What a beautiful day for a hike! I was planning on doing just Ira Spring to Mason Lake and Mt. Defiance, but was ahead of schedule so I added Bandera Mountain along the way.
Arrived at 8:15 and there were about 8 cars parked. Road was fine, a few pot holes but my sedan handled it no problem. Just be careful going through the potholes.
Trails were in great shape! Getting to Mason Lake was no problem at all. Beautiful views of Rainier going up Ira Spring. Only ran into 2 groups along the way to Mason Lake - a pair going up Ira Spring that I passed and a Scout Group heading up from the lake to the lookout. Lake was beautiful. I wish I filled up more on water than I did, as it got a lot hotter than I was expecting. I would recommend filling up as much as possible at this point, and on the way back down as well.
Trail going up Defiance was fine as well. There was a tree down at one point that ended up crossing 3 parts of a switchback, but I maneuvered alright around it. Views from Defiance were incredible. Got to the summit around 10:40.
On my way back to Mason Lake I took a wrong turn and accidentally headed towards Rainbow and Island Lakes. The turn back to Mason Lake was much harder to see than I thought it would be on my way up. Mason Lake was crowded when I got back down and Ira Spring trail was as well.
The climb up Bandera was not fun. Was pretty hot and the first section of Ira Spring is a dousey. After doing Defiance, it was harder than I thought it would be. The view at the top was a little disappointing as well. The trail to Defiance was much easier, and had a much better payoff.
My knees were shot after going down Bandera so I waddled down back to the trailhead. There were some ripe blueberries along the way back down that I snacked on. Got back to the trailhead around 3:40 and the parking lot was packed, and cars lined the road going up. All in all a great day hike.
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