So you can imagine his surprise when Mark Andre, the environmental services director for Arcata, California, stumbled upon something he’d never seen before. He’d been marking trees to be harvested in the Arcata Community Forest when he realized something just wasn’t quite right…
When he stepped closer to investigate, his jaw dropped…
Mark Andre of Arcata, California, has devoted his career to exploring the woods in northern California. As the town’s environmental services director, it was his job to spend time out in the wilderness. He knew the area like the back of his hand… or so he thought.
Recently, while he was out marking trees to be harvested in the Arcata Community Forest, he stumbled upon something just past some trees that he hadn’t ever seen before. It certainly wasn’t there the last time he’d been in the area!
It was almost perfectly camouflaged, and as Mark moved closer to it, he realized it was some sort of elaborate makeshift cabin. Clearly illegally constructed, he wasn’t quite sure what he’d find when he went inside…
The cabin was situated in one of the most remote areas of the Arcata Forest. Mark hadn’t explored this area since about 1985, back when was still just a forest technician. Obviously, whoever built this wasn’t expecting to be discovered.
The first thing Mark noted about the cabin was that it seemed to be fairly well-constructed. Every now and then, rangers will find random pieces of debris put together by someone looking for shelter in the woods, but this was far from random—it was expertly planned.
The cabin measured roughly eight by 12 feet and was estimated to be about 15 feet high. It featured a peaked roof, a front porch and awning, and plywood walls covered in tarps. It was even built on a solid concrete foundation!
Mark could only assume its isolation was what made constructing the cabin possible in the first place. “I didn’t see it until I was 12 feet from it,” he explained. “It’s in the perfect out-of-the-way spot where it wouldn’t be detected.”
What made the cabin even more mysterious was that no footpaths or trails led to it. Mark also noted that there didn’t appear to be any sort of environmental abuse or littering, which commonly accompanies this sort of thing. Whoever lived there clearly respected nature…
Mark decided to call forest technicians Javier Nogueira and Nick Manfredonia for help. Along with park ranger Heidi Groszmann, they trekked back to the site to explore the inside. When they finally cut the padlock and flung open the doors, they weren’t sure what—or who—they’d find inside…
As Heidi entered the cabin, gun drawn, she shouted “Arcata Police!” But no one answered. Soon, the group began to scour the contents of the abode to see if they could figure out any details about its owner.
The group was quick to note the tidily kept quarters. In the living room and kitchen area, housekeeping supplies and assorted cans of food sat on shelves built into the wall. In many ways, everything seemed ordinary. Still, there was more to explore…
Beside a rocking chair, there was a coffee table with a tea kettle sitting on it. Directly across from the chair was a pot-bellied stove. Whoever had been living here wasn’t exactly struggling out in the wilderness.
In another corner of the cabin was a small bookshelf constructed on a wall. It was lined with various titles, including
Other items, like a stack of tapes, lent credence to the search party’s suspicions. Still, they continued to search for other clues that might help them determine just who it was that called this mysterious place home.
The group also found a handwritten list of “Things To Do And Get,” which told them a little more about the cabin’s inhabitant. The list, which included dates, was comprised of tasks such as “build bench,” “extend brush wall,” “season cast irons,” “get six-inch stove pipe flashing,” and “Get tongs 1/22/11.”
Near the stove, the group also found a copy of nearby Humboldt State University’s The Lumberjack newspaper, dated March 25, 2015. Between the list and the paper, the team started to piece together a timeline for when the cabin’s owner might have lived there.
While they did find two driver’s licenses, they each bore the names of different people, and they didn’t lead the search party to any conclusions as to who lived there. They could only assume the person was visiting seasonally.
Since camping on public property is illegal—even if the person who’s doing it is respectful of the land—and the cabin existed on a nature refuge, the crew left an eviction notice for the inhabitant. From there, things really got strange…
When authorities returned to the cabin site at a later date, they found it had been totally deconstructed! The only trace of it was a charcoal “squatters symbol” where the cabin once sat. “That’s the cleanest camp cleanup I’ve ever seen,” said Michael McDowall, the natural resources technician for the Environmental Services Department. “There wasn’t a nail, not even a gum wrapper left behind.”
It’s unlikely that the cabin’s owner would come forward, given the potential for legal trouble. After all, the cabin was built on public land. Still, it’s pretty impressive they were ever able to construct it in the first place!
Talk about a mystery! Whoever built and lived in that cabin had some serious dedication. It makes you wonder if they’ll ever be found…
