This is definitely a spring route, not just because of the heat, but more importantly for the overgrown nature of the trail and the ticks. There is certainly a trail, marked with painted posts, but there is not a path. It was very difficult to get into any real rhythm because I was constantly looking for a post running to it, often through knee or waist-high plants, then looking for the next post. There were a few sections where clear paths existed and I was able to run for an extended period of time, but more often then not, these just led me off course as the well-worn paths didn't end up following the trail.
About ten miles in, I ran into a large herd of cattle and ended up corralling them between the canyon walls and a cattle gate. After trying to wait them out, I was able to scramble up the side of the canyon and skirt around them and along the fence to continue my run.
I had planned to yo-yo the route because the logistics of a shuttle were too bothersome, but about half way back I lost the trail and ended up hiking to a road and catching a ride with a local back to the West Ash trailhead.
I carried a UD vest with two bottles of Nuun and a two-liter bladder of water. I did not bring a filter, but I still would have been leery to collect water along the route, even with a filter, due to all of the livestock along the route. All of the water sources I came across had cow manure in them.
The scenery was beautiful and I saw a number of deer and birds.