Today once again I was at the Woodlot building on Snakes and Ladders. This time I was up there with Tim and Rob. We decided to start by buffing up the berm that was built last week. We added some wood to the berm so that you start your turn on dirt and progress around the corner on cedar rung. And this is where the curved woodwork on the trail began. Rather than just cut a basic curved line along the top of the rung, a curvy s shape was cut into the berm to go along with the name of the trail ‘Snakes’ and Ladders.
After the berm was completed we filled a couple mud puddles in the close vicinity and then Tim and Rob went down the trail a bit to the new jump we had built the week before. I worked on boxing in the entrance to the bridge and making it a little smoother. Once I was done I joined Rob and Tim on the jump. I dug dirt and they worked on boxing in the sides a little more to take make it a smooth launch that you can take at a good high speed. The boxing in of the side of the jump made the side look like a fence, so when it came time to trim the rung, we had to make it all curvy. It really sets our stuff apart from anything we have ever seen on any trail.
So after the jump was completed, Tim was the first to give it a go and man can you sail off it. You get a nice run at it across the bridge an hit it as fast as you can. On the landing side there are a few roots and a small rock you have to clear, but it is as basic a jump as they get. The landing is a natural down sloping transition that has a really nice smooth run out.
So as the day was still early and we were on a good roll, we made our way down to the next area that needed some work. It was the creek crossing that was a burnt out canoe log / bridge. It was just a log laid across the creek that you rode up to and hoped for the best. Being that it was made of cedar and it was suspended above the water, it made for perfect rung. So as Tim and Rob worked on getting the stringers and the approach done, I split the rung from the bucked up log that used to be the crossing. Tim had brought a Froe to split the rung rather than using a wedge or the axe and my god, the Froe is the tool to use. You can split perfect straight flat rung every time if you are splitting wood that is knot free. Anyways once the rung was all split I started to nail the rung with Rob and Tim worked on the necessary parts of the bridge.
Towards the end of the bridge, we realized that we were out of rung and we started to hunt for more, but I soon realized that there was still a bunch of rung left back at the bridge we had made last week, so we went back up the hill got the rung and had the bridge pretty much complete. We boxed the end and decided that this bridge would also have some curves on it. This time it was cut like a Boa Constrictor snake.
So we cleaned up, and rode out down the rest of the trail after a hard days work and hit Shotgun as well and it was out to the cars. This week I think it was Tim was the one that brought the beer, so we had one in the parking area and headed home.
