Distance: 6.5 miles round trip cross country
Summit Elevation: 4630'
Prominence: 2430'
Elevation Gain: 2061'
Elevation Gain (in Empire State Buildings): 1.6
Round trip time: 3 hours 45 minutes
Recommended water: 64 oz.
Parking/Fees: Free on BLM Road MT8685
Difficulty: Moderate
The desert heat wave finally broke, opening a window to bag Cady Peak before summer. I'd been working a stretch of peaks near I-15 and I-40, and this one sits north of I-40 about 45 minutes east of Barstow. I took the Hector exit, then Pisgah Crater Road under the interstate heading north. Past a power station, I stopped at a railroad crossing for a passing train, then continued north on the power line road about five miles (BLM MT8685) and parked at the mouth of a wide wash. The road was in decent shape. High clearance recommended for the last two miles.
The wash was the approach. After a couple of miles it narrowed, leading to a few dry falls. The final half mile was steep, loose, and thoroughly unpleasant. The desolate terrain showed almost no signs of life, vegetation nearly absent, even the hardiest cacti sparse. I stayed in the wash until I was directly below the summit, then scrambled straight up. On top: a wooden pole, a benchmark, and two reference marks. No register. I meant to bring one but was out of booklets. The 360° views were solid. I'd hauled the drone up, but the summit wind made flying a non-starter.
The descent was eventful. I tried angling toward a small saddle at the upper end of the wash, thinking it might beat reversing straight down. It didn't. A side-hill traverse to the saddle ran me into cliffs that pushed me back west. At one point I slipped on a slab and slid about six feet, landing on both feet in the sand. That one could have gone differently. Once clear of the steep stuff, it was an easy coast back through open desert.
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