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Jun 28, 2021 — The trailhead we started at is the large parking lot used for the ski resort at the southern base of James Peak. As you'll see on the attached map, we made this hike into a loop. We initially planned to ascend via the longer, western route directly along the south ridge. However, multiple "no trespassing signs" prevented us from feeling comfortable doing so on the way up. On the way back we decided to just go for it and were able to avoid all signs by sticking to the ski slopes instead of the dirt road, but I'll go ahead and assume the signage and private property might change over time, so chosing your hike route is at your discretion.
Our ascent route also avoided the private property, but was much steeper and followed a faint social trail rather than the obvious dirt road system. We headed to the northern end of the parking lot and started up the slope, some light bushwhacking through very low foliage until a trail seemed to materialize. It wasn't easy to follow at times, but it was a short-lived ascent to the ridge above. Once on the ridge, we headed west/northwest and side-hilled on an animal trail to get to the south ridge of James Peak. From here a trail led to the summit.
On our way back we decided to just take the road option we skipped on the ascent, passing over a minor summit called Cobabe Peak along the way. The dirt road led south, then east through a small grouping of cabins, which is where we located the option I mentioned earlier that didn't pass any "no trespassing signs".
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