In my quest for 100% completion of Breath of the Wild, I’ve been using Hero’s Path Mode to explore all the places I haven’t seen yet. By looking at where I haven’t been, I’ve found some pretty cool places.
One of those that caught my attention was the ruins of a cabin on a plateau near the summit of Mount Granajh. Located in the mountain range that separates the Gerudo Desert from the Faron Grasslands, I hadn’t really wandered here before. But once I found the cabin, I kept coming back to it for some reason.
This, of course, isn’t the only ruin throughout Post-Calamity Hyrule. There are plenty around, but there’s something so intriguing about this one. There has to be a story to it; after all, somebody built it. But who, and to what purpose?
The cabin sits on the snowy mountain top, a small pool of meltwater alongside it. It looks so sad and lonely, but there are some signs of life there. There are barrels of provisions, though they are pretty sparse. The most interesting thing here is the diary sitting on a flat rock within the dwelling.
The Mountain Cabin Log details the experience of an explorer who loses all track of time while trying to gain access to the Shrine on the opposite peak. Look over the edge and you’ll see the access point.
The Log details what Ancient Text says about accessing the Shrine. The explorer talks about how they thought they hadn’t packed enough food, then lost track of the days, and finally, they admit defeat. They acknowledged that they probably didn’t have the tools to open the Shrine anyway, which is a shame because once you have opened it, you’ll see that the tools were right there all along.
So our mysterious cabin occupier chose to leave. I hope. And I hope that they made it down the mountain and back to civilization safely. I have yet to find another trace of this particular wayfarer, and they didn’t leave any personal identifiers behind for us.
Despite them occupying the lonely cabin for a period of time, I don’t think they built it. While it’s unclear exactly how long they were on the mountain, it certainly wasn’t enough time for them to lay the foundations and then build a large cabin with a roof, all by themselves.
Which brings me back to wondering who did build it, and why?
I love this game for moments like this. While it’s great to have canon answers to our questions, sometimes it’s even better when we can sit by the fire in a ruined cabin and wonder.
