Thanks for the suggestions, I am getting samples of the non slip tape sent to me and one option is a clear version that may work nicely and not show as much as the typical black. One consideration here is it needs to be bare foot friendly, which they claim this is.

Yes I plan on staining it next year, along with the deck and most of the house, never ending projects.

On a good note the pond came up 14" in our flash flood event yesterday. I missed it as I was driving to see Nate and pickup fish food and herbicide. The story on photobucket has been updated with new pics to show the current water level