Really fun day out where the weather + route combined for 10/10 aesthetics. Rain several days prior to our attempt resulted in "hero dirt" conditions. No puddles, but plenty of moisture to tamp down the dust, and make the particularly steep road sections faster on the way up, and easier on the quads on the way down. We had pre-scouted several sections of the route by bike & foot the week prior, but overall found the navigation and route finding much easier than previous reports had implied. I'd call the trail non technical overall, but there's just enough lava rock on sections to keep you focused.
The team of 2 of us left from the horse butte parking lot sign at 09:17am and returned to that sign having completed the route together at 02:30pm. We ran the route unsupported staying together the entire time. We carried 1.5L of water each along with 600 - 900 calories. The route is very exposed with no natural water sources available so you need to have the right conditions as high temps could be risky. High during our attempt was probably about 60 degrees, but felt warmer in the exposed sun, particularly heading up the 2 horse ridge summits. We ran out of water right at the end, probably could have used another 500ml each to be more comfortable on the hydration front. We passed a couple of people on horses with about 3 miles to go from the finish which added a bit of comedy to the horse theme of the day.
Splits for the day were as follows:
- Start at sign - 09:17am
- Horse Butte summit 1 - 09:23 am
- Horse Ridge Summit - 11:45 am
- Other Horse Ridge summit - 12:17pm
- Horse Butte summit 2 - 02:26pm
- Finish at sign - 02:30pm
This route being about 50km is a perfect running route, but I'd also highly recommend it to friends as a multi sport adventure by biking the horse-to-horse trail then running the 2 horse ridge summits and connecting trail. Views of Bachelor, 3 sisters, broken top, Jefferson, and Hood make for great pictures and scenery to help pass the miles.