 "Photo: Tosh Kondo")
It was 4/20 on the North Coast yesterday, and even pouring rain and police patrols couldn’t keep the people of Humboldt from celebrating their favorite holiday. The annual gathering at Redwood Park went on despite nasty weather and increased resistance from the City of Arcata.
The crowd seemed unsure of itself during the hours leading up to 4:20 p.m. Groups of people walked through the forest, congregating and dispersing as police patrolled amongst them on the muddy hill. Much of the conversation revolved around the muted nature of the gathering.
“I don’t think they would have been able to pull it off without the rain,” said engineering sophomore Drew McGowan. He stood beneath the trees, looking out across the mostly empty field towards the police huddled beneath the eaves of the Redwood Lounge. Several officers stood next to the building looking out at the growing crowd under the trees. One officer peered through binoculars, his other hand resting on his radio.
Sheets of rain washed over the field, and the trails through the trees quickly turned to mud. Two men wrestled a massive wooden gorilla down the hill towards the field, past people with mohawks, dreadlocks, small children and huge dogs.
Many members of the crowd traveled long distances to Redwood Park. Lita Gunder came all the way from Redding to celebrate 4/20. “Do you see anything wrong going on?” said Gunder. The man sitting on the log next to her sparked his lighter and held it to a glass pipe. She said that the cops weren’t a big concern. “You just can’t be rowdy.”
The police declined to comment, but they seemed to disagree. Besides marijuana, they stopped people for everything from open alcohol containers to having unregistered dogs in the park. Loren O’Connor of McKinleyville was walking through the woods with his family when the police gave him a ticket. “I didn’t know I couldn’t smoke a cigarette in the park. I don’t think they’re keeping anybody safe citing me for it,” said O’Connor.
As the clock crept past 4:00 p.m. the crowd swelled, from 200 people up to over 400.
People meandered into the woods from all directions. “Ten minutes!” someone yelled.
Circles began forming under the trees. “Five minutes!” A line of revelers worked their way up the muddy hill into the crowd. Then, 4:20 p.m. The sound of the gathered horde swelled to a crescendo, and a roar went up, lifting a cloud of smoke into the treetops.
The sound died down, and coughs echoed through the woods. Finally, the power of the crowd overpowered any fear of authority, and the police stood by and watched as the smoke of a hundred bowls filled the air.
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