For a change, my first concern of the morning is not boiling water for coffee or digging a cat hole

Instead, I walk over to the general store, pay for another night of tent camping and get some coffee and packaged junk food. A big orange van has just arrived at the campground to receive a group of dirt bikers that will be living here for a day or two.

I haven't chosen a destination yet for today's ride, so I go for a walk to look at some of Nipton's buildings

This antique tin-clad shed sits on a raised partial foundation.

This old roadside building at Nipton looks like it may have been a store at one time

The wooden-plank sidewalk adds an old-west effect.

This trailer-like building looks to be a former residence

The modern electrical mast suggests that this building may have been recently inhabited.

The old Nipton school house is a building worth saving

The construction appears to be concrete or stucco.

Just across the road from the Nipton General Store along the train tracks is a rock and gravel display yard

The materials being promoted originate from the Lucky Dutchman Mine near Las Vegas.

The Hotel Nipton bed-and-breakfast cactus garden is always worth a walk-through

However, after a week of desert camping and enjoying the random, natural environment, I find I don't have a really strong need to see these plants that I like arranged in aesthetically pleasing patterns.

While in my tent choosing my afternoon ride, the dirt-bike tour group members arrive at Nipton in a cloud of noise

It looks like a lot of fun, but I'm seeking quiet and hope to avoid them while out on my afternoon ride. So I listen while the tour guide explains the route of the next leg of their trip, which will include the old Mojave Road.

OK, I've finally chosen a ride route for today on the power-line road above Nipton, starting at the Nevada border

I fill my Camelbak and a water bottle at the outdoor sink at the Nipton campground, and away we go.

I start the climb up the hill away from Nipton toward the Nevada border

It's so easy riding up a hill without the weight of all my gear, even with a hangover!

Three miles up the hill of Nipton Road, I reach the "Welcome to Nevada" sign that makes a perfect tourist photo

Hopefully, the all the bullet holes in the Nevada welcome sign are not a message from the Nevada Commission on Tourism. I'll probably only be in Nevada for half an hour or so.

The views back down to Nipton and across Ivanpah Valley from the Nevada State line are superb

I lurk here for a few minutes to enjoy the views from about 600 feet above Nipton.

I ride another half mile beyond the Nevada State line and then turn south on this dirt road with a cattleguard

I'll stay on this road, just for half a mile, until I reach the power-line road at the base of the hills ahead. The New York Mountains sit in the background.

I see that I'm approaching a mining area with red soil that is not on my map and may still be active

I turn right here on the lesser road to reach the power-line road a quarter-mile away.

Here I am at the top of the gravelly power-line road, and I'll descend this road about four miles to the train tracks

If you strain your eyes, you might be able to see that this road continues straight ahead for dozens of miles and over the next hill (which is actually part of Cima Dome).

Nipton is still visible a few miles away down below

I'm just high enough up that there are a few small yuccas and barrel cacti growing here, neither of which grow down the hill at Nipton.

Loose rock is the dominant surface on the upper portion of the power-line road

It makes for slow riding, even in the downhill direction!

I pass one of those little "Entering Mojave National Preserve" signs that are used on less-travelled routes

This also means that I'm reentering California after my brief visit to Nevada.