few nuke-proof bunkers around the country. SoHum’s live-and-let-live mentality seemed well suited for such a secret project, so one of the CSI’s shell companies quietly bought up land near Petrolia. They kind of blew the secrecy thing when they constructed a giant Scientology symbol on the grounds though. Here’s a discussion of the CSI’s bunker by a severe critic of the outfit: link. The Lost Coast Outpost, Humboldt’s counter culture outlet gave a less heavy-handed look at the place, complete with drone footage of the secret symbols carved in the hillside.
So is the Church of Scientology a cult? Once again, it’s up to you to decide, but according to the government, it is not a church, at least not for tax purposes. In any case, they are alive and well in SoHum, and tolerated like any other kooky resident as long as they don’t bother the neighbors.
The Lost Coast
The Lost Coast stretches from Ferndale all the way to Rockport in Mendocino County to the South. It is the longest undeveloped coastline in California, very different from the Baywatch-inspired picture many think of when a California beach is mentioned. The Lost Coast is rocky, foggy and almost completely devoid of people – perfect by my standards!
Petrolia & the King Range
Turning inland from the Lost Coast, Mattole Road enters the hamlet of Petrolia. Nobody is sure how many people live here – it is several hundred, but they aren’t willing to be counted. It’s the only place in SoHum you can buy gas or a candy bar, and you can use the payphone if you feel the need to talk to somebody in the outside world (there is no cellular service in most of SoHum).
As you move to the East side of the King Range, the country gets a little drier. Cattle and horse ranches are more frequent, as are the grow houses of legal marijuana farms. Though well fenced to discourage Midnight Harvesting, the legit operations are much more visible than their less-legal brethren higher in the hills of SoHum.
Eventually, Mattole Road connects with Highway 101 through the back of Humboldt Redwoods State Park. More on the Big Trees in my next post.