I put in a nice snowshoe track all the way to the summit of Bandera today. Wow, what a gorgeous day it was!
For starters, be aware that there's a partially-fallen log hanging over the road about 2 miles before the Mason Lake/Bandera Trailhead. There's about 7 feet of clearance under it, so most cars will have no problem, but a tall van or truck won't make it. I wouldn't hold my breath for the Forest Service to go clear it, so hopefully some volunteer with the right skills and equipment can remove it.
The trail itself is in great shape and is snow-free up to around 3300 feet (~2 miles in). A well-beaten boot track in the snow continues from there, traction devices are helpful.
At the split in the trail where Mason Lake goes left and Bandera goes up, I put on snowshoes. It was all breaking trail from there. Thankfully I had a couple other hikers in the vicinity who were able to help lay the tracks for a bit. The portion from the Mason/Bandera junction up to the ridgeline is a slog, but we put in plenty of switchbacks, so it should be nice to follow if you go up there this weekend.
Snow up on the ridge is deep and beautiful. Following the ridgeline up over West Bandera and all the way to the Bandera Mountain summit is a chore. The route is a bit convoluted, with ups and downs, sidehill traverses, trees to go through, between, and under. But persist and ye shall reap the rewards. I did fine with just trekking poles, but some may wish to have an ice axe.
This was an excellent winter scramble on a stellar day.
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