I’ve been wanting to go back and do this route for a while. Today seemed like a good day for it. I almost postponed going when I remembered I could demo an eMTB from Specialized Santa Cruz Experience. This way I can compare I guess. It was much warmer than the forecast said it was going to be. It was nice in the shade but I was dripping sweat on the climb up Emma McCrary. I was going to do Wally World from the top originally to try something new but I asked a local on the way over and they didn’t recommend it so I did Mailboxes until just before it gets gnarly and took the connector trail to Wally World. Learned about it from Natalie as she took it to avoid a mountain lion spotted further down the trail. The connector trail was really pretty. Wally World was not. It didn’t seem like it was used much and later it really seemed completely unused. At the start of Englesman, it wasn’t as fun as I remembered but the bottom half was great. I also thought about reversing the loop to avoid the headwind at the coast but when I got there it was calm, warm and beautiful. I was shocked. Well halfway up the coast the wind started to pick up and then it got fierce. It reminded me of Iceland when we went to see the puffins. Climbing back up from the coast just sucked. Baldwin’s loop didn’t seem to be used either. From the coast to the top, the trail was overgrown and there was too much unconsensual touching. I was also being harassed by flies. I really regretted forgetting to put on the bug repellent. I was so happy to finally get to Enchanted Loop. Maybe it was the contrast from the fire road climb but it was so pretty in there. I also cleared the all the gnarly tech I wasn’t previously able to. By the time I got to Woodcutter’s, it was getting dark even though there was still an hour before sunset. My legs were cooked from the climb but I picked it up because I really wanted to enjoy the descent back to the car. Turns out I was just in a dense part of the forest as the rest of the ride was fine. And I the descent was 💯!