Endeavor News

Camp owners look for mysterious visitor





This is the message left by a mysterious visitor to the Cross Fork area six years ago. The Decker family, owners of the Tall Tales cabin, would like to learn more about the hiker who spent a night on their porch to get out of the rain and left the cheerful message.

This is the message left by a mysterious visitor to the Cross Fork area six years ago. The Decker family, owners of the Tall Tales cabin, would like to learn more about the hiker who spent a night on their porch to get out of the rain and left the cheerful message.

Five generations have spent time at the Tall Tales cabin near Cross Fork in southern Potter County since Shelly Decker’s grandfather, Charles Kauffman, built the place 70-odd years ago.

It’s pretty rustic — just one big room that, at times, would house adults, children, everybody, sleeping in the small space.

There are four or five cabins nearby, and all of them are occupied by families from York or Lancaster counties.

Cross Fork was once one of the largest logging towns in the state, boasting a population in the thousands. Its fortunes fell as logging declined. In the 1910s, when all the lumber was gone, the town was virtually destroyed by fire and abandoned, leaving very few behind.

It is best known for its access to good hunting and two excellent trout streams, Kettle Creek and Cross Fork Creek. Hunting cabins dot the side of the mountain. It is as remote as possible, home to more deer than humans and a good number of black bears.

Shelly has photos of bears that have meandered to the cabin, looking for food, and Donald has shown his grandkids the paw prints of bears that weigh as much as refrigerators. There is one family story about an uncle who bought a 55- gallon drum of taffy for the cabin, for snacking after a day stalking whitetail in the mountains. He discovered the hard way that bears really like taffy.

In all, five generations have used the cabin, including Donald and Shelly’s two daughters and their children. Cell phones don’t work there. There is no TV. Family members say it’s nice to be disconnected for a while.

The cabin has a chalk board by the front door for messages for one another. In 2011, the Deckers arrived at the cabin and were greeted by this message on the board: “A cold, wet backpacker slept on this porch 9/28/11. Thank you and God bless your hunting season! Paul H.”

A neighbor later told Donald that he found a backpacker sleeping on a bench on the porch and took him to their cabin and let him sit by the heater to warm up. He was cold and drenched, as it had rained. They fed him and then took him to Cross Fork so he could continue his trek.

Donald would like to hear from Paul H. “That’s as much of the story I know,” he said. “I’d just like to hear the rest of the story first hand. It’s part of our family legacy now.”

(Editor’s Note: This story is reprinted with permission from the York Daily Record.)


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