dryfj.com / drycyclist.com (kevin cook)

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00335-me-pipe-nipton-800px.jpg The small campground at Nipton, with New York Mountains in the background, is almost empty tonight, which suits me just fineThumbnailsMojave National Preserve map, Day 8: Butcher Knife Canyon corral to NiptonThe small campground at Nipton, with New York Mountains in the background, is almost empty tonight, which suits me just fineThumbnailsMojave National Preserve map, Day 8: Butcher Knife Canyon corral to NiptonThe small campground at Nipton, with New York Mountains in the background, is almost empty tonight, which suits me just fineThumbnailsMojave National Preserve map, Day 8: Butcher Knife Canyon corral to NiptonThe small campground at Nipton, with New York Mountains in the background, is almost empty tonight, which suits me just fineThumbnailsMojave National Preserve map, Day 8: Butcher Knife Canyon corral to NiptonThe small campground at Nipton, with New York Mountains in the background, is almost empty tonight, which suits me just fineThumbnailsMojave National Preserve map, Day 8: Butcher Knife Canyon corral to Nipton

The cold (mmmm, cold) beer is incredibly refreshing after a long day in the sun and a decent amount of calorie-burning. It's a very pleasant end-of-the-day with a cool breeze setting in.

The café is open for a couple of evening hours, so I walk over and order one of Bill's juicy hamburgers with a side of his crispy French fries, instead of eating another backpacker meal. Yum. Convenience. Faaat.

The only other customers at the café tonight are Pat and Pam, a vivacious couple visiting from the UK, who are staying in Nipton's bed and breakfast. We chat a lot, drink more beer and hang out at the café for a couple of hours.

After the café closes, Pat and Pam invite me inside the bed and breakfast to help them finish off a bottle of wine. The evening evaporated, I walk back to my tent in a pleasantly drunk condition. I fall asleep almost instantly and don't even hear the late-night trains passing a few hundred feet away.