Bandera Mountain — Saturday, Jan. 24, 1998

Snoqualmie Region > North Bend Area

Ah whata lovely day to skip work.Temp was about 42 and the cloud cover was not threatening. I got off I90 @ exit 45 and rounded the bend under the freeway. End of the road. The plows had stopped there. It was snowshoe time right away with +/- 12"" of snow. This was the maiden voyage for my new MSR shoes.From here it is about 3.5 mi to the Mason Lk/Bandera trailhead. At my leisurely pace it was 2 hr of gentle grade slogging to the trail head 2100'.Snow was still 12"".I headed up the trail. At the Mason Lake branch there is a fine viewpoint. I slogged on another mile to the end of the road. More views 3100'.I blazed straight up along the creek looking for the ""trail"". I found pieces of it, but mainly went straight up. The snow was 30"". Went up under tree cover(hard snow) to 4250'. Here the snow was over 48"". Wonderful views of the valley. Turned tail for home. The MSR shoes get an A for great performance.On the way down I found the trail and marked it with pink flagging. This trek took 8.5 hrs. Recomended musical accompaniment: Patty Larkin.