Mount Defiance

Saturday was a nice fall day to go for a long walk in the mountains. The Ira Spring trailhead is only a little more than an hour from the house and I got there by 8AM, before the main lot filled up (as usual, the cars were parked a quarter mile down the road by the time I left at 2PM).

Seven years ago, D and I hiked up to Bandera and Mason Lake (Bandera: June 2011). That time, it was pretty early in the season and the lake was still snowed in. This time, the snow was long gone, replaced by fall colors.

The trail to Mason Lake is very good and relatively fast, despite the climb. The trail on up to Mount Defiance is steeper, particularly the final stretch up its southwest ridge. The clouds were beginning to come in, but the temperatures were perfect.