With camera at the ready, I follow Bill DOWN the hill. First set of steps is just outside the house, and then...
The Mango Road (a set of "zipper stairs" that Bill made)
is buried under thousands of rotting mangoes, from years of fruit dropping!
Then there is a sloped section, leading to a flat spot where Bill has finished the ground with cement, and has built a dome with a bathroom, and the site has running municipal water (you can drink right out of the faucet, it's clean to USA standards!).
And now, DOWN the hill to the small fracture in the rock that formed the spring and water feature.
And, then, down some more. Note the switchbacks!
And, Frish next to the dam, which is supporting the pipe, that Bill hauled down the hill.
And, Bill, cleaning out the lower pipe, that drains basically to the bottom of the pond, which is a small fault line in a very hard bedrock (volcanic). Since the hill is only a couple hundred feet above this spot, it is rather a good indication of just how much rain falls here, since it runs all year long (about 10 gallons a minute during early July (pre-rainy season!).
We put the dam between what we hope are two bedrock sections.
About 2/3 of the way back up the hill towards Thinkenstein's house, there is this marvelous tangle of vines, and I'm standing at such an angle, and they are so mixed up, it is very difficult to get the true perspective! There are a lot of very large vines in this pic, that are all part of one vine, I believe.
Bill, up trail, with a bit of a slope behind!
My Mental State was really good, couldn't figure out how to cool down after marching up the hill from the dam however! And, yes, that shirt is soaked, it was a little over 90F and 80% humidity for sure...
would have been much more comfortable than I was at that moment...
