Bandera Mountain

Bring Deet! I wish that there had been an honest write up of this hike so that those who are not one of the 25 year old cowboy hikers who were going up this section of the trail could be prepared. So here is a write up from a 50 year old perspective. The Bandera trail is the same as the Mason lake trail but they split way up near the top. The Bandera Y of the trail begins steep and gets worse. When you have to use your hands to get up and down boulders isn’t that rock climbing? So be prepared with poles. Finally when you slowly have navigated this steep terrain about a mile you are there. The flowers are all in bloom but the blueberries are not ripe yet. The view is beautiful indeed but now you have to go down…. You get the idea. Bring sunscreen because you are exposed from the Mason Lake cut off to the top. The biting flies and Deer flies were seriously bad. Get there early to beat the crowd and the heat. Bring lots of water too.