After finishing the first half of the R2R2R trek, I turned around at the Rattlesnake trailhead to go back in the other direction. This downhill was easier to run compared to Potato Trail. The trail is in good condition, fewer trees to climb over, and way less vegetation to deal with. Just a few tiny ups/downs along the creek at the bottom.
I made my way around the traverse to Ashdown Creek and waded across again (rock hopping is also possible but I declined). Route finding on Potato was a lot easier now that I had seen it once. There's a field crossing on the upper part of the first climb that could be tricky - aim for the big down tree and the "TRAIL" sign behind it.
After the little saddle, there's a fallen aspen tree covering a switchback. Again easy since I'd messed it up the first time. The time I saved not making mistakes was probably the main difference in my times from one direction to the other. The rest of Potato went fine and eventually I got back to the Blowdown Trail.
Oooph, that one is STEEP. It didn't help knowing this fact already. That last grind uphill is a humdinger. I would not want to be in a huge hurry at that point. Finally back to the radar tower and around to the trailhead, moving toward a dark cloud that thankfully stayed away from my position long enough to get outta Dodge.
My second half took 4:32 compared to 4:37 on the way over, so I'm submitting this part for the One-way version of the FKT.
I really like this route and I encourage other people to check it out. Beautiful views, a solid challenge, and it occurs to me that I found very few bugs and even fewer people out there. Thank you Brett for setting this up!