Randsburg - A Lively Ghost Town

The main street was deserted – eerily deserted. Early in the morning, a summer warming the air, with the sun just breaking over the eastern hills, but there was not a soul around.

That is a deserted main street

       “It’s like a ghost town,” I stated. While looking around the small town of Randsburg, approximately 70 miles north-west of Victorville, just off of Highway 395.

        “Well, it is a living ghost town,” said Nikki Goldfinch, a local resident stated, as she sat in her OHV in the center of town. Since, Nikki was the only person I had seen that morning in the downtown area, I flagged her down to ask a few questions about Randsburg.

      Actually, I hadn’t flagged her down like I was in mortal danger, but gave more of a simple wave and a smile. She was nice enough to stop and talk about her community with this stranger standing in the middle of the main street.

John interviewing Nikki in Randsburg

      Nikki and her husband Bill have lived in the mining town for about 3 ½ years and love it. “I wouldn’t live anywhere else but here.”

      “There’s no one about,” I observed.

      She nodded. “That’s the point – there’s no one about.”

      According to the 2010 census, Randsburg had 69 residents, but according to Nikki, there are really about 40 full time people living the mining community. “The rest come up on weekends or vacations to ride their dirt toys in the desert or do a little mining on their property.”

      “Does the town ever get crowded?” I asked.

      “It sure does,” was Nikki’s response.

Randsburg is popular with OHV riders - or Main Street riders for that matter

      Tourism is a huge business for the town, located a mile off the main thoroughfare, Highway 395, on the way to destinations like Mammoth and Lake Tahoe. The local restaurants, the Black Horse Tavern, the General Store, and the Owl Café, see multitudes of visitors during the weekends and special holiday events.

The 'Joint' - a fine eatery in town

    

Come and sit for a spell

 “We have a parade of lights for Christmas,” Nikki told me. “It was great – all these off-road toys lit up like Christmas trees. The whole town is decorated, starting near Thanksgiving. It’s just beautiful and interesting how people decorate the place.”

      The founding of Randsburg is interesting in itself, and almost happened by pure luck. Three miners, who had spent time in Death Valley, and other desert locals had come up with little for all their hard work in the mines. But then they stumbled into the hills surrounding present day Randsburg and discovered gold –  lots of it. The strike occurred in 1895 and by the end of 1896, the three had pulled out over $250,000 in rich ore. According to some official accounts, over 25 million dollars’ worth of gold has been dug out of the ground around Randsburg.

      Originally, the town was called Rand Camp and the first mine, Rand Mine, were both named after a rich gold mining area in South Africa. The name was later changed to Randsburg.

      Obviously, as with all gold finds, Rand Camp sprung up with saloons, brothels, and gambling halls, to entertain the hordes of miners rushing in to seek their fortunes. Where there is money to be found – vice is not far behind.

Aye - we all need good luck! When hunting for the gold.

Or, perhaps a healthy diet

      Thus the term, gold rush. The miners were actually rushing there, or at least walking quickly – to become rich in the often inhospitable desert climate.

      According to an article in Forgotten Destinations (2016), author Natasha Petrosova tells the whole story of the mining area, including the two small towns near Randsburg – Johannesburg and Red Mountain.

      In great detail, Petrosova, tells of the hardships and triumphs of the original claimants to the Rand Mine - Frederic Mooers, Charles Burcham, and John Singleton. After a short time, the three co-owners, changed its name to the Yellow Aster Mine, taking its name from a popular pulp novel by that title, that Mooers was currently reading.

      Ah, the power of the pen.

A fight to the death, or just good literature?

      In this desert location, water was always a problem. It either had to be shipped in at two dollars a barrel, or brought over great distances over the low lying hills by pipe. The piping system won and soon – well, not real soon – the mines and towns had running water.

      The boom lasted until the early 1920’s when the mines stopped producing the volume of gold ore needed to keep the miners happy. Some mines are still being worked, and in fact, the Yellow Aster Mine is still in operation today, as well as some smaller ones in the nearby hills.

      The sounds of heavy equipment could be heard echoing off the hills, as I spoke to Nikki on the main street.

      “They’re still finding gold today?” I asked.

      “Yes, and they are moving tons of dirt to find more,” she stated. “With more modern means, they are able to find the gold a bit easier than in the past.”

      I don’t know much about mining, so that one question about mining, was about all I had. The resurgence in mining in the vicinity has been going on for the past twenty years, and who knows – there may be another gold rush soon.

Perhaps, this ore crusher may come back into service soon - it could happen

      The current monetary bonanza though, is again with the tourism. The town has annual events which draws hundreds, if not thousands of visitors at one time. One such event, is the annual, Randsburg Old West Day, held each September. It’s an all-day event, which includes live bands, western shootouts, line dancing, a car show, and much more.

      “It’s pretty popular, and you better get here early to get a parking spot in town,” Nikki told me.

      Bidding farewell to Nikki, who drove off through town in her OHV, I wandered a bit through the deserted streets.

      She had told me that the town didn’t come alive until after ten in the morning, and that was usually on weekends – but when it comes to life – it really comes to life.

      I liked it quiet – thought provoking.

Very Quiet, but the memories of the past were there to see

      I often wondered why these towns, like Randsburg, are called living ghost towns, but now, after speaking with a local – I’m beginning to understand.

      Ghosts, aren’t something to fear, as those the reality television shows want us to believe. No, these ghosts are just the memories of those who have gone on before us, but leave in their footsteps something for us all to remember and cherish. To understand that they, like us, had dreams and aspirations – some came true and some, sadly, did not.

A window, looking into the past - perhaps, but no ghosts

      The point, is to go out and walk in those past footprints and to try to imagine what it must have been like in a different era. Different times but with similar hopes.

      A chance to be remembered and not forgotten.

      Philosophy 101? No, but perhaps a smile for these ghosts, at what they accomplished, or tried to, so many years ago. A nod at immortality.

For more information: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Randsburg,_California

Photographs by John R. Beyer and Paul K. Bakas

A Little Zoo with a Big Heart

The first time I ever encountered a grizzly bear was in Yellowstone National Park. A gorgeous hiking trail led me through magnificent, awe inspiring vistas. Passing beneath an umbrella of Engelmann spruce, just enjoying the remoteness of the park, I suddenly stopped in my tracks. Fifty feet from where my boots stopped, was what appeared to be a juvenile grizzly bear sleeping a few feet off of the trail.

Being the wise outdoors man, I stopped and took out my camera. What a great opportunity for a photo of this marvelous creature in its natural surroundings. It dawned on me, as I was snapping a few photos, the warnings of the national park concerning such encounters.

Please keep a distance of 300 hundreds yards and the parks bears.

As the juvenile opened its peepers, raised its rather large furry head, and stared at me, I thought, hmmm, maybe there is something to the warnings, after all. After five quick snaps with the camera, I slowly backed up the trail. By the time junior stood up and started sniffing the air, I was barreling down the trail I had come by, trying not to look like a tasty salmon in the process.

No, John didn't ride like Putin - he ran from the bear

“I’m glad your life insurance is paid up,” my lovely spouse, Laureen, said after I returned to camp and explained about my death-defying adventure.

The second time I came eye to eye with a grizzly bear was at the Big Bear Alpine Zoo, located in Moonridge, just north-east of the Bear Mountain Ski Resort in Big Bear in Southern California. It should be noted, that this zoo, according to The Active Times magazine, is one of the best small zoos in the United States – and that ain’t nothing to sneeze at!

This is more John's speed at handling a bear

This time though, the bear and I were separated by a chain link fence. “This is the way it’s done,” Laureen whispered in my left ear. I shrugged, in return.

That's a big bear next to Laureen!

According to the zoo curator, Bob Cisneros, the zoo has been captivating tourists and locals alike for over fifty years. The zoo started as a rescue mission for injured and misplaced animals after a terrifying and destructive forest fire descended on the San Bernardino National Forest in 1959. With nowhere to go, locals volunteered to take care of the animals injured in the fire with little or no direction of how to run an animal recuse. But soon, the Moonridge Animal Park (its original name) opened, and the rest is mountain history.

Through the generous donations of everyday people and a few government grants, the animal park continued to grow and grow. Today, now known at the Big Bear Alpine Zoo, the facility is home to over 85 species of animals and birds.

“Our rescues and imprinted animals (those animals that have been raised in captivity and then given up or released by their owners and cannot survive in the wild) equal roughly ninety percent of the zoo’s population,” Cisneros said.

The zoo takes up nearly two and half acres, nestled at roughly 7,100 feet above sea level, in the mountains and hosts tens of thousands of visitors per year.

And tourists have to have fun

But a new facility is in the works, and according to Cisneros, the five and a half acre site should be completed sometime between the fall of 2019 and spring of 2020.

“We don’t want to make the move during the winter,” he stated. “That would be hard on the animals and us, if there’s a lot of snow or ice.”

The new facility is just a short distance from the present site, and is nothing but state of the art in the world of zoos.

“This will be an amazing zoo when we get it completed. Many changes in the way it is run, including monthly wellness checks on all the animals in our care,” Cisneros said. “Top-notch and a big-league move for us here in Big Bear.”

With nearly twenty-two years, at the San Diego Zoo, one of the preeminent animal habitats in the nation, Cisneros wants the Big Bear Alpine Zoo to follow suit. “We’re on track to be accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, only about ten percent of zoos in the United States have achieved that honor.”

“When I got here about four years or so ago, there was a lot of work to be done,” he acknowledged. “The people were doing an outstanding job, but we needed to move in a more progressive manner, for the animals and tourists alike.”

Though the new zoo has been in the works for nearly 20 years in all its phases, the movement for completion has really picked up speed under Cisneros’s vision.

Asked if he was excited about the completion of the new facility, he responded, “There’s so much to be done, it’s not exciting, it’s more like planning a huge wedding. The excitement will come the day, I see crowds coming through the new gates. For now, there’s too much to do to worry about how I’ll feel when it’s done.”

One of the new enclosures under construction

Artist's rendering of the new entrance to the zoo

That made sense to us, as we wandered through the present Alpine Zoo in Moonridge. A huge crowd of adults and children went from enclosure to enclosure, oohing and ahhhing, about this animal or that animal.

There were grizzly bears, black bears, bobcats, coyotes, barn owls, deer, and a whole host of other wildlife for the tourists. It was like being on Old McDonald’s Farm, except that I had never been on his farm, but it seemed like that would be a good analogy.

One enclosure housed a kit fox, by name of Kit Kat. One of the animal specialists, a young lady with a great personality by the name of Paula Burns, gave a short lecture, not only about Kit Kat, but about the zoo itself. But what interested us the most, was when she hid a dead mouse in Kit Kat’s abode and within fifteen seconds, that little fox found the treat.

Kit Kat is a pretty darn smart fox

“Kit Kat’s very smart,” she observed.

“I could do that, if you hid a cheeseburger,” I told Laureen.

“Especially if it had bacon on it,” she agreed. One second, and I would have found the hiding place, take that Kit Kat!

The new facility, according to Cisneros, will cost approximately eight million dollars, with nearly three million coming from donations. “The rest will be from government grants and the like.”

That alone should show how much the public wants and needs a zoo in the San Bernardino Mountains. Private donations making up a goodly sum of the total cost – rather impressive, to say the least.

We walked the zoo, taking photos here and there and realized how wonderful the staff at the Big Bear Alpine Zoo were to those under their care. Animals hurt, from being struck by vehicles, those harmed by insensitive humans, or simply those who could not fend for themselves in the wild and were brought to this sanctuary. Bob Cisneros, and his crew are heroes – for the wildlife and for us who want to come and visit that wildlife up close and personal.

Get out there and visit a zoo - it's a breath of fresh air. Generally, because most of it, is outside. But, watch the signs.

For more information: https://bigbearzoo.org/

Victor Valley Museum

According to, Rhonda Almager, facility manager at the Victor Valley Museum, the reason to visit the museum is simple: “People need to, discover what’s in your own backyard. That’s what we offer here at the museum. A chance for locals and tourists to truly understand the rich and diverse history the Victor Valley has to offer.”

And there is a lot to discover in this museum about the local area.

An extinct mammoth tooth, how cool is that? 

You can go ahead and touch ancient items from the local area.

I could not have agreed more. In fact, the motto, ‘Discover your own backyard,’ is brazenly painted within each mural that decorates the museum’s exterior, located at 11873 Apple Valley Road., in the town of Apple Valley.

Not a fancy facade - but treasures are within the walls

It is pure coincidence, that in our own blog, which is equally penned by my lovely spouse, Laureen, on a broad array of topics of both research and exploration, we ask the question, ‘What’s in your backyard?’

Who had that saying first? Hmmm

No plagiarism, simply a melding of ‘like’ minds. The philosophy is to understand all the wonderful and exciting places a person can visit in their own community. Though, our blog covers a wide variety of subjects from around the world, we would like to focus this column on those places to visit and explore within our own backyards near the Victor Valley.

Living in Southern California, opens up endless possibilities. The question of how far one would travel to visit something worthwhile was a topic for intelligent, thoughtful, and research backed discussion.

We ended up taking a map of the southwest, used Victorville as the center point, and drew a radius of approximately two hundred miles, the distance we felt qualified as a day-trip. 

“There,” I stated. “That will be our backyard for our local stories.”

That's a pretty big backyard!

Laureen grinned, as she often does with some of my pronouncements, but did surprise me by agreeing. 

“I know people who will drive hours just for dinner or to go to the beach for the day. That should work.”

Of course, the section of the radius over the Pacific Ocean may not get much attention, unless the reader counts Catalina Island, as well as the Channel Islands as destinations for a day trip. And, why not?

So, for this first trip, we settled for one really close to home. The Victor Valley Museum, a branch of the San Bernardino County Museum.

According to Almager, the attendance to the museum has skyrocketed over the past year or so. “We received over 9,000 visitors this year. That’s nearly 1,500 more than the previous year.”

"I want to see the exhibit first!" "No, me, first!"

Of course, the next question was why this occurred? “We have new exhibits, our prices are people-friendly, and now we offer a family activity at the museum on the second Saturday of each month from noon to 3 p.m.. It’s really been a great hit. Hands-on events, guest speakers, and the chance for people to meet people and possibly make new friends.”

The museum boasts a great deal of varied and quite interesting exhibits. One of my favorites, my kind of stuff, was the section called, ‘Earthquake Country.’ Yes, we know that the valley is near the focal points of both the San Andreas and Garlock fault lines, but the information shared on how the faults were created and what would happen during a really, really big shaking was fascinating.

That's a comforting title! Egad!!!!! 

There’s an interactive video, with Dr. Pat Abbot, from the San Diego State University explaining over and over (it loops all day) how the valley was created and what to expect during an earthquake. The professor, also does a bit of DIY on how to reinforce residential walls. Making them stronger, just in case.

A very cheery fellow, this Dr. Pat Abbott

Interestingly, or a harbinger of things to come, two weeks after our visit, Southern California received the strongest earthquake in two decades. In Searles Valley, near the city of Ridgecrest, a 6.4 'foreshock' rattled the desert, then followed up the following day with a 7.1 earthquake. Property damage, some injuries, but luckily there were no deaths.

Further exhibits explain how the Native Americans, who first resided in the Victor Valley, survived in a sometimes harsh environment. There are plenty of artifacts to view, found by local archaeologists, such as pottery, projectile points, metates (for crushing grain), clothing, and baskets woven from deergrass and sisal. There is also a really ingenious woven net for catching rabbits – they would never hungry with the multitude of rabbits making their homes in this valley.

Ancient pottery from local N.A. tribes in the valley

A large display, and another looping video, about the desert tortoise is a must see, to understand how fragile these lumbering desert creatures are and how they are quickly being eliminated by human encroachment and eaten by ravens. Oh, those ravens!

I'm hiding because everyone is looking for me - geeez!

Found tortoises are often equipped with ‘GPS Logger’ technology, which allows scientists to track individual tortoises 24/7. It used to take weeks to physically keep an eye on any one particular tortoise, but now with circling satellites, their every movement is tracked.

Much like our cell phones. 

The museum won the National Association of Counties award. The reason why is easy to see with the meticulous care taken to ensure the public truly enjoys their visit in a warm, friendly, educational, clean, and fun place to learn.

One exhibit may confound the younger visitors though. It is a large glass case with two very strange looking objects in it. The objects have a dial – yes, they are phones, but not just phones that many of us remember having at home, the dreaded ‘land line.’ These two artifacts are actually phones used to communicate during mining activities when gold and silver were being pulled out of the earth in earlier times. 

But they do resemble the rotary dial some of us remember.

What are these things?

According to Almager, “People keep coming back again and again to check and see if we have new exhibits. All I hear from departing guests is, we loved it, more interesting than we thought it would be, and I’ll be back.”

We’re not Arnold Schwarzenegger, but it doesn’t take a tree surgeon to realize going back to revisit the Victor Valley Museum is simply a must.

So, go and see what’s in your backyard, and we know you’ll have fun doing it.

For more information on the Victor Valley Museum: (760) 240 – 2111 or visit their website at,

www.SBCounty.gov