These photos were taken after most of the trees, bushes, and undergrowth were removed from the slope.
The lake and the dock were not visible from the house. The neighbors place and much of the stairway were almost completely obscured.
You can see the stump of a maple about 18-inches thick at the base. The maple was over 50 feet tall, and provided enough firewood to heat the house all winter. Disposing of the brush, bushes, rotten logs, and mountains of debris required many, many, trips to the county dump and several blazing bonfires.