fear

= Day 16 =

The path to the "Devil's Finger" rock was chosen wrong from the start. There was a heavy rain yesterday, and the trail I took was very muddy, walking it in sneakers was completely impossible. So early on I turned back, deciding to go to the neighboring village of Khamyshki – the place where "Cerberus's Glade" is located – another anomalous spot I was set on visiting during this trip. At first I thought about going there on foot. Then I figured 20 km on foot was a bit much, )) and decided to wait for the bus after all. Or, in a pinch, try to hitch a ride. At the bus stop I asked the locals what time the bus to Khamyshki came, and an elderly couple told me the next one would be here at 17:30, i.e., in 4 hours. My elderly interlocutors were in no hurry, and we spent a fairly long time together, chatting about various interesting topics. For example, they told me about a group of dolmens that isn't very popular among tourists, but that's exactly what makes it appealing, at least for me. It's located 8 km from the village of Novoslobodskaya (near the village of Abazizskaya, between the villages of Dakhovskaya and Maykop). There are about 20 dolmen structures there, standing in a single row. It would be interesting to see. There's nothing about them on the internet, just like many other dolmens. I also learned that on the ridge, which was clearly visible from the bus stop where we were talking, archaeologists recently found 4-meter skeletons of ancient people. That's right where the "Devil's Finger" rock is, where I, unfortunately, never made it. But,

of course, until you see it, you don't believe it. So I just filed that information away. We talked for quite a while, and after some time Uncle Lyosha started trying to send me off with someone to Khamyshki. He's a local elderly man, has lived here a long time and knows a lot of people. His wife gave me a few kilograms of tomatoes and cucumbers for the road, then went on her way. Uncle Lyosha also stepped away somewhere, saying he'd be back soon, while I went into the store and bought my second cup of coffee. After I'd drunk half the cup, Uncle Lyosha bursts into the store and yanks me out of there. I never got to finish my coffee. )) On the road he flagged down a local Kamaz logging truck, whose driver agreed to give me a lift to Khamyshki – straight to the house of a certain Mr. Gukov. Uncle Lyosha was supposed to arrange with this Gukov to let me stay overnight. For that, I was to arrive and call him to say I was there. But, unfortunately for me, there was no cell reception in those parts. I dared to enter Gukov's house and saw him sleeping in an armchair in front of the TV, snoring sweetly and somehow childishly. I decided not to wake him and quietly slip out of his house, but near the yard gate he called out to me and started interrogating me about who I was and why I had come. At first he refused to take me in. What's more, he was aggressive and chased me away, calling me a filthy tramp as I left. But after thinking it over, he called out to me again when I was already about 30 steps from his yard, and agreed to take me in after all. But not at his house – at his own private guesthouse. He explained how to get from his house to that guesthouse. He also told me about a secret entrance – the door is always open, and I could freely go in there and spend the night. Gukov promised I could stay there for free, even for two weeks. But something told me I shouldn't go there...

And I decided not to go and set up camp in the forest near the road. When I was climbing out of the Kamaz, my solar panel, which I use to charge my phones, broke, and now at a crucial moment I could end up without power. I must have accidentally stepped on the cable when I was getting out of the cab. And not long before that, my stun gun also broke. The gear suddenly started breaking down… For the first time during the entire trip, I felt fear – I was scared to spend the night. Why – I don't know. The very atmosphere in this forest was unfriendly, oppressive, and the animals were acting strangely. The fear wasn't uncontrollable; maybe it wasn't even fear, but heightened alertness. It felt more like a state of nervousness; I couldn't calm down. And now for an hour I've been in a state of combat readiness, keeping a knife and pepper spray at hand. It's very hard to fall asleep. I sense danger. Some animals around. An extremely unfriendly place…