They hooked me up with a perminent camping spot for the weekends in the Calico campground. I was made the campground host and volunteer ranger to help in the evenings when needed. Over a period of about a year of coming out on the weekends and doing the campfire thing at night it started to get a little old. I needed to find something else to do in the evening. But wait....in the middle of the Mojave Desert? It's not like you just go around the corner and go to a movie theater. Heck, you're lucky to get even one tv channel that has static and snow ot here. Oh well.......
One night I got a crazy idea. What if......I got some people from the campground and............I had heard some neat stories from the town folks.......and gave a ghost walk after dark through a real ghost town? I asked a few of the families camping if they wanted to go that night. Without exception every family I ask was exited to go. .........Wow!
We assembled in "A" section of the campground where I made up some quick ground rules for the ghost walk so I wouldn't have people doing stupid things in the town after dark. Stay with the group, walk in the middle of the street, whisper don't talk, dont'get ahead of me,......Things like that.
The Ghost Walk lasted about two hours. We were all having so much fun. The atmosphere in Calico at night with the stories from the past and sightings from the town folks really made an impression upon the group. After the Ghost Walk the people didn't go back to their campsites.They wanted to stand around and talk about the tour and ask questions.
When I first started the Ghost Walk I really didn't believe in ghost stuff. My family upbringing really didn't lend to that. So at first, I had to just go with the flow during the tour and answer questions with just plain common sense. It seemed to work and the people on the tour didn't seem to know the difference........or didn't care. They were just having a good time!
After about 3 or 4 months of Ghost Walks, I started having "stuff" happen on the tours that baffled and amazed me. Slowly over a period of time, I started to realize that there was "something" here in the town at night. It wasn't just in one place, but numerous spots. Could it really be a "real" Ghost Town?
Now, it's been 11 years of giving Ghost Walks at Calico and I have retired as of December 31, 12006. I now live full time here in the Calico area and even got married here. On the weekends I used to give two or three tours in one evening just because of the demand. You add it up, that's a lot of tours. The tours consisted of personal experiences coupled with legitimate sightings that are researched. I can now say there is no doubt in my mind that there are such things as ghosts. If you could have experienced what I have experienced on these tours over the 11 years, you would have no doubt either. But I don't feel it is in my place or my desire convince anyone of this. I just gave the Ghost Walks. The reasons people went on the Ghost Walk are their own, for inspiration, for a possible chill, or just to have fun. Undoubtably it was an experience you'd never forget!
Your retired guide,
Bill Cook
