Last year, we began turning my backyard into a fully functional mountain bike trail system
called Berm Peak.
We started by building a deck at the highest point on the property, and then we cut downhill
trails off the top of it.
Along the way we installed wooden obstacles, jumps, berms, and
even an airbag lander for learning tricks.
As Berm Peak grew, so too did its infrastructure.
We built gravel forest roads for transporting supplies, added a UTV into the mix, and purchased
new trail building tools as the needed.
We even built a woodshop to help support building efforts out on the trails, and that has led
to the construction of more complex lines than ever before.
With 9 months of experience under our belts, and a solid infrastructure for running Berm
Peak, we’re more prepared now than ever before.
Prepared for what, exactly?
To build trail in Moonshangle Thickets.
Everything we’ve built to this day has been on a gentle 2 acre slope just South of the
driveway.
But on the other side of the property is a steep and treacherous 3 acre slope that we’ve
barely touched.
Today, well dip our toes into Moonshangle Thickets and start cutting some functional
trail for getting in and out, but before we dive headfirst into a completely new zone,
We have a few loose ends to tie up on the existing trails.
Like any trail system, Berm Peak needs regular maintenance to stay running.
The gravel roads could use a tuneup, there are branches across certain trails, and there
are several spots that stay muddy when it’s cold out.
I’ve also noticed a few planks coming loose on the berm, and a plank on the whale tail
that we never even screwed down in the first place.
That’s not good!
I make a lot of mistakes around here, but I’m not gonna make the mistake of building
new trails with the old ones in disrepair.
So let’s fix all this stuff before moving on.
There are a few spots on the gravel road that only need a light raking to get back to normal.
But some areas need more intensive work.
Right before this lockdown, I filled the trailer with crush and run, the same gravel mix we
used on the forest road.
We can use it to fill holes, strengthen higher traffic areas, or add gravel to sections that
had none in the first place.
To use the tamp, I’m wetting the gavel to so it packs down better.
Water also helps keep the dust down.
This tamp does have a built in water tank but my hose reaches here just fine.
Towards the ends of the road, there’s a section with no gravel at all that gets a
lot of traffic.
So I’m first using the tiller to get it flat, and then toiling away at the gravel
mines for enough material to cover it.
We’ll dump it out, rake it into position, and run the tamp over it.
I rented this plate compactor, again, from the rental place down the street, but by now
you’re probably thinking I should just buy one of these.
That may be true, but it’s also true for many other things.
Right now, we’re using the tamp a lot, but next month we may need a tractor, an excavator,
or a wood chipper and I can’t buy them all.
So for now, we can rent stuff when needed.
With the gravel roads finished, I can work on the actual trail.
The dirt in front of the airbag lip has always been a problem area but this trench should
allow water to drain.
And we can use that dirt to tune up the landing of the setup jump.
And
before we screw ourselves up, I’m screwing things in.
It’s amazing that we never noticed these missing fasteners, but the plank was fastened
from the other side so it stayed put.
I’m gonna check over the berm real well, and actually add more screws to keep these
planks in place.
For safety’s sake, inspections like this should really be done on a schedule.
With our Spring cleanup complete, Berm Peak is running better than ever.
And now, we can take a closer look at Moonshangle Thickets.
All of moonshangle is downhill from what we’ve already built.
From top to bottom it measures the length of an american football field which is 100
yards or 90 meters.
From side
to side, it’s even bigger.
You can actually get into Moonshangle right after the driveway gap.
So that’s where our East entrance will be.
We already have a West entrance on Rhodorooter trail, which stops abruptly nearby, so the
first thing we’ll do is connect those entrances together to make it easier to navigate.
Despite the barely navigable tangle of thickets, cutting trail goes surprisingly quickly out
here.
A lot of this stuff is dead, so you can just smash it to pieces and drag it out.
When we move on to our first downhill trail next week, I shouldn’t need but a few basic
tools to get the job done.
With our connector trail cut, the map looks like this.
Rhodorooter climbs out and the shangle connector links it to the driveway.
It’s more functional than it is fun, but it has opened up some interesting routes.
Let me show you what I mean by that.
First we’ll pedal from the house to the forest road, make a right on Berm Peak Express,
and then make a left on shuttlecock.
That brings us to the summit.
From there we can drop in off the flight deck.
As Rhodorooter winds down into Moonshangle, we can now keep going and climb out.
Eventually you get right back to where you started.
Let’s climb back up.
Drop in from the other side of the flight deck, and you can ride woodpecker, over the
maim frame, and then on
to snake pit, to grandpa strength, and finally right into the Shangle connector.
So the work we did today connects the trails we have with the trails we’re about to build.
I know the last two weeks have been slow.
We did modifications to the flight deck, built a forest road, and fixed a bunch of things
that already existed on Berm Peak.
But I hope it’s obvious now why we needed to take a break from building features, and
work on all this stuff.
Things are about to get fast, and steep.
Thanks for riding with me today and I’ll see you next time.