Mustache Mosey 2018: Cady Peak

This was the final stop for the 2018 Mustache Mosey.  Summitpost described it as obscure, remote, and not well documented and more importantly it looked like something we could do in a half day after the morning spent sledding Kelso Dunes.

My ideal plan was to use dirt roads to cut over from Kelso Dunes to Powerline Road without going back to the 40.  However we usually have a variety of high clearance vehicles along on the Mosey and since we have popped a few tires in the past I'm a bit more conservative these days.


We scouted the blue line Friday night but the recent rains had left the road slightly under water across the lakebed and even following the OHV tracks off to the side we had the jeep spinning in mud in a few places.

Once we made it to the Powerline Road the going was much easier but the amount of water we saw was enough to make me doubt the CRV in the group could make it.  So instead of risking a bigger issue we settled on using the western approach from the 40.

The green line was the route the group drove on Sunday.  It's passenger car accessible and the only challenge is getting on Powerline Road.  I'd mistakenly assumed there would be an exit at Pisgah Road causing a bit of confusion with our caravan until we identified the frontage road leading back from the Hector exit.


From there we took a paved road back to Pisgah, passed back under the freeway, and picked up the excellent dirt road.


We made good time and soon reached the wash we intended to use to climb the peak.  There wasn't much in the way of parking since the road had a berm on both sides so we drove up a small incline and parked under a crackling powerline.


After a few wry comments about cancer causing trailheads we left the cars at 12:30 pm.


We aimed for the large wash and took the northern branch after about a mile.


Here's Tao rocking the new WTC Kaweah Group shirt.  I may have picked the color.  Can you tell?


We followed the northern wash passed an easy 2nd class dry fall and then we started up a slightly loose hillside to gain the ridge.



There were a few spots near the top where we had to take care due to the potential for rockfall but the other than that it was straightforward and almost pleasant.



We made the summit at 2:35 pm.


We found a summit register with two books inside the oldest of which dated back to 1995.  Based on the numerous sign-ins I know a fair number of people who have had been up this bump.


From the top we could make out Providence, the Kelso Dunes, and the lake bed we'd driven through on Friday that had so vexed us.



We spent about an hour on the summit before dussling down to take advantage of the daylight we had left.



I figured we had headlamps in out future for sure but sadly we made it back to the cars at 5 pm on the dot right before they would have been needed.


We had dinner at Casa Jimenez in Barstow a perennial favorite which might be slightly better known for the taxidermy decorations vs the food but the food is decent too!


They even had the christmas decorations still up...

And that was the end of the 2018 Mustache Mosey!  We made all objectives, didn't destroy a single tire, and even managed to avoid traumatize anyone except maybe for Kristen with the sledding.