I'm fairly confused by the description, as I found Mailbox -> Dirty Harry's to be just about the easiest part of the day, and it only got harder from there! Granted, I do rock climb, so the scrambles felt nonchalant but I could see how they wouldn't if one didn't climb as much.
We read virtually no beta on the route, opting to just find our way, so maybe there could have been better options. But there's no getting out of that vert! We did pick up an extra 700ft and mile somewhere, making it 12,200 gain and 21 miles...
Here's my time breakdown, if helpful. My *mental* breakdowns happened coming off Bandera in the heinous steep blueberry bushwhack, and on the way up Pratt, realizing just how much gain over endless, loose boulder fields there was to go, with a million and one opportunities to 127 Hours ourselves.
Car 0:00
Mailbox (1:24, 1:24)
Dirtybox (0:20, 1:44)
Dirty Harry's (0:48, 2:32)
Web Mountain (1:24, 3:56)
Putrid Pete's (0:19, 4:15)
Mount Defiance (0:38, 4:53)
Bandera West Peak (1:19, 6:12)
Bandera (0:25, 6:37)
Pratt (1:18, 7:55)
West Granite (1:36, 9:31)
Granite (0:32, 10:03)
Van (0:52, 10:55)
Not sure I actually recommend, but I've always wanted to do the full linkup and it's a great way to get a good butt-kicking!