Great day up at Bandera!
The Road:
As other reports mention, the road to the trailhead is quite potholed but I didn't find it to be all that bad - though I have a Ford Escape and can see how sedans would have to take it much slower. Minus one bumpy section it wasn't terrible.
Bugs:
What is terrible, however, are the bugs. Right after you start the climb to Bandera from the fork to Mason Lake the air is filled with ruthless flies. They didn't bite so it was more of an annoyance but they swarmed and got in my eyeballs and mouth. No, thank you.
Little Bandera:
What wasn't terrible was the view! The trail to Bandera is steep but made much more enjoyable with plenty of wildflowers. With less time to explore, I stopped at Little Bandera which had a beautiful view of Rainier, Mason Lake and the peaks beyond. Poles were lovely to have on the descent.
Summary:
I clocked 7 miles roundtrip and 2960 feet of elevation gain to Little Bandera. I'm a fairly quick hiker and it took just shy of 3 hours total.
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