Review
Unfortunately, not everything in life can be as easy as a Cashin Loop. Sometimes you wake up in the morning, chow down a breakfast of rusty nails and concrete and realize that life is hard. For those seeking a bit of obstacles on their 7-mile runs, may I present the Lake Loop.
The Lake Loop is not just a core trail, but it also contains the Lake Hill. While boys frolic and play on the Cashin Loop, men toil and sweat on the Lake Hill. As much as I joke, Lake Hill does suck to run up. However, acquiring elevation is an important part of many runs, so going up the Lake Hill is a great way to do such. Prior to the Lake Hill, this route is identical to the Cashin + Half, so you will experience the same easy and simple beginning, rolling down the hills towards Lake Jackson.
The key moment on this route comes at the turn onto the Cashin Loop, where you stay firm, running bravely up the Lake Hill, and finishing your conquest for glory. And this conquest brings with it great rewards, for after the hill, this route gets very easy very fast. The rest of the route is just running around the Morning Loop, which is a tidy and flat loop. That is until you reach the second half of the Lake Hill again at the end of your Lake Loop. Consider this a final challenge before you can relax again on the way back from Gate B.
Overall, this route is not incredibly challenging. You will obtain adequate elevation on this route while sticking to high quality trails, so I consider it completely viable for getting some elevation on your 7-mile run.
Rating: Out of 10