A nice Monday hike to Mason Lake.  The trailhead parking lot was less than half full at 9:30ish, which was nice to see. The trailhead toilet is fine, stocked with TP, flies like it though.  We hiked fairly slowly up the Ira Spring Trail to Mason Lake owing to injured party members and warm temperatures.  The trail follows old logging roads for a mile and a half at least, making the tread smooth and easy.  After the trail leaves the old roadbed the pitch steepens and is rockier, but not in bad shape.  There are two flowing creeks along the lower part of the trail, so water is available there.  A nice bridge crosses the larger creek.  Once the trail leaves the forest and climbs the south facing talus slope it's much warmer in the sun.  This area has many blueberry bushes turning brilliant red already in the dry weather.  The berries on them are surprisingly plump and sweet so don't miss out on tasting them. The vine maples are starting to turn orange so the fall color is already bright.  At the ridgeline, check out the plaque to Ira Spring on a rock. The views of Mt Rainier are good here. Once over the ridgeline the trail drops through moss covered talus, but not far and then levels out to the outlet of Mason Lake. Cross the outlet on steping stones. We enjoyed swimming in the cool lake water and watching fish jump and swim. The water is so clear and beautiful you can easily see trout swimming in the water.  People fish here and there are fishing lures visible on the lake bottom so watch where you step! There is a backcountry toilet here, and camps for backpacking. Trails lead to Mt Defiance and other lakes even eventually back to Pratt and Ollalie, but just hanging out by Mason lake is so relaxing.   We returned the same way and saw a most astounding sight, a snake ball of 15-20 garter snakes in the leaf litter by the side of the lower trail. Garter snakes mate in a snake ball with one female and many males. It's a writhing active ball shaped mass of snakes, creepy and fascinating at the same time. They seemed unperturbed by the humans watching and exclaiming over the sight. Some snakes left the ball and came toward the trail and then went back in the ball again.  I have never seen anything like it.  I did not get a photo though. 

Wow, what a gorgeous hike. Can’t believe this was my first time doing it! Headed up on a Thursday afternoon, a few cars in the lot and met a couple people on the trail but had the lake to ourselves.

Road is fine for every car, a couple potholes here and there but overall in great shape. 
Wildflowers are blooming, mostly paintbrush, fire weed, and some lupines.

Lake wasn’t too cold, perfect for a little swim and we weren’t really bothered by the bugs. Even without bug spray or layers I haven’t found any mosquito bites yet.

Beautiful day for a hike and this one was perfect. As the other reviewer on this day noted, this was also my first time doing this hike! 

Hit the trail at 9:00am with several cars in the lot, but not full. Toilet, at the trailhead was in good shape. It was warm and partly cloudy. Indeed the trail was a gentle up at first, then a steady climb. All well maintained, some rocky sections, stopped to pay tribute to Ira by his plaque. We passed very few other hiking groups. It was a short descent to the lake with a few others lounging on rocks or by the shore. 

We rested for a leisurely lunch, without too many bugs. It was warm with high clouds. Swam in the delightfully cool, not cold lake. Dried off and headed back. After a short ascent, the trail was a steady descent all the way back. A light rain began to fall about a mile from the trailhead. We were back to the car by about 3:30pm. Highly recommend this hike!

 I have not hiked to Mason Lake in a number of years, so I thought today would be a good day to check it out again. Got to the trailhead parking lot with only a handful of cars already there and started up at a little after 7 AM. As usual for this time of year, the trail is dry and in good condition. Beautiful blue skies and some nice views on the way up. Some wildflowers still blooming towards the top, Indian Paintbrush and plenty of Bloomin’ Sally (Fireweed), and a few Lupine mixed in. Only met one hiker on my way to the lake on their way down. The lake was smooth as glass and crystal clear. The bugs were making their presence known this morning – the buggiest hike I’ve done all summer. Met quite a few hikers on my way back down but nothing like the usual circus on the typical weekend. Some nice early fall colors, due to the lack of rain, appearing on the shoulder of Bandera. By the time I got back to the parking lot, it was almost full, but no cars parked along the road yet. Great hike – a little on the warm side in the open areas, but nice and cool in the shaded spots!