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Nearly 10 years ago, a mysterious two-story cabin was found in the remote reaches of the Arcata Community Forest. And almost as suddenly as it was discovered, the cabin disappeared.

In today’s episode of Humboldt Outdoors, local documentarian Ray Olson recounts the story of the uncanny cabin, venturing deep into the forest in search of its secluded location.

Those who remember this story, originally reported by Kevin Hoover of the Mad River Union, will recall the remarkable craftsmanship of the structure, which measured between 12 and 15 feet high, with a peaked roof and wooden awning hanging over a small porch supported by a concrete block foundation. In other words, it wasn’t your run-of-the-mill makeshift shelter. It was a real cabin.

The structure was discovered in July 2015 by a city staffer, Mark Andre, who was out marking trees deep in the forest. Some time after it was found, officers with the Arcata Police Department conducted a welfare check at the cabin to ensure no one was incapacitated or in danger inside, but no one was there. They peered inside the cabin and found a well-organized home.

“There was everything you needed for a quiet, happy life in the woods,” Hoover says in the video above. “There was a little library with books. There was art on the walls. There was a very organized kitchen and pantry. … You could feel the presence of a person living there with their strong ethics and beliefs, following their bliss and following their own little doctrine and their own internal logic. It seemed as though they had elevated values of harmlessness and peaceful coexistence. They certainly put a lot of effort into removing any trash or sewage, because the place was absolutely immaculate.”

Even so, the structure was considered a nuisance as it was built without permission on public lands, and the owner was served with a notice. When staff came back to check on the structure a few weeks later, the structure had vanished, except for one little symbol arranged in the foliage on the ground.

“Everything was gone,” Hoover said. “Nobody fully removes everything in such a stealthy manner. … They approached the extraction just as they did the installation, which was zero impact and zero observation. It left as mysteriously as it appeared.”

What was the symbol? And did they ever find out who built the cabin? You’ll have to click “play” on the video for the full story!