Bert Gildart: Writer and Photographer

PURSUING PHOTOS AND PROSE
With Kayaks, Mountain bikes, Backpacks, Daypacks, Walking Sticks, Fishing Poles—and an Airstream Travel Trailer

Bert Gildart: For the past few days, our forwarding address in New Jersey has been: Shades of Death Road. Each time we’ve provided the address, the response has been an audible intake of breath.

“What did you say your address was?”

“Did I get that right?” “Is it really Shades of Death Road?”

Shades of Death is a popular road sign, and yes, it’s true, some of our family members live here, specifically our grandchildren, and like all young children living under the shadow of such a name, they can tell you a number of legends associated with the name.

So, in fact, can many other people, as I discovered when I went into Hackettestown for a haircut. And because you keep hearing the same legend told in more or less the same way, apparently there’s some truth to the legends. But whether the legends are true, swiping the sign in midnight raids was so popular, that according to our grandchildren who have the fortune (or misfortune) of living along this road, the New Jersey Road Department has had to implement means of discouraging theft.

First, according to Kelsey, Kyle and Corey, who all know the stories, the department coated the pole with oil. When that didn’t work, officials created a one-piece structure made of hard metal, and that seems to be working, at least for the time being.

Shades of Death Road runs from Great Meadow to Allamuchy, and according to one legend this road, which is approximately five miles long, has its name rooted in murder. One tale relating to murder says that the original inhabitants of the area surrounding Shades of Death were an unruly band of squatters.

Often, men from this vile gang would get into fights over women, and the squabbles would result in the death of one of the participants. As the reputation of these murderous bandits grew, the area they inhabited was named “Shades of Death. ”Yet another legend is rooted in association with the marshy swampland which surrounds it.

Around 1850, an outbreak of malaria carrying insects was discovered near a cliff face along Shades of Death. As the citizens around Shades came to expect the yearly outbreaks of this terrible disease, they began to anticipate the annual spate of deaths of friends and family members which came along with it. Like any community, their landmarks, in particular this one road, came to reflect the morose attitude they had regarding these epidemics.“But whether or not any of these legends is true or not,” emphasized Chick, who is a third generation barber in Hacketstown, respected for his fellowship, “is something we may never know.”

Still, legends do what legends always do: they grow; and typical of areas with morose sounding names, other features also take on sinister sounding names, as did a man-made lake created by a small dam in the 1940s. Because of its association with Shades of Death and the ghostly apparitions of fog wisping over the water, the men who constructed the lake called it Ghost Lake.

While here with grandchildren, we decided to hike to a cave that was supposed to connect to Ghost Lake, which we did following a half mile walk. Kyle wanted to explore the cave, but we quickly discovered that despite the claim of a connecting passage, that it was not one we wanted to take. Keith and Katie, the children’s parents, say the passage does exist, but that it is narrow and includes a drop off, from which you must then scuba dive.

We all agreed that performing such a feat sounded as sinister as Shades of Death Road—and that we wouldn’t add any possible bodies to the still growing legend. In the meantime, we’re happy to let “Shades,” as it affectionately called, assume its rightful name among a pantheon of other descriptive names such as the Bucket Of Blood in Virginia City Nevada.

This entry was posted on Sunday, August 20th, 2006 at 5:12 am and is filed under Travel. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.