 The Shades and The Cops: We ventured out at dusk in the evening probably 5:30 or 6PM or so from Carnage Carnival (Toms River) towards the dark and legendary Shades of Death Rd. Just like anyone else who has read Weird NJ, we had read and heard the tales of Ghost Lake, Lenape Lane, Shades of Death Road and Hookerman. We decided to compress all of these into just one single trip. We spend hours tracking our way toward Jenny Jump State Forest, however it was so dark by the point we reached it that we bypassed it to instead take Shades of Death Road. While the name is very offputting we did not really see any ghosts, but we did have a very eerie feeling on this dark road. I am sure it did not help that there was an extremely limited amount of traffic due to the storm cleanup. The first thing we came across was someone's property that we wandered onto thinking we were near the Hookerman train tracks (though we weren't even close).  We trekked down Shades of Death Road, stopped, took pictures and listened to some music. Some of the pictures were really neat, including the tree with a face, which is below.    After Shades of Death, we followed our directions for about two more hours trying to find the location of the Hookerman train tracks in chester, NJ. We came across an overpass owned apparently by Caddy Man!  After another long while, we were tired and hungry and on Naughright *Not Right as we pronounced it* Road. We pulled over onto the side of the road to check our directions and let what we thought was a snow plow directly behind us pass. Unfortunately, it wasn't a snow plow. This was an SUV full of Long Valley police officers including a Lieutenant. The SUV pulled up to the driver's side window slowly and asked if we were ok and if we needed any help. We said we were a little lost, they looked oddly at us and said to hold on (the officer saw our eyes --having driven around in the dark for 7 or so hours had apparently made our pupils rather dilated). They pulled in front of us, immediately after pulling in front of us one of them called for backup. A second police car was on the scene behind us within two or three short moments. One officer came over to my window and two officers came over to the driver's side. They talked to us for a moment, asking what we were doing out here and so on. We explained that it was a weird NJ trip and we were looking for Hookerman. At this point, the two officers ask Shaun to step out of the vehicle. **On a side note** Both of us are scared to death at this point, near pooping-in-the-pants pure terror. Not to mention when Shaun got out they had him leave his door open, it was in the teens temperature-wise and we were both shivering severely. The officer at my door questioned why I didn't have ID, he looked into my eyes. He took the diet vanilla coke can from my hand and smelled it to see if it was alcohol. Another officer from the backup vehicle joined the one questioning me. He asked all the same questions over again to me, I answered in all the same ways, but I was stammering and shivering because I was terribly cold and nervous. The officers with Shaun asked him if they could search the vehicle...this is where it gets interesting. Shaun granted permission for the search and they immediately checked his camera bag for marijuana and rumaged through our stack of Weird NJ magazines and directions. Unfortunately for us, Shaun had brought with him a potato gun (which for those of you who don't know...This tennis ball cannon I found online that is the same size, length and design of the potato cannon that Shaun had in his trunk.)  Shaun also had potatoes and hair spray, which as the Lieutenant phrased it is..."Concealing and possession of a deadly weapon with intent to use" for Shaun and accomplice to the same for me. The other two officers walked over to Shaun and talked with him for a moment and then he got back into the car. They said to both of us, "Get back on the highway, go home and don't be coming back to North Jersey." He also imparted to us, that the Hookerman tracks were in fact very nearby, however it had been paved over and now was a bike trail. The officers seemed to be thoroughly enjoying themselves (probably the most action they had seen all evening). We paused and looked dumbfounded and panicked at each other for a moment and then we looked at the officers. "We're still lost, how do we get to the highway?" Exacerbated, the officer told us how to get to the highway and added that Shaun should dump the gun in the nearest dumpster on the way out of town. They let us go. **Apparently on the way back, Shaun told me what they had said to him... "Well we have three options here. First, we can arrest you both, press charges for possession of a deadly weapon with intent to use and your parents would have to come get you, but that's alot of paperwork. Second, we could issue you a big fine for having the potato gun. Or, *dramatic pause* we could let you go with a warning as long as you get rid of the gun immediately and go home." In an alternate reality, Shaun should've said...arrest me sucka, I dare you and don't tase me bro before getting put down like old yeller. While this would have made for an even better story, the real story ended with us driving back to Toms River with enough adrenaline rushing through us to lift a small automobile. We arrived at IHOP in Toms River around 5 AM that morning. One hell of a night behind us, we ate breakfast and went home. P.S...He didn't get rid of the potato gun. To read about the legend of Shades of Death, I recommend the websites below. Shades of Death Road Legend Crew Members in Attendance:
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