Who Are We?

We have been blessed to be a part of country living for 25 years now.  We moved from the city to the country because we are not fans of the hectic metro lifestyle.  It is a nice place to visit but we did not want to raise a family there. We have raised children and helped raise grandchildren on our peaceful ranch.  Jim worked for years as a R & D machinist in the aerospace industry, currently affiliated with Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena.  He has worked on several NASA projects of which he is quite proud of such as Mars Rover.

Darlene has been blessed to raise two children and help with 6 grandchildren ranging from 1 to 21 years of age.  Before going full time alpaca she owned and operated a wedding location and was known in the industry for her expertise at event planning.  Darlene has also had a long time interest in fiber arts. She has participated in showing some of the yarn of her alpacas and has won blue ribbons for the effort.  She enjoys the operational aspect of alpaca ranching as well as spinning, knitting, and other areas of crafts.

Mother Lode Alpaca is a family run ranch, we feel that having daily contact with your herd is very important for socialization of the animals as well as daily observation of the herd to ensure their happiness, health and safety.  We are pleased to have our grandson work for us as our ranch manager.  He also now owns two alpaca and has become involved in the industry.

Established in 1984 our ranch has evolved from what once was a horse breeding ranch to become an established full service alpaca ranch in 1998.  We come to the alpaca industry with over 30 years animal husbandry skills.  Mother Lode Alpaca/Alpaca at the Mother Lode not only offers top of the line foundation alpaca bloodlines but luscious alpaca products as well.  

We are a family run ranch and enjoy daily hands on contact with our alpaca herd.  We are proud to be the High Dessert's premier alpaca facility!  We pride ourselves in knowing each alpaca individually and feel that such knowledge helps to ensure our clients will purchase just the right alpacas for their alpaca herd.

We specialize in putting together personalized package deals. In addition to the offerings from our herd of fine animals we are in contact with other breeders out of state and are pleased to bring into California a greater variety of bloodlines because of these working relationships. Terms are available on a no interest basis, as is agistment and special care services.  We also offer alpaca fiber sales and alpaca hand spinning services.

Our clients receive all of the before and after help needed. Our clients know we are here for them 24/7. We also provide learning seminars for beginning alpaca owners, complete with an alpaca primer for future reference free of charge to our clients. We are truly blessed to have mentored our clients and new friends and we are currently continuing to help build the future of the alpaca industry by offering unbeatable on going support and service.  We provide a female cria guarantee with every breeding sold to Cappucino and that is a rare offer in the industry.

Here you will find on going up to date ranch records, continuing photo documentation of our animals, fiber samples and we will teach you what to do with your fiber harvest.   We pride ourselves on honesty, we will give the facts to you with integrity and high ethics.  We know how important it is to buy from someone you trust. We want you to succeed!  Give us a call you will be glad you did!

ALPACA AT THE MOTHER LODE is located in the mountains of the high desert of Southern California in what was known as gold country in the late 1800's. Our chosen slogan for the ranch is "Huggable huacayas with hearts of GOLD".  We feel that we have struck gold with our wonderful alpacas. 

We are located seventy five miles north of Los Angeles and just under one hour drive from LAX Airport and 45 minutes from Burbank Airport.  Our ranch is nestled amongst the California Poppies and other vast array of wildflowers.  We are surrounded by beautiful pine trees and sage, junipers and yuccas.  Spring is a most beautiful time of the year, but in the winter we are sometimes treated with a beautiful dusting of snow.  We are also blessed with visits of eagles, quail and hummingbirds. Once a year we are treated with the migration of the Monarch butterfly. In the Spring you can visit the California Poppy Preserve, Summer you will find hiking at the famous Vasques Rocks State Park, Winter is skiing at Wrightwood, Fall the Festival in Valermo

Jim & Darlene Crosby