6-7 July 2026: Trip Report Italy Pass & Mount Julius Caesar (13,140 ft)

After a busy 4th of July weekend, our store owners needed a break and headed up into the mountains for an overnight backpacking trip. 

While this trip is just 10 miles each way, it gains over 6,000 feet in elevation. Give your knees a pep talk before heading down from the summit and bring poles!

Trip Report: 

Current As Of: 6-7 July 2026*

Activity During Report: hiking on and off trail in steep terrain, a few scrambling moves, backcountry camping

Mileage to Landmarks (all measured oneway from the trailhead): 

• Pine Lake: 4 miles, 2,619' uphill, 48' downhill
• Upper Pine Lake: 5 miles, 2,889' uphill, 60' downhill
• Honeymoon Lake: 5.85 miles, 3,144' uphill, 87' downhill
• Italy Pass: 9.5 miles, 5,237' uphill, 258' downhill
• Mount Julius Caesar: 10 miles, 6,054' uphill, 258' downhill

Conditions: 

The trail starts by going through the Pine Creek Pack Station, where patient mules and horses are waiting for their next assignment. On the first mile, it winds its way in and out of a forest that eventually gives way to a brushy slope. Here, the trail runs on an old mining road. You can still see how it follows a 10-12 ft wide shelf that switches back and forth across the steep slope. Look up and you'll even find two old wooden tramway towers in the landscape - remnants of a more active mining past. 

Speaking of mining, for the entirety of those switchbacks, you get to "enjoy" the view of the Pine Creek Mine, a tungsten mine that is currently not operating but is still being maintained in order to start mining again on short notice. Sometimes, you can spot the caretaker driving around doing errands in the complex. 

Above those switchbacks - about 3 miles in - the trail enters yet another forest, and the views get much better. Soon, it reaches the first crossing of Pine Creek. Take the trail that is marked for foot traffic, and you'll get to cross an old log bridge (the mules and horses cross at a ford a couple of yards away). 

Pine Lake

Just a few minutes after the crossing, you reach Pine Lake with lots of wildflowers and amazing views of the Sierra's Crest. Here are the first good camp sites for those who don't want to keep going further on day 1 of their backpacking trip. 

The trail winds its way around Pine Lake, then reaches Upper Pine Lake after another mile - with more campsites. This time of year, there are ferocious mosquitoes in the area, so bring a head net, long apparel, and some bug spray if you want to camp around here.

Above Upper Pine Lake, the trail crosses Pine Creek again at a very wide crossing consisting of about two dozen rocks. If you don't like rock-hopping, you can simply walk through the water next to the rocks. After the snowmelt, it is pretty shallow. 

At the trail intersection, we headed straight towards Honeymoon Lake and Italy Pass. The left turn would lead to Pine Creek Pass, but that's for another day.

Honeymoon Lake has a quaint name, but the only ones celebrating a honeymoon here are the mosquitoes. We recommend bypassing the lake and ascending further if you can. 

In the High Sierra on the Italy Pass Route

After this lake, the official trail ends. Now, we are on an unmaintained route, which can be hard to find in places. It's also not a smooth walk anymore; you often hop across talus, so watch your ankles!

Camp at 11,000+ feet elevation

We decided to set up camp near some unnamed lakes within sight of Italy Pass, Mount Julius Caesar, and Feather Peak on the other side. There are campsites within sight of the route, but we decided to cross the creek again and pick a site further away and invisible from the route. 

Here, above 11,000 feet, the mosquito situation was much, much better. There were just a few around, instead of thousands. 

On the next morning, we stashed the bear canister in a safe place, left our camp behind, just bringing a few dayhiking supplies in the largely empty backpacks, and continued our hike uphill. We could see Italy Pass off in the distance - just had to get there. 

Approaching Italy Pass

The route bypasses the last lake high on the right side. This is the last water source! From here, the route is pretty much invisible, and you simply pick what you think is the easiest way across the rocky moonscape to the pass. 

Once we reached Italy Pass, we took a quick break for second breakfast and stashed our hiking poles in an obvious spot for later. 

The steep ascent up Mount Julius Caesar

Now, it got really steep. We were only half a mile from the summit of Mount Julius Caesar but still had to gain over 800 feet in elevation. The route roughly follows the mountain's ridge from the pass to the summit. The easiest route is slightly to the west of the ridge. 

Occasionally we found a social trail, but largely, it was all about rock-hopping. You can keep it to a difficulty of Class 2 most of the time, but occasionally, there are a few Class 3 moves in the mix. 

Summit views from Mount Julius Caesar: Bear Creek Spire area

Summit views from Mount Julius Caesar: following the Sierra's Crest to the south

Summit views from Mount Julius Caesar: Lake Italy

Finally, we arrived on the summit! The views are amazing from here! You can see Lake Italy right below you; on the other side, Bear Creek Spire is towering like a medieval fortress, and to the south, you see lots of mountains along the crest all the way down to the Evolutions. The landscape is dotted with blue lakes, each inviting you over for a swim. 

After a much-earned first lunch, we started the long descent back down. This was well worth the effort!

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