Petro Zailenko’s story is one of those wild local legends that feels too strange to be true — a Russian immigrant who, fearing deportation, disappeared into the redwoods of Anderson Valley and lived there for nearly two decades. He built two handmade shelters from bark and branches, foraged fruit from nearby orchards, and quietly roamed Hendy Woods State Park, where he became known as the “Hendy Hermit.” Today, you can still hike the trail he once walked, peek inside his weathered huts, and try to imagine the kind of life he lived — quiet, elusive, and completely off the grid.
And in a way, Petro’s story hits home for a lot of us who’ve ended up in Mendocino County. Maybe we didn’t all jump ship from a trawler or hide out in tree stumps, but plenty of us came from faraway places looking for something different — more space, more peace, maybe a little reinvention. Whether we planted roots in a redwood grove or just felt something shift when we first breathed in the Navarro fog, there’s a shared feeling here: that this place welcomes the wanderers. Like Petro, we found something here worth staying for.
Read the whole story of the Mendocino County’s Hendy Wood Hermit at SFGATE.
Great story!!!
Great story! I always wondered about the huts….
I was a park aid at Hendy Woods for three summers in the early 80’s. I was told he was about the park. The first time I saw him was as I walked up a park road. He was laying beside the park road in some huckleberry bushes. He startled me but just kept laying in the bushes. Another time I was hiking a park trail and unexpectedly walked into his camp. He was not there. There was his hut and fire pit. He also had homemade “canned” corn which I am sure came from the Gowan’s garden. I left pretty quickly. He would be seen in the campground picking up cigarette butts to salvage the tobacco. He visited a few families who camped yearly. He was an interesting character.
I would love if you could expand on this story, and maybe include pictures. Sounds like an interesting person.