This was the celebration of a year of returning form an injury. I met two friends at the start who ran the Swallow Cliff loop with me. I had a hydration pack and a bunch of snacks. Weather was less than ideal, but that added to the fun of it. 20-30+ mph wind gusts, "real feel" temps in the mid 20s, muddy trails from the pouring rain from the night before, it sleeted for a bit during miles 6-13. I was grateful to have company for this part in the crazy weather - it made it much more tolerable. The bright side was that this kept all the mountain bikers away!
When we finished the loop, I went to my car and topped off my pack with water and more snacks before heading out alone. I luckily made the light at the crosswalk so didn't waste anytime getting onto the canal trail. This part is the most technical of the whole route, running on the rolling trail with a good amount of rocks. The water was starting to freeze at the shoreline so the waves had a crinkly sound which just made me laugh at the absurdity of the weather. I encountered the first fallen tree here which I had to crawl UNDER given how it was placed on the trail (one of the pictures).
Finally exited the canal and climbed up the steep hill to the single track Orange Loop at Maple Lake. There was another fallen tree here to climb over. I met another friend in the Wolf Road parking lot where I refilled my hydration pack. We ran the Yellow Loop together. The multi track was less muddy but still had a few more trees to climb over/around (one of the pictures). I had stashed some watermelon juice at the road crossing by the Little Red Schoolhouse and again at the traffic light 95th/Willow Springs Road. We could really feel the wind on the loop, especially some of the more open parts and the northernmost part of the trail. It was so blustery! We got back to the parking lot and I picked up some water and snacks from her car (had put them in there so they didn't freeze), and then continued on the rest of the way alone.
Finally the sun came out, the winds calmed and the temperatures rose to the 40s for the last few miles. But that meant that the downhills on the canal trail had gotten very slick. I ended up sitting down and scooting on my butt and crabwalking down them to be safe. Had to crawl under the fallen tree again on the way back to the finish. I slowed down a lot on this section from the technicality of it and the muddiness. Then suddenly I was back at the crosswalk (got stuck at the light this time), and at last back to the parking lot - done! The finish was anticlimactic being alone, but I was super happy and would totally do this again.