| Blue Mist Road |
| Located in North Park, Irwin Road is the location of many urban legends. Locals refer to it as Blue Mist Road, reportedly because of the blue-colored mist that rises from the road at night. But this is only one of the many stories told about this particular stretch of road. There is a "hanging tree" somewhere along the road, and it is rumored to be haunted. Another story is about two lovers buried beside each other. Their gravestones are said to touch at midnight during a full moon. It is the latter story that prompted our timing for this investigation. Tom and Heidi searched for a full moon on a Friday or Saturday night, and found August 19, 2005, to be perfect. Three members drove to North Park that Friday after work. We found the road closed to traffic, and were skeptical of venturing down on foot. We saw many others walking on the road, so we thought it best to get some information from someone who might know the area better. Tom and Pete talked to two people who were starting to walk down the road. One of them, Dennis, had been there many times before. We unloaded our equipment from the car, and Pete drove the car to the park to leave it there and walked back to us. We walked down the road with our new friends for about an hour, stopping to take some pictures along the way. At one point, about halfway, Heidi sat on the ground while the others stood around, and everyone exchanged stories of their personal experiences. Heidi suddenly said "What's that?", prompting everyone to look down the road at a utility pole that seemed to be reflecting a bright light. It seemed like someone was shining a very bright flashlight on it, then turning it away, then turning it back on again. We went to investigate, and found no real explanation. We did reason, however, that there were other people on the road (although none in the immediate area), as well as a road up above and on the other side of the wetlands that run alongside Irwin Road. It could have been anything, so we could not conclude that this was paranormal. After walking for over an hour, we did not see any gravestones or marked trees. We ran out of pavement a while back, and felt that we may be heading into residential territory. We didn't want to be trespassing, so we turned around to head back. Along the way, we noticed that a fog had just begun (not even reaching the road yet) to rise off the wetlands that lay not to far off the road. It appeared to be blueish in color when Heidi shined her flashlight near it, but Heidi's light gives off a blueish tint. So, Tom shined a white light onto it, and it was a normal fog. We suspect that there is, indeed, a blue mist on the road. But, we do not believe it has anything to do with paranormal activity. There could be any number of reasons for the fog to appear blue, from a similar experience to Heidi's (blue light), to gases from the wetlands giving the fog an odd color, to a wet paved road reflecting into the fog. With absolutely no evidence of paranormal activity, and several 'normal' explanations for the events there, we must conclude for now that the stories of paranormal activity on this stretch of abandoned road are no more than urban legends. Stories propagated over the years by the kids and teenagers who visit this "spooky" place and just know that it has to be haunted. |
| One of the few pix that came out on that dark night |
| Tom, looking for the mysterious mist |
| The guardrail at the end of the paved road |
| Our little friend, the toad |
| The wetlands, and the possible cause of the "blue" mist?? |
| CAUTION: Urban Legend |