Snow scramble only. Ascend Mason Lake trail. For the Defiance ascent, as the trail starts traversing west at about 5100 ft, continue up the SE ridge and scramble to the summit. For Bandera, there's an obvious trail intersection with a wooden sign. NW Forest Pass required at TH.

To expand the Leader Notes, click... More

To expand the Leader Notes, click... More
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Required:
- Helmet
- Ice axe
- Orange NW Forest Pass for each vehicle
Optional/Recommended:
- Snowshoes
- MicroSpikes

Students only.
This is the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend.

For the Mt Defiance ascent we'll take the old trail along Mason Creek to the lake, then near the summit we'll continue up the SE ridge. For Bandera Mtn we'll take the NW ridge until it hits the trail. Summit order will be Mt Defiance then Bandera Mtn.

Here's our approximate route...
...on a USGS topo map (zoom in for more detail)
...on a Google Terrain topo map (zoom in for more detail)
...as a KML file download for Google Earth and other apps

When to meet:
Sat 7am (be ready to leave the cars and start hiking at that time)
Where to meet:
Ira Spring TH (aka Mason Lake TH), elev 2200 ft
I-90 exit 45 then 3.8 mi NW to TH
50 minutes from Bellevue
Lat/Long = 47.424721, -121.583408
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