Our land is 3.3 acres on a fairly steep hillside. Our house is at the top of the land. Our gardens and orchard are near the bottom of the land. We have snakes and rodents of all types with holes that can catch and break an ankle in a heartbeat.

In the rainy season our 'dirt' reminds us that it is really adobe clay. It sticks to our shoes. We gain a 1/2 inch, or more, in height with every step. We need gravel paths where mud does not form so easily.

In the longer dry season the soil turns to dust which curls into dust clouds with the slightest breeze. Gravel will help keep that dust to a minimum. In July and August, when the natural summer drought gets exacerbated by the el Nina and el Nino weather droughts, the earth gets so dry that cracks appear all over the hillside. The cracks/gaps were upwards of 9 inches wide in the summer of 2014. The depth of some defied being able to determine accurately without sticking a tape measure down into the darkness - 45 inches in one place.

I decided early on that we needed a series of gravel covered trails with rock edging (curbs) to be used for travel on foot as well as ATVs, wheel-barrows and wagons.

The trails had to be gentle in slope so I could control the equipment as I and Liza slowly (I hope!) sink into old age.

I wanted to take advantage of the trails the animals (deer) had made across the land. They already had a gentle slope.

And, I reckoned that the animals would welcome a co-opting of their trails as opposed to having us break new ground and disrupt their trails.

We also wanted a means of transport to avoid using the car to make the 10 mile roundtrip to the KRCE campground whenever we wanted to go to the river or pool to swim.