Arrived to the trailhead at 9:40 AM on Sunday and the main lot had just filled up. Parked a few cars down on the side of the road open for parking (downhill side.) There are clear no parking signs on the right side of the road (traveling uphill.) The road leading to the trailhead is certainly passable for all vehicles, but there are some very deep potholed sections. If it has recently rained, I would only consider driving up there in a vehicle with 4x4 and a little extra clearance. Essentially, not a basic sedan, but a lifted truck would be overkill.
Overall I would consider this hike easy to moderate until you reach the junction for Bandera Mountain and Mason Lake. It is steadily uphill from the TH, but nothing too too steep for most hiking abilities. Our group goal was to make it to Bandera Mountain as it has more elevation and some steep scrambling sections which we hoped to use for prep to hike the Enchantments in two weeks. We made it to the trail junction for Mason Lake/Bandera had snacks and rehydrated before climbing upward.
Here is where things get tough. Immediately upon heading towards Bandera, the trail goes straight up, climbing over ~700 vertical feet in just the first ~1/2 mile. This section required the use of hands and legs to climb between boulders and rocks. Watching your step here is very important as your foot could easily get caught between pinch points resulting in a fall and/or injury. This is especially true when heading back down. The trail was very dry as well so watching your footing was even more important as grip was minimal. Ultimately it is right around ~1,000 feet gain in less than a mile, so as you can imagine it is STEEP. We made it through the first really steep scramble section only about 2/10 of a mile before deciding to turn back for various reasons: one was we had a dog who was more than capable and totally in her element, but it felt slightly reckless/unsafe for her safety as well as ours and other hikers, and secondly two of our group members were not entirely at ease with the steepness. Combine those factors with the heat, we called it a day and made our way back down after catching a small glimpse of Mason Lake from the top of the ridgeline.
The hike down was a nice swift pace considering it's all downhill. Overall we covered 6 miles roundtrip and 2,500 ft of total election gain.
I would only recommend the Bandera Mountain portion of this hike for more experienced hikers who are comfortable with some challenging terrain. The Mason Lake hike looked like a basic continuation of the main trail suitable for most abilities before dropping down 300 ft. down to the lake, which you'd of course have to ascend back out before heading down. Probably not too bad if you planned on hanging at the lake and going for a swim for a while.
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