The Shades of Death
Across the road lies a patch of land called "The Shades of Death" from locals going back to the original Native American inhabitants. This area was given this forboding name because of the tendency of the landscape to be perpetually in the shade of the nearby mountainside as well as thick tree canopies which block out sunlight above the adjacent river. The shades were noticably darker and cooler than the surrounding environment which resulted in it being synonimous as a haven for the spiritual or supernatural.
This is not the only place that shares the Shades of Death name but the Bloody Run (Everett) Shades of Death run from the cache location East across the Juniata Crossings area towards the Mount Dallas Gap. Folktales of headless horsemen, spectral Native American warriors and disembodied merchants that appear in windows abound in and around the shades of death. Below is a picture courtesy of the Bloody Run Historic Society and folklore courtesy of Barb Miller, local historian.
