Luv this hike! Challenging but with lots of rewards. Just a few other hikers early on a weekday. A bit buggy at the lake.

Took the Ira Spring trail to Mason Lake and then up to Defiance Peak. Forest service road had a few good sized potholes but easily avoidable. Trail conditions were great! Very buggy from Mason lake up to the summit. Beautiful views all the up!

Hiked to Mason Lake from the Ira Spring Trailhead on a Monday morning. Rewarded with lots of berries by the lake proper - near the spur trail to the toilet especially. Beautiful, clear lake at swimmable temperature, what a delight to take a dip after the climb up! Trail was clear & not too crowded. Lots of wildflowers in bloom too - twin flower, salal, fireweed, Indian paintbrushes and pearly everlasting.

Fab hike. Trail in great shape, wildflowers aplenty. Lot was full around 9:15 am, but there was still ample room on the roadside. Around 1:15 there were a few open spots in the lot and cars lining the road for about a quarter mile down. Mason Lake was noisy with large groups, so not really a serene retreat, but a beautiful day and hike all the same.

Bandera is a tale of three trails: the first 1.5 miles is a mellow converted road walk, then it starts climbing for real on singletrack until just shy of 3 miles from the trailhead, and then once the Bandera parts with the Ira Spring trail it starts climbing for real FOR REAL for the push to Little Bandera. That last half mile felt like more effort than the sum of the first three miles.

The road to the trailhead is in good shape apart from a few short sections of moderate potholes scattered throughout that any car should be able to navigate slowly. There is one giant pothole (or asteroid impact crater?) right where the paved road ends, on the uphill side of the road, which is best avoided entirely by driving on the left side when heading in.

There were 13 cars in the lot at 8am on this Tuesday and about 30 at 11:30am. The trailhead privy was in great condition.

The trail is in great shape for its entirety. There are a bunch of wildflowers with quite a bit of variety getting more frequent the higher on the trail you go. Bugs were not bad on the Ira Spring portion of the trail, but the mosquitoes were awful on the whole section above the Bandera/Mason fork.