This is a fun and beautiful trail that meanders alongside the McKenzie River. You run through lava flows, past lakes and waterfalls, and through dense forest. There are sections of techy trail, which is a lot of fun, then towards the end, the trail becomes smooth and soft - a nice reprieve when your legs are tired.
I went out really hard in the beginning of this effort, determined to push myself to my limits and see what I could do. In doing so, I blew up at mile 16. I kept my head together pretty well and continued pushing until I started getting some weird GPS data around mile 24. The miles on my watch kept creeping up quickly and by the time it said I had run 26 miles it was dark and cold outside and I was bad spot mentally. Unsure about how much further I had to go, I walked/jogged the rest of the trail.
That being said, I absolutely loved this trail and highly recommend it! It has the potential of having a super-fast time on it.
My GPS data says I ran 28.39 miles. However, if you look at the actual GPS track it's clear that it was wrong. The dense forest and canyon walls probably had something to do with it. I think this trail is closer to the 26 miles that all the resources say it is.