If you’re an outdoors kind of person, you’ll definitely agree that there is much to be found in the forests. Besides actual nature, there is always a chance to stumble upon something with a greater story, like lost trinkets or rusty bullets that found themselves there decades if not centuries ago.

Well, sometimes the finds are much bigger than this. Some time ago, a group of nature-loving friends, who have recently been nicknamed the Forest Folk, were wandering through the forest and found a fort that someone started building, but never really finished. They thought it was cool and decided to pick up where someone else left off in building the fort.

“We’re a group of 5 best friends who thrive on being able to entertain each other. We are outdoorsy people who have never lost our childhood-like wonder,” Aaron, one of the Forest Folk, told Bored Panda in an interview. “2 of us have been friends for 28 years, another for 15 years, and a few new friends along the way; 1 even resulting in an engagement.”

“When we stumbled upon the original framework, we all immediately knew it was time for a new fun project. The conversation on committing to the build essentially happened as follows: ‘Oh my god this is awesome!’ / ‘Should we add to it?’ / ‘… yeah we should add to it.’ And next thing you know, we’re picking up sticks.”

So, there are a lot of things people can find in forests, including forts and boxes

Image credits: eren_yeagermeister

There have been several visits thus far and the fort has been coming along nicely. However, one day, the group came over to do some work on the fort and were surprised to find a red box placed inside it, which contained a letter and a key. The group immediately knew that it was time to take out their cameras and film this mysterious event.

So, apparently, someone else stumbled upon the structure as well and understood that it is currently being built. So they decided to leave a box with a letter, a key, and some office supplies inside of it.

The Forest Folk opened the letter to find out that other people had been there and were kindly and respectfully asking them if they could also chill there when the Forest Folk were not around (they were the ones who gave Aaron’s group the nickname.)

The Forest Folk, as they have been nicknamed, found a half-built fort and decided to continue its construction

Image credits: eren_yeagermeister

One day they came over do some work on it and found a box left inside

Image credits: eren_yeagermeister

It also explained that the box could be used as a means of anonymous and contactless communication between the two groups and they promised not to break or touch anything (including the bag of goodies that the Forest Folk left behind) and to keep the fort a secret.

Now, this was a “read-me-first” kind of letter placed on the box that the Forest Folk decided to open right after finishing reading the letter. Inside, they found a bunch more letters, including a letter explaining the crate and also introducing the people behind it as the Goons.

However, something that the Forest Folk were extremely surprised to see was that two other groups found the box before they did. The other two groups introduced themselves as the Juniors, who were also asking if they could use the fort to chill, and the OGs, the group of friends who started the fort that the Forest Folk found and built upon.

Now, a 5-minute video of this amazing encounter was soon uploaded to Reddit, where it went viral. Within a couple of days, it received over 50 Reddit awards and almost 80,000 upvotes with over a thousand comments saying how awesome this is and sharing their own fort stories.

There was a key on top of it as well as a letter addressed to the “Forest Folk”

Image credits: eren_yeagermeister

Apparently, another group called “The Goons” found the fort and wanted to get permission to chill in it

Image credits: eren_yeagermeister

“It has been amazing reading all the stories from people talking about their childhood forts [on Reddit],” Aaron explained the group’s surprise when their post went viral. “We’ve read literally thousands of comments on how this story has helped people and given them hope in what can feel like such a hopeless time.”

Since the story went online, there have been a number of developments, as explained Aaron: “Our group has run into the Goons at the fort and the Goons have run into the OGs, so the worlds are slowly merging. We’ve also built in a few more log benches and weaved leaves into the walls and ceiling for extra cover. The box has some new trinkets in it and everyone is continuing to communicate through letters. There’s plenty more to spruce up. New things are happening daily!”

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The Forest Folk said that given how special this space is, they love being able to share it with the world virtually. Though to keep its specialness in place, they decided to keep the exact location a secret in order for it to stay preserved. But they’ve set up a guest book in the locked box for anyone who happens to stumble upon it by accident.

Enclosed was also a key for the chest with some office supplies to be used for communication purposes

Image credits: eren_yeagermeister

However, when the Forest Folk opened the box, they were left surprised with the extra stuff they found

Image credits: eren_yeagermeister

Building a fort is no easy feat, as explained The Forest Folk: “Our biggest challenges have been finding the right resources for what we need. Thankfully, the woods are plentiful and as a result our challenges remain pretty small. There was one day we needed another log for people to sit on, so we found a fallen dead tree that we decided to cut up using just a rusty handsaw (which we also found in the woods) and a hatchet. It took the 5 of us almost 2 hours to get through it! It was, needless to say, exhausting.”

They continued to say that deciding how much they wanted to advertise the fort was also a bit of an issue. You see, they didn’t want to come across as taking away from the intimacy of it by showing it to the entire world, but given how depressing the news has been lately, they eventually decided to share it on Reddit as a means to shine some hope that people can still work together.

Apparently, the fort was found by two other groups—the Juniors and the OGs, the original builders

Image credits: eren_yeagermeister

This amazing situation was filmed and soon wound up on Reddit, where it went viral immediately

Image credits: eren_yeagermeister

“Mr. Rogers always pushed us to be good neighbors and I can’t think of a more appropriate way that multiple groups of strangers can bring so much joy to people,” elaborated Aaron.

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“If we could tell the whole world one thing, it would be that everybody should go out into the woods and build a fort just once in their life,” said the Forest Folk. With this in mind, we leave you with an essential bit of advice that the Forest Folk shared with us: “Our advice to anyone trying to build something like this is all it takes is a good stick. We began weaving some twigs into the vertical posts for fun and next thing we know, we’re spending 5+ hours a day going back to improve.”

Check out the full video of their discovery and reaction below

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Video credits: eren_yeagermeister

So, what are your thoughts on this? Find anything of interest in the forest lately? Let us know in the comments section below!

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