PREVIOUSLY:

For better or worse, LoCO has discovered that there is quite a bit of interest in reality TV outdoorsman Les Stroud’s current trip to HumCo. Over the weekend, we provided an update on his adventures up in Hoopa citing an excerpt from an update Stroud posted on his Facebook page in which he spoke of his shooting troubles in Humboldt. The problems mostly stemmed from extreme weather and technical difficulties. Oh, but he also made mention of the Hoopa area’s “numerous pot farms and meth labs.”

That didn’t sit so well. The commenters poured in — over 400, as of today — many critical of his public assessment of their home. A sampling:

  • This makes me sad. All of us were so excited to have you here. I know a ton of locals watch and love your show. To see this, is a slap in the face.
  • Be careful what I say about my Beautiful home n people . You know nothing of us or this area. You r making a rash statement on just a few incidents that happened to be in your vicinity, that doesn’t mean the other 98% r that wAy. And, I hav not smelld that yucky meth lab smell around here for years, perhaps it was trash burning because it has a similar smell.
  • I used to like you.

Well, Survivorman heard you, Humboldt. In a lengthy post yesterday, again to his Facebook page, Stroud apologized in the event his words offended, noting that he was simply reflecting what locals had told him:

So I apologize Humboldt area if my mentioning the pot farms got you upset. I was not ‘bashing’ or at least didn’t mean it to come out that way. Every store I went into where there was a fan who recognized me, I stopped and talked and took a picture – and then – before I leave they all said “beware the back country man – the drug dudes will shoot you” – so what do you expect?

And did he encounter any weed?:

But yes – I did smell pot around many corners – and if you were here you would smell it too. So? I’m not condoning it or judging it – I just smelled it – that’s all. As far as I am concerned I wish the very best for Hoopa and area – what you have here is world class nature – wonderful hosts and a very spiritual place.

Read the whole apology-containing post here. Stroud goes on note that this experience has taught him a bit about navigating social media and that he hopes to return to Humboldt in the future to shoot more of its “world class nature.” He also mentions that he’s enduring horrible food poisoning — “we’re talking sweating on the bathroom floor from the pain and pretty much living in the bathroom” — but makes a point of not mentioning where he got it.

See? He’s learning.