Michael,
I'm going all wood too. I looked at the composites and all but just didn't like the way they looked. I know it's more maintenance, but what the heck. It will give Loretta something to do.
I also worry about snakes since my decks are over those rocks. I've pulled several rattlers out of them already and haven't seen any since they started building, but that doesn't mean they're gone. My decks are pretty elevated as you've seen, but the surrounds on the bottom level is what I'm worried about. I'm not a big fan of concreting that area, but might have to for safety sake.
Your house is coming along nicely and sure is good looking man.
Yeah - pretty much have talked myself into wood with nothing underneath (hmmm, wonder who will take that the wrong way! ). "Runner" mentioned erosion but the area under it will be pretty flat (slight slope to the basement end of the house) so not really worried about that. And I think that would be the biggest driver for me in putting down rock or paper or whatever.
Composites aren't "no maintenance" so I figure if I would have to clean the mold off of that I can simply enjoy the look and maintenance of wood!