I built a pile o' blocks

Last year I would not have been stupid enough to attempt this, but I feel ten years younger. I forgot that means ten years dumber.... When I was at mom's cabin over 4th of July, I took out the sound but rotting landing in the path to the dock, and built the abortion visible in this photo. The lower stairs leaned against the brick wall. Not too sturdy. Needless to say, something had to be done before the paying customers arrive next week. I broke, I fix it.

The first problem I ran into... when excavating for the right side wall foundation from where I intended to start, I ran into a gigantic, unbreakable and quite unmovable rock. Right where the foundation needed to be. I spent all day Saturday figuring a way to bridge across the rock and still build steps. Saturday was thinking, pouring a segmented foundation, building a bridge of block across the rock and then pouring the front foundation, digging out the left side foundation, and I just had time to set the front riser. Sunday I built the left side wall, built the steps, dug out and poured the foundation for the landing and laid the lower course of the landing retaining wall... This left me Sunday night still without a safe and walkable path to the dock for the paying customers, so I had Jen e-mail Denny that I was stuck and needed to take Monday off.

Monday morning I filled the landing with what I had, built the temporary steps up the path and wented home....

All the steps were supposed to look like the top one, but because I had to bridge across the rock, the bottom two steps had to be modified. Well, it works. Everything is built off concrete foundations about four inches wider than the bottom block, the blocks are mortared in place and the whole thing should be just short of earthquake proof. The foundations aren't really thick enough to claim earthquake proof. But it's solid when you walk on it.
I ran out of fill material and blocks, so there is still a lot to be done, but that's just an excuse for another trip to the cabin and the hard work's all done. Pity, isn't it....

Kim