Trip Report
Bandera Mountain
Midweek after hours trip. Trail in good condition with some flower and almost no snow.
David Bradley
- Wed, Jun 7, 2017
- Bandera Mountain
- Day Hiking
- Successful
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- Road rough but passable
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Route in good condition all the way up to the false summit, a.k.a. "Little Bandera", which is the turnaround the most people use for this route. (We did not scramble the ridge to the true summit.) There were still 2 - 3 very short sections of snow, maybe 4' - 8' long, in the upper section of the trail where it passes under trees. The main summit perch is snow free, but the are still larger areas of snow just a few feet to the north and northeast - the transition from south aspect (snow free) to north aspect (snow covered) is plain to see.
Flowers are starting to bloom in the upper section of trail after the intersection with the Mason Lake trail. On this evening hike in still air there were a few bugs but not enough to be an issue. From the summit we could see that Mason Lake is still frozen over but is starting to break up. Another larger lake near Mason, which did not identify with certainty but which may have been Lake Kulla Kulla, appears to be completely melted out.
The unpaved section of road that connects I-90 to the trailhead was in unusually good condition.
Midweek after hours trip up Bandera with a party of seven, following the usual route along the Ira Spring trail. The weather was pleasant and views expansive. In spite of this being a midweek trip that started in late afternoon (4pm) we saw many other parties on the trail during both the ascent and descent, including many happy dogs. When we returned to the trailhead at about 8pm the parking lot was about 2/3 full. A nice evening hike with no issues.