Page Type:
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Route |
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Lat/Lon:
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38.94560°N / 106.7525°W |
Route Type:
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hike/scramble on loose rock |
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Time Required:
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Most of a day |
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Difficulty:
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class 2 and 3 |
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Approach
From the Italian Creek Road parking at 10,180 ft continue hiking the dirt road with good views of Italian Mountain for about 3.5 miles to a place where the road splits. The lower road is an option, but may have private property issues. I cannot speak for good access from the lower road to Italian Mountain. The upper road provides for good camping and goes about a half mile before it is gated for the Star Mine. There are a couple of nasty signs here that try to keep you from continuing past the gate.
At the gate, leave the road and hike up into the grassy basin north of Star Mine. There is good camping to be had up in the grassy basin with good water sources, see attached TOPO. From here the idea is to hike around the private property that encompasses the Star Mine. Hike towards Lambertson Peak and around some nice lakes that reside at the base of Italian Mountain. Continue hiking south through some willows and begin an ascent of Italian Mountains east ridge just east of Point 12,721.
Route Description
Once you have gained the flat ridge crest, look for a climbers trail that will escort you another .8 mile and 880-ft to the small summit.
From the summit, locate the skinny northwest ridge that connects to Lambertson Peak. This ridge goes, although it looks like it may not go. Staying on the ridge crest when possible, descend this ridge on solid class 3 terrain. The ridge is loose in spots. It is possible to bypass any difficulties by descending the west face when the ridge crest becomes to steep and exposed. Descend to another flat saddle between Italian Mountain and Lambertson Peak. From here, it is class 1 hiking to the flat summit of Lambertson Peak.
Descend the north ridge of Lambertson to an obvious, grassy northeast ridge. Descend this easy ridge back down to Star Mine Basin and continue back to your dirt road east of the mining area.