It's really beautiful, especially the parts that just follow the 101, it's such a nice drive. Come soon though, it's so low bc of the drought.
Yeah, I've been to a few farms up there and it's definitely like that. The federal program was called CAMP (Campaign Against Marijuana Planting), but I think it's shifted to more state cops now. It is legal for medical use but in the wilderness of NorCal, many people have 1000+ plant grows which are destined to be sold in the MidWest or on the East Coast. Those are the farms they're really looking for.
Outdoor plants up there get HUGE. It's both the climate and the techniques people use to grow them. There are certain steps you take, such as using larger pots and heavy compost tea and watering schedules, that can EASILY get you a kilo per plant. There's a picture me standing next to a ready-to-harvest plant from last year, that plant ending up yielding 6#, that's over 2.5 kilos.
The people up there are wonderful too, I'd love to move to Humboldt if I could figure out a legit job for myself. There's definitely populations of people that don't care, but I'd say close to a majority up there are conservationists and people who really care about nature and the environment.