I got a special wilderness permit to go into an area in the mountains in CA where they hadn't allowed foot traffic in, in twenty years. There were no trails. It was myself and two other Marines and we did it in exchange for seeing if there was a rare kind of trout in the streams up there. I guess the forest service didn't have anyone who wanted to do it. I'm not sure I was set up with this by a friend. Anyway we hiked for two days with no trails using just a map and compass and on the second day we walked around this huge cliff to find a full on cabin with a lawn and solar power and washer and dryer the whole nine yards all built into the rock face of the cliff. You couldn't see it from above so it had gone unoticed for years. We talked to the guy that lived there and he said we were the first people he had seen hike in, in 14 years. He was a retired helicopter pilot and he had flown all the equipment in by helo. He was squatting on federal land and knew it but didn't seem worried. He said he hikes out every two weeks for supplies by a different route then we came in and he showed it to us. We used that route to get back as he had a trail beaten down so the walking was easier. All in all it was pretty cool. The trout the forest service was looking for were in the creeks so it is still closed to foot travel and we never told the forest service about the old helicopter pilot so I would bet he is still out there.
Quoting: Anonymous Coward 7683330 That's a great story. I don't have one as good. I did happen on a small cabin once. It was pretty cool, and with solar in a remote area, but no one around. I didn't hang around. At first I thought it was hunter's place, but too good a setup with improvements. Somebody was getting ready for a bad time, my guess a bug out place.
There's lots of weekend hunters' cabins in remote places. Some of them are obviously on old settler areas. I walked back way off the trails and in some isolated area I found daffodils. Those are not a native species. I figure someone brought them in a while back. Not long ago, maybe back in Civil War times. There were Germans who came just before the war, maybe they brought along bulbs to remind them of home. They road the flatboats down the rivers. Maybe they set up for awhile then moved on Westward. The patch was still very small, but not near anything recent as daffodils will spread.
On several occasions I've run into rattlers sunning. I knew some people who skinned them, and saved the rattlers after eating the meat. You never forget that sound. I can hear it plain as day. It's an interesting area as there's a lot of amethyst there. Geodes too.
As a child I had a strange experience. It's one of those memories that you don't know is a dream or not. I recall walking along a forested area, then ducking in along a deer run. As I walk the run peters out and I'm in a dense forest. I walk for hours and hours, then pop out a few miles from a wooded park. It's a strange memory because I've looked for that spot, on maps and on foot and I feel kinda sheepish, and though twice about tellin' the story because you'll doubt it's veracity, but I feel like I was there, but it's just not possible. It's almost like, of I feel foolish, a mystical place. It was so real, too real to be a dream. The place was incredibly beautiful. It happened so long ago, but I close my eyes and see it....a very strange experience.
