Bandera Mountain — Monday, Aug. 4, 2025

A Monday, plus not the best weather for views, offered the perfect recipe for solitude on Bandera Mountain. Luckily, I was hitting the trail more for the workout than the views, so the typical Pacific Northwest gloom was just fine. I arrived at the Ira Spring Trailhead late morning to find plenty of parking, but I wasn’t alone. I passed two or three groups heading up, but they were all heading to Mason Lake. Once I turned off the Ira Springs Trail and onto the Bandera Summit trail, I had that all to myself.

This trail is legit, a straight climb up right from the very beginning. It’s a more gradual climb, up a well-maintained trail, to start with. But right at about three miles, the trail splits: left toward Mason Lake, right up to Bandera’s summit. Here, things get real. The route gets steep abruptly, trading wide switchbacks for a rooty, rocky scramble that is essentially straight up the mountain for about one mile and just over 1000’ of gain. (And don’t forget, you must go down this same steep route, trekking poles for the win!).

At the Little Bandera summit, the world was a study in gray. No sweeping vistas, no panorama of the Middle Fork valley or the jagged Alpine Lakes peaks—just completely socked in. The clouds did part just enough to offer a fleeting peek of Mason Lake right before I began my descent, so I appreciated mother nature for offering me that.