Alpine Scramble - Bandera Mountain

It turned out all participants were current year scramble students from various branches needing a rock scramble to graduate.  Fun to mingle with folks from other branches!

When we met at Ira Spring Trailhead at 4PM and set off our hike up, the temperature was still in mid-80's.  Trail to Bandera Mountain junction is mostly in the woods, so temperature was bearable, but once we turned off the main trail and started heading up the steep trail up to West Bandera, there was not much cover and we were baking under the hot sun. Unfortunately, one participant was experiencing issues from the heat and we made the decision to send him back to the car with assistant leader to prevent condition from worsening.  The rest of the group continued on and summitted East Bandera and enjoyed the marvelous 360 view before heading back.  It took longer than we were hoping, but we were able to meet our primary goal of getting back to Mason/Bandera junction before the sunset.  We ended up hiking out in the dark with our headlamps, getting back to the car at 10PM.  Congratulations to 5 students  for completing the scramble and meeting the graduation requirement!