In typical McCusker fasion we decided that we should add another new project to the mix (before we finish other projects) - a work road / nordic ski trail from the south side.
By starting at our house the new trail would go through 3 switchbacks before reaching the ridge and connecting up with Jay Way at the top of the tow. It will primarily be a nordic trail and a way to machine over to the tow in the winter. It'll also be a great way for us to pull out some logs with the tractor. I've had my eyes on a few large straight cherry trees that could be high end veneer logs which are worth a lot at the mill.
Before we started cutting the trail we needed to establish a way to get to it from the driveway. I took a bunch of dirt away with the tractor to help get rid of the sharp dip. Luckily there were no stumps to deal with as I was able to move a lot of dirt.
I made a pile of dirt on the opposite side of the driveway. Here us Kricket and Galen moving the dirt to fill in rough spots in the yard. The new trail starts to the right with the dirt pile on the left.
Here is the start of the new trail as it follows an ild logging road.
Here is the trail after the 2nd switchback.
Galen and Kricket at the 2nd switchback where it really starts to climb.
We cut the trail fairly wide so that there is plenty of room to bench the trail in with an excavator someday. This meant that there was a lot of trees to cut and brush to stack. Here I am stacking brush off to the side of the trail.
Galen and I headed back to the house after a hard nights work.
