CYPRESS BRIDGE In a slough off the Nottoway River south of Courtland lies an orgy of the gothic and grotesque. Few find it by accident, and those who do rarely know what they’ve stumbled upon. Until 2005, the Lost For est wasn’t on any map. They say true places never are. Only briefly every year can anyone explore Virginia’s most bizarre and wonderful 37 acres on foot. Today, though, is one of those times, and I’m lucky enough to have a guide, Emporia resident Kevin Kessler. He, in turn, is lucky enough to have as his guide Byron Carmean, the man who first “discovered” and named the Lost Forest. That is to say Carmean was the first person to recognize the matchless value of this grove of ancient cypress and water tupelo and call attention to it.