Bandera Mountain is surrounded by lakes.  I've been to some of them but never visited Rainbow or Island Lakes on the north side of the mountain. It was time to give them a try. 

The WTA trip description starts from the Pratt Lake Trailhead, but I chose to approach via the Mason Lake (Ira Spring) trailhead.  The road in from I-90 was a little rough in places, but ok for my Corolla.  The worst spot was where the pavement ends.  Be careful there.  When I arrived at 8:00 the parking was about half full (13 cars) and the toilet was open, but without paper.  

The uphill grade started right out of the parking lot but was not too bad. It's a relatively long straight slog for the first couple of miles but there was a nice fog keeping things cool.  After the first mile there is a bridge over Mason Creek with nice views of the stream as it slides over a series of flat rocks on its way down. There are usually occasional views across the I-90 valley but with the fog I had to content myself looking for mushrooms and dome spider webs.  As the trail left the trees and started switchbacking up the rocky slope the fog started lifting and there were glimpses of the opposite side mountains.  After the trails splits the Mason Lake path traversed the rock slope to a gap in the ridge and then descends to the lake, passing through blueberries on the way.  

At Mason Lake there are plenty of spots along the lake to enjoy a nice view across the lake, but the trail also winds along the south side of the lake to a split on the far side, with one side heading up to Mt. Defiance and the other heading to the other lakes...my destination.  That trail is much wilder than the trail up to Mason Lake, with many ups, downs, twists and turns, but it is also much more interesting to navigate.  The first lake I encountered was Sir Richard's Pond, which is a relatively shallow lake with lily pads and eel grass and tons of blueberries on the side...the sweeter, tastier, low bush variety.  I skirted the pond, checking out several access points and nibbling on berries the whole way.  Next came Rainbow Lake, a deeper pretty little alpine lake set amongst trees (and still surrounded by berries).  

Continuing on I passed several lily-covered ponds and a wetland section and then ascended to a ridgeline coming from Pratt Mountain.  The trail from the Pratt Lake approach splits off at the ridge, offering an opportunity to do a loop hike, while the trail to Island Lake descends to the right.  Before descending too far, there is a sign that directs you to the backcountry pit toilet.  I checked it out and found that just past the throne is a beautiful view down into the valley beyond with Talapus Lake shining far below.  Back on the trail I continued down to Island Lake.  It's set in a steep cirque and there is a set of rocks on the left side just perfect for eating my lunch (and more berries, of course). I think it was my favorite of all the lakes. I considered taking a swim but was running out of time. 

The return trip was a bit quicker...fewer pictures and only occasional berry breaks.   I explored the side of Mason Lake a bit more before heading down.  By the time I reached the rocky traverse trail the clouds were completely lifted and there was a clear view across to McClellan's Butte, Mount Kent and Mount Gardner (Mt Rainier was still lost behind distant haze).  

Totals were 11.8 miles and 3100 feet of gain.  

Where to begin!? The road is in pretty much the same condition as always - good, not great. Potholes are not too deep; there are many in some places. Trail in excellent condition. 

Thimbleberries are still ripe and delicious. Not numerous though. Past the turn off for Bandera is where the huckle & blueberries on the hillside start to become more numerous. (keep reading for more about the berries)

CAMPING at Mason Lake: There are only 2 campsites, both are slanted. There is a 3rd site off to the left of the trail, but you will not have a view of the water. After setting up camp at Mason Lake I headed onward for Mount Defiance with a lighter load. Now the huckleberries are more plentiful, but not quite ripe yet in most places. Just not enough sunlight around Mason basin area.

DEFIANCE was beautiful, as always. On a Wednesday around 1pm, I had the peak to myself for nearly an hour. NO BUGS!! Thank the high heavens (and the partial cloud cover that probably deterred them). The clouds kept moving around. I could not see any peaks south of I-90. From here, I decided to see what Spider Valley view was (headed towards Thompson Lake). It's a pretty significant drop down, that you'll have to come back up, and I went from feeling very safe as a solo hiker to realizing I was in a more significant bear area, made obvious by 3 bear tracks on the trail. This trail was gorgeous. I loved it. Spider meadow has no trail that crosses it, but you can see there is a drop across the meadow, which probably opened up to the view. I did not cross the meadow, since it was more than a 20ft jaunt, and there was no trail. I headed back up towards the split with Defiance, and down to Mason Lake. Lots of pikas around Mason lake. I did not see them, but I heard them all night and starting around 5AM. 

In the morning, thanks to my pika alarm clock, I was up about 5:15 and wondering what to do with myself. Around 7:30 I set out in the other direction towards Island lake to explore. BERRIES BERRIES BERRIES! go this way if you want to eat blueberries till you are blue! The blueberries start to get thick as you approach Sir Richard's Pond, and don't stop there. This area is just meadows of blueberries, so it gets more light and they are RIPE and FALL FOLIAGE is already starting (crazy!). Berries will be your companion all the way to Island Lake. At Island lake there are many huckleberries along the water. 

CAMPING at Rainbow & Island Lakes: There are 3 spots around Rainbow, 2 of which are only large enough for a single, but they appear flat. At Island lake, there is just 1 open area, it is slanted, and it's the only area I can see on the map and could find via trail suitable for a tend. (I did not have the leg strength in me to make it down and up to Kulla Kulla, so that will have to wait till next time.) Just down from Mason lake > Island lake and back to Mason was 720ft. (ya, I know, this is not a lot, but just keep it in mind when you are adding it to others). 

Back to my car about 1PM on Thursday. Lot was mostly full, but still a few spots. No one parked on the road. 

IG @linz_obsessions for more adventures & pictures of PNW trails (the best locations will not be tagged)

We had a great hike to Mason Lake today. 12 cars were in the lot when we pulled in just after 9:00.  It was 54 degrees, with mostly overcast skies.  The vault toilet was open with supplies and fairly clean.  After the heavy rain last week most of the FS road on the drive in from I-90 and the trail itself were saturated wet soil.  The dirt road had a few pothole and washboard sections where it was prudent to slow way down.  For me it was the perfect hiking temperature after extreme highs last week.  Trail traffic is what you would expect moderate traffic going each direction.  We passed 9 hikers ascending and descending on our hike up.  Several had camped overnight at Mason Lake with side trips to Mt Defiance, Island Lake and one group dropped a car at the Talapus /Ollalie TH and were hiking through in that direction today.  Most of the few wildflowers are fading except 2 clumps of Pine Drops and Canadian Goldenrod which looked to be in full bloom.  We also saw paint brush, pearly everlasting, penstemon, fireweed and sedum. The foliage on huckleberry and blueberry plants in the exposed areas are already turning a deep red.  It seems too early for fall to arrive!  Descending into the lake basin huckleberries and blue berries were ripe for the picking everywhere.  Several groups were taking rest / snack breaks at the outlet stream and in the woods above the lakeshore, it was easy to capture a little piece of this paradise for yourself.  The group at the outlet stream were taking dips in the lake, while our group chilled down quickly and we were adding layers back on to enjoy our lunch.  Several chipmunks were in the lake area but none were aggressive and trying to get in your backpack.  Several juncos rounded out our wildlife sightings.  Pika’s were alerting in the scree boulder field on our ascent and descent but we didn’t spot any.  Some left the but end of a watermelon (rind and all floating in the lake at the outlet stream) … so much for “leave no trace”.  We fished it out and chucked it deep into the woods before hiking up from the lake basin.  The trail had more foot traffic on our descent and 24 cars were in the lot when we pulled out at 2:15.  All dog owners had their pets leashed except 2 - THANK YOU!  Another fantastic day out in nature with friends.

If you can arrange a car shuttle, the one-way, 9.5-mile hike from the Ira Spring/Mason Lake trailhead to the Talapus Lake trailhead combines a good workout in the steep ascent to Mason Lake with a knee-friendly, gentle descent to Talapus Lake. Between the two popular lakes, you'll have several miles of trail almost entirely to yourself and pass a string of lovely lakes: Rainbow, Island, and Olallie (optional half-mile spurs take you to the latter two). We went on a Monday and there was plenty of parking at both trailheads; weekends are a different story. The various trail junctions along the way are well-marked. No bugs. Our hike took just under 8 hours, including stops for lunch and huckleberry-picking.

Trail was very well maintained and easy to navigate. Great conditioning hike. We made it round-trip in a little over 3 hours. Beautiful lake!