Bandera Mt 4.20.04

My goal today was for a return attempt of Putrid Pete's Pk.. The regional snow level had dropped to under 4000ft overnight resulting in some accumulations. The weather was also very unsettled with very large storm cells blowing through in regular intervals. I decided that staying on trail today might be a better option. I had not been up the new Mason Lk. trail so I thought I would give that a go. Bandara Mt still provides over a 3000ft climb. The reworked trail is much more pleasant that either of the other lake routes. The trail does force some extra elevation on you but you hardly notice due to the pleasing grade. I made great time to Bandera's western summit and picked my way carefully to Bandera's eastern summit. The views were stunted today due to some low lying cloudcover. Mason Lk. is still frozen solid and there seems to be quite a bit of snow in it's basin. Upon returning to the Mason Lk. trail I followed it until the descent to the lake. Having been to Mason Lk on many previous trips I had no motivation to drop to the lake. I returned to the truck with a brisk pace and was there before I knew it.