All 20 starters made it from the Selby Ranch to the top of Caliente in 3 to 3 1/2 hours on a gorgeous winter day. The route chosen, though partly unscouted, is believed to be the most direct possible. After a few cattle trails at the beginning, it is mostly up open ridges, some steep, and involving one canyon crossing with a loss of some 150'. The return route was over to the secondary (NW) summit and then down a different and shorter (and steeper) ridge.
The views were magnificent, including most of the peaks of San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Ventura, and Kern counties. The Pinos group, the Tehachapis and across the Carizzo Plain (famous for its exposed evidence of the San Andreas fault) the High Sierra (probably the Great Western Divide and a few still further north). Many small wildflowers were out, the Carizzo and Cuyama Valleys were beautifully green, and snow enhanced the sight of Pinos and its neighbors. I hope others will be as fortunate as we were.
