Ava

AVA

I’m dressed appropriately. I’ve checked my weapon, coated myself with insect repellent, put my hair up and under my cap, packed a couple of bottles of water and a protein bar into my mini backpack, and I’m ready to go. There’s no parking area, so I find a wide spot on the side of the gravel road and park. Lee showed me approximately where the cabin is, and now it’s just a matter of trying to find it. I tried a satellite image, but the tree cover is so dense that I really couldn’t tell much about it. I’ll just have to follow the coordinates of the spot he pointed out and hope for the best.

And it’s not easy going. There’s no defined trail or road, so I’m basically bushwhacking at best. From time to time I think I’ve found a path, and then it disappears. Plus I’m going up, and it’s a super steep incline, so it’s a struggle. The urge to sit down, drink a bottle of water, and eat my protein bar is getting stronger, and I have to fight it. They’re for the point of desperation, and I’m not there yet. I can see sunlight up ahead of me, and I’m wondering what that’s about.

It's a garden—a rather large garden. Surprisingly so. Huge. And very nice. The rows are actually terraced, which is quite a feat on the side of this mountain. There’s no way I’ll march out into the center of this, so I just skirt it and move on. The clearing disappears and I’m back into the woods, fighting my way along toward the GPS location. It’s another twenty minutes before I see something that looks like a roof as I peer through the trees. I take a few steps forward in hopes of getting a better look.

The ground beneath my feet gives way and I’m plunging downward…