A travel blogger from Hawaii incited a wave of backlash from Humboldters after he trash-talked Arcata and Eureka on his mildly-popular Instagram page last week.

Noah Lang, a self-described climber and landscape photographer, blasted Humboldt’s most populous cities while allegedly traveling through the Pacific Northwest for pleasure last week despite the ongoing pandemic.

“I think this might have been my favorite day on the whole trip minus our terrible night prior!” Lang wrote in the Instagram post featuring photos taken along Avenue of the Giants. “I say terrible night because like I said in my stories before, Arcata and Eureka are horrible disgusting towns that surround such a beautiful area.”

The post has received more than 600 comments so far, many of them from angry locals coming to Humboldt’s defense. Lang doubled-down on his negativity in the post’s comments section, defending his opinion and his decision to travel during the pandemic.

“lol I don’t care about covid and that’s my opinion vs yours so just leave it at that, and I live in a place fueled far more than humboldt by tourism so don’t think I don’t understand,” he wrote. “I’ve been twice to understand what I’m talking about and I stand by it.”

Lang also shared a post from Redwood National and State Parks in September of 2020, although it’s unclear if he was visiting Humboldt at that time or if he shared a photo from a previous visit.

Humboldters who want to add to the discussion can find the post via Lang’s Instagram handle: @noahawaii.