After hiking Mount Aix earlier this week, my boyfriend and I went into this hike thinking it would be a breeze... Well, you really shouldn't count your chickens until they hatch.
We pulled into the parking "lot" around 10:30 a.m. and, as expected, there was already a long string of cars parked along the side of the road. Which is fine, I mean when you're going on a hike what's an extra half mile total?
The Ira Spring Trail was in great condition and wide enough to travel in two's and three's, which made passing along the side pretty easy. This long slope increase in elevation quickly enough to get you building a good sweat within the first mile.
We averaged about a 20 minute-per-mile pace all the way up until the path splits off for Mason Lake and Bandera Mountain. After that we had to slow down to a snail's crawl.
Hobbling up the boulders covered in loose dirt made for a slow ascent and an even slower descent. Be careful here, I saw several people loose their footing both coming up and down. Personally, I would recommend trekking poles and sturdy shoes.
We reached the false summit in about an hour and a half. We continued on, however, because of the sheer amount of people clustered along the boulders.
The true summit really isn't that far off and offers just as spectacular views as the false summit. Plus, along the way, you can see down to Mason Lake and the mountain range beyond. There were significantly less people on the true summit. We found a great spot on a flat boulder to have our lunch and were joined by a nice gentleman and his 5 month old golden retriever.
The hike down was slow at first, but we easily picked up speed again after the fork.
Highly recommend this hike for anyone looking to step up their hiking game!
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