Today I climbed a 127 step stairway while I was in Pacifica. It's located at Oceana High School. I went for a swim at their public pool and wasn't expecting this stairway to pop up. I was thrilled to learn that this stairway is over 100 steps. Not the most ''obsure'' set of steps but steep and easily accessible. Great for getting in repetitions.
I am still climbing stairs. In fact visited Portland and Seattle a few months ago and will add those stairs to the blog. Just haven't updated my blog in a while. Been busy, but I have more plans for stairs in the future as well. I plan to visit LA pretty soon and explore some of their secret stairs. Weather has been very cold in the bay area recently and so most of my workouts have been indoors but I can't wait to get back out very soon. Today I climbed a 127 step stairway while I was in Pacifica. It's located at Oceana High School. I went for a swim at their public pool and wasn't expecting this stairway to pop up. I was thrilled to learn that this stairway is over 100 steps. Not the most ''obsure'' set of steps but steep and easily accessible. Great for getting in repetitions.
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It's been a little while since my last entry. I have in fact been climbing the stairs, but took a break from writing and wanted to focus more on being in the present while climbing. That's the beauty of this activity, you can go at your own pace. Today I had the urge to get back to writing, sharing, and describe today's walk. I began today's stroll at around noon time. Warm weather, plenty of sunshine, and a little breezy. At 1299 Lombard, walked down about 20 steps (Culebra Stairs) onto Culebra Terrace. The Culebra Stairs are a nice little alley and definitely add another dimension to the Russian Hill Walk. Just ahead and to the right is the Chestnut Stairs. The Chestnut Stairs have 2 sides. I took the right side. I was starting to get my heart rate up with it's steep steps, and continued uphill and turned right onto Larking. Another steep set of steps onto George Sterling Park. Walked to the other side of the park and turned left on Greenwhich. Once I reached Hyde, turned left again and reached the famous Lombard Steps. Lombard Street was very crowded on this Tuesday. But I can say that people were really filled with joy and grateful to be there. I even saw a man sticking out his head and body out of the car he was in to get a good picture, and cheered for joy with the crowd. The garden looked really healthy. I walked down these 200 plus steps. Turned right onto Leavensworth and climbed up the big hill. Just after passing Union St, took the alley on the left side of the street and continued till reaching Jones St. Crossed Jones St onto Macondray Lane, which is an alley, not accessible by car. The word that comes to mind when entering this alley is tranquility. It's not very far from Lombard St. Lombard Street is famous and a tourist attraction. Macondray Lane is not and is in fact considered a hidden gem. If you ever come visit Lombard St, make sure to also check out Macondray Lane because this gives you a different experience. 3 things I really appreciate about this lane: It's very well kept, it's peaceful, it features a water fountain with Buddha, and it also comes with a great view of the Coit Tower. Turned right onto Taylor. I can just walk up to Inna Coolbirth Park. But I don't want to do that. If I have the time, I want to challenge myself. So instead of walking straight up, I took the steep Green Stairway. This is more than 130 stairs and just another fabulous gem and very green and leafy. It matches it's name. So I'll end up going around in a square instead of going straight up to Inna Collbirth Park just to get in the extra steps and to see more on my hike. After ascending the Green Stairs, my heart is pumping. At the end of the block is Jones St. I turned left onto Jones St, and then turned left again on Vallejo. Though not very long in stairs, Vallejo Stairs carry one of the best downtown views. There are many views in the city but what makes this view unique is that you feel almost like you're on top of the city. It comes right before the Inna Coolbirth Steps. After going down and crossing the street, the Inna Coolbirth Park awaits you. I love this stairway and it's the perfect stairway to finish up Russian Hill. You can rest on any of the many benches and just stare at the Coit Tower or TransAmerica Building. Pic 1. Chestnut Steps Photo 2- Steps (sterling Park) Photo 3. View from Lombard Pic 4. Lombard Steps Pic 6. Fountain in Macondray Lane Pic 7. View from Macondray Lane Pic 8. Green Steps Pic 9. Vallejo Steps Pic 10. Inna Coolbirth Park Upper Steps Inna Coolbirth Park Lower Steps
Like us on facebook Today's stairway hike in San Francisco revolved around 3 staircases in Golden Gate Heights. In total I finished 5 staircases, climbed 3 and descended two. I started on 16th and Kirkham. I'm very impressed with this new tiled staircase, I always see many people touring it. It's starting to really intrigue people passing by. I can see other staircases in this neighborhood getting gentrified as well, the community takes a lot of pride and commits themselves to preserving these staircases.
My second stairway was also a tiled one on 16th and Moraga. As soon as you climb the first stairway, you can find this one by continuing right on 16th ave.16th meets Lomita after a few blocks slightly uphill. I climbed this famous staircase and sat at the top for a couple of minutes and took in the gorgeous view. I attempted to take a pic of the view but a lady was being pesky. I had absolutely no interest in her, but she somehow thought I was trying to film her as she was jogging up and down the steps and she gave me the finger. So there is no pic of that scene. I have no idea what she possibly thought I was trying to do. My third stairway takes you up to Grand View Park, a gorgeous panoramic view of the city and Golden Gate Bridge. After climbing the mosaic tiled Moraga stairway, turn slightly right on 15th avenue until you reach a mini stairway of about 20 steps, then cross the street and the enormous, spiral staircase is just ahead. A plethora of folks stood around taking in the view at the top of Grand View Park. And it surely was a grand view today. On the south side of the park, they have a stairway built, which constitutes of about 100 steps. This will take you down to 14th ave. I took a left on 14th avenue down the block to 15th. 15th took me to Lawton. After turning left on Lawton, I spotted the stairway on 15th and Lawton. This is a neat staircase, consists of 207 steep steps and takes you down to Kirkham,and is ultimately right next to the first tiled staircase. Like on Facebook I visited 2 stairways today in 2 different cities. My first stairway visit was in Larkspur. Larkspur is a neat town in Marin County. The ''Arch'' Stairs are well known in this area. Runners, athletes, stair enthusiasts, and people passing time ascend all 140 steps. This stairway is located next to 272 Magnolia Ave. It starts with a small path (pic 1.) so it's pretty easy to miss. Bushes and blackberries traverse this steep path. This is the premiere stairway of Larkspur. My 2nd stairway (143 steps) was in Golden Gate Heights of San Francisco. The ''Hidden Garden Steps'' on 16th and Kirkham was a pleasant visit. I saw and talked to a plethora of tourists who were very intrigued by this masterpiece. It was finished sooner than I expected. Very reminiscent of the mosaic steps on 16th and Moraga, there are many names of various contributors imprinted on these steps. The art design is marvelous. Initially climbing these steps, you will see only the first level, but up and to the left another flight of tiled stairs await you. Beautiful views of the city can be seen halfway up. I expect the gardens to flourish in the future, it will only compliment the steps. Although I only did this stairway today, my recommendation would be to continue on 16th until you get to Morago, where you will find your 2nd tiled stairway. And after that, the Grand View Park stairway is just to the right and up the block. 16th and Kirkham Hidden Garden Steps
visit our facebook page Today's hike started on Moraga and 16th, up the Mosaic Tiled Stairs (photo 1 and 2). In San Francisco, the weather has served us much better than Summer has. The sky has less clouds. September and October are valuable months for stair climbers. My goal for today was to explore Oriole Stairs and Quintara Stairs for the first time.
After climbing up the tiled stairs, I took a right turn onto 15th Ave. Continued on 15th for a block and reached Mount Stairway (Photo 3). Admired the plentiful rocks and an older gentleman greeted me at the top. He was boasting about the views of Grand Ave Park, though admitted that the stairs ''walked him out.'' After climbing Mount Stairway, turned right onto 14th Avenue. Off of 14th, found the Aerial Stairway. Climbed that stairway, and continued onto Aerial St. Aerial has a southern stairway, I reached it and descended down. I must say, this stairway looked much more panoramic and beautiful compared to how I remembered it. Sometimes photos do not capture everything you would like and consequently, your mind remembers the photos more than the experience. Upon descending the Aerial Stairs, continued walking on Ortega until reaching 11th Avenue. Ascended a curved 25 steps onto 12th Avenue. Turned left and continued on Cragmont. I finally got a chance to explore the Oriole Stairway. I love it. It's very tranquil and I love the constant sounds of the ornaments getting blown by the wind. Also, the view of the city and Mount Davidson is splendid. I actually sat there for 10 minutes and had a very meditative experience. Continued on Pacheco St, then took a quick right onto 10th Ave. Walked for a block, then turned right onto Quintara Ave. I continued walking until reaching 14th Ave. This is the top of the Quintara Stairs. I was fortuitous enough to have went on a perfect day with no clouds. This 130 step stairway displayed some spectacular views of Sunset District. I walked on down and turned right onto 15th Avenue. I then walked straight until reaching Grand View Park. I was glad again that the weather was just right. Written by Julian Michelucci
Today's hike consisted of Russian Hill, both the northern and lower sections. I'm happy to say it was a clear day and I was able to take better quality photos. I'm glad to say that my passion for urban hiking, taking photos, and writing has actually increased. There are many perks that come with urban hiking that cannot come in the same way from mountain hiking. I started on the top of the famous Lombard Street. Admired the Coit Tower view and unlike the previous visit, there were very few people around me, so I was able to take a very appreciable pic. (Pic 1) I descended down a couple hundred steps and decided to continued downhill until I reached Jones Street. Turned right somewhere in the vicinity of Jones and Filbert, I climbed up a couple hundred sidewalk steps. This is really a workout, Jones St is a pretty steep hill. Just after climbing past Union St, turned left onto Macondray Lane. Macondray Lane is such a beautiful public pathway. It's such a simple, narrow pathway. But From the water fountain, to the parrots that happen to be there consistently, and the garden, it truly is one of the hidden gems of San Francisco. After walking through Macondray Lane, I reached Taylor St. I continued uphill and climbed the Green Stairway. After that, I simply descended back down and walked on Taylor until I reached Vallejo St. Ina Coolbirth Park is one my favorite stairways in San Francisco. You can find the elderly performing tai chi. There's also plenty of benches overlooking the Coit Tower, Lively green plants, and a fine view of the Trans America Building. I climbed back up to Taylor St, took a pic of Alcatraz, and made my way back to Macondray Lan, and then Lombard St, and climbed the steps. You can also follow or join me on my new Instagram. It's really a convenient way to share instant photos. Still, at the end of the day nothing beats actually hiking these steps. I'm also on facebook, where you can find the photo albums I'm constantly building. By Julian Michelucci Today was a rather clear day in the bay area. I decided to do a Stairway Walk in San Francisco. I chose Diamond Heights for it's versatility and vast amount of steps. The Harry St Steps begins on Laidley, right where Laidley and Noe connect. 80 steps for the first segment. The 2nd segment, 148 steps, comprises of all wooden steps. I took a pic of the gardens on this stairs. Because of the clarity and reduction of fog, I was able to capture some pretty gorgeous San Francisco views. After ascending the Harry St Steps, turned left on Beacon, and took a quick left turn on Miguel. The Amatista Stairs starts on Bernis St, just after Miguel and Bernis connect. 94 steps up to Everson St and more uphill to climb. Continued on Everson till reaching Digby. Turned left into Walter Haas Park and passed a bunch of kids on the playground. Climbed up about 50 steps to Diamond Heights Blvd. I took Diamond Heights down past Berkeley since I wanted to perform all 3 blocks of the 381 Onique Stairs. Where Diamond Heights and Berkeley meet, I climbed the first block of the Onique Stairs. Landed on the continuation of Berkeley and took my 2nd block of stairs up to Craggs St. The final set of stairs begins on Jade and ascends up to Gold Mine. Turned left on Gold Mine. This street curves to the right and I find the stairs that descend down to to Safeway. Took a video of a black hawk and climbed down the 81 steps and climbed right back up. Turned right on Gold Mine and headed downhill till reaching Diamond Heights Blvd. Took a left on Diamond Heights. Passed Beacon and 29th St. Between 29th St and 28th st is an unexpected stairway. It was around 60 steps or so, I forgot the count on this particular one. Great view of the city. I deposited myself onto Valley St. Walked downhill a block until reaching Castro. Turned right on Castro and took 65 steps down from Castro to Day St. This is a stairway right next to my buddies house. This was the first time that I had used it for a walk. And surprisingly, there is another stairway just a hundred or so feet to the right past the house at the end of the block. There is a walkway here that led me to climb another 45 steps. Landing on 30th st, turned left and down the block, found a natural space area. This was the entrance to Billy Goat Hill. I never realized how close it was to Harry St. This park features great high views of the city, an adult swing set, and 81 steps for climbing to the top of the hill. I'll take a note of the swing set, and add it to the one's I have ran into in the Bay Area. It was a challenge getting to the top and once I did, turned left on Beacon. Past the top of the Harry St Steps inadvertently. I saw a mattress in the street that I had seen earlier and knew I needed to turn back. But the Harry Steps were just behind me. Then I took some more pics of the Harry Steps and incorporated some views into them as I descended down and deposited myself onto Laidley St. 1. Beginning of Harry St 2. Harry St Steps 3. Harry Steps garden 4. View on Harry Steps 5. Wooden Harry Steps 6. Amatista Stairs 7. Steps at Walter Haas Park 8. Onique Stairs Lower 9. Onique Stairs Middle 10. Upper Onique Stairs 11. Safeway Steps 12. Stairs on Diamond between 28 and 29th st 13. Stairs on Diamond between 28 and 29th st 14. Castro down to Day St 15. Day to 30th 16. Billy goat hill Open space 17. The swing set on Billy goat Hill 19. The Steps on Billy Goat Hill 20. Climbing down Harry St Steps 21. Harry St Steps
by Julian Michelucci I started around noon time in the Portola Hood. To say this San Francisco stair route is ''hilly'' would be an understatement. It was about 65 degrees outside, not extremely hot or crystal clear, but acceptable. Started on the bottom of Dartsmouth. Had to walk uphill to reach Dwight St. This was one of the steepest hills I had walked in SF. The angle my foot at the time seemed to be almost 45 degrees. The Dwight Stairway starts on Dwight, and alongside a hill and traverses a football field, part of Phillip and Sala Burton High school. Approximately 150 steps. Continued walking on Dwight St and past the football field for one block downhill. Turned right on Goettingen St. I liked the sign that read ''Goettingen Neighborhood Garden.'' Walked up approximately 65 steps and took a pic of a San Francisco view. Continued heading south on Goettingen, turned left on Mansell St. Walked down some hilly terrains and Reached San Bruno Avenue and noticed a 55 step stairway with a view of the Russia House, a well known cafe, highly recognized on the US 101 Freeway. Continued on San Bruno Ave to Leland Avenue. It was a good 5 or 6 block walk. Turned right onto Leland Ave, continued for a block, and found the entrance to the green ways. I did 4 of the 6 greenways. The 5th greenway on Cambell was locked. 1st Greenway: Leland to Raymond Ave 2nd Greenway: Raymond to Arleta Ave 3rd Greenway: Arleta Ave to Teddy Ave (this is my favorite one) Features a 26 step stairway, a vibrant garden, and views of San Bruno Mountain. 4th Greenway: Teddy to Campbell Turned left On Campbell to the end of the street. This was a tough uphill walk. It didn't look very hilly initially, but it was. Reached the end of Campbell Ave and walked through some grass to get to the longest stairway in Mclaren Park. 190 steps and this stairway was a doozy. Noticed a shooting range alongside the left side of this stairway. I also noticed an incredibly big spacious area. It happened to be Vistacion Valley Middle School. A spacious track and many outdoor basketball hoops. Took a pic from the stairway's peak. Turned right and uphill on Vistacion Ave. This is not a small hill. Reached Mansell. At this time, my butt was kicked by this route. I made the decision to head back to Dwight St, luckily it was within reasonable distance, as this route had me already practically did a loop. Initially I planned on also walking though the park and up some more stairs in Excelsior, but I had to leave that for another day. This neighborhood has some of the toughest hills in the city. 1. Dwight Steps 2. Goettingen Neighbor Garden 3. Top of the steps, gazing at San Francisco 4. 55 step on San Bruno Ave 5. First Greenway in Vistacion Valley 6. 2nd Greenway 7. 3rd Greenway 8. 3rd greenway, view of SB Mtn 9. Bench on 3rd greenway 10. 4th greenway 11. Mclarin Park's longest stairway! 12. Drive shooting range 13. Vistacion Valley Middle School 15. Vistacion Ave
By Julian Michelucci My goal today regarding the stairways in San Francisco was to find the steps that culminate up to Twin Peaks. Mark Twain once said, ''The coldest winter is the summer of San Francisco. Today that couldn't have been more true. However, I was impressed with what I saw, but it was the wrong time, right place. Once I got to the top of the Twin Peaks steps, fog covered the whole entire San Francisco view. One upside to all this fog, was my Pemberton Steps came out more clear. The last 2 times visiting Pemberton, the sun affected my ability to take a clear pic. My first stairway: Iron Alley. The stairway is right alongside Clayton and Market. Climbed up the steps (pic 1). Landed on Corbett and turned right. Walked on for a bit. Where Clayton and Corbett meet, took the mini garden stairway (pic 2) to the Pemberton Steps. The Pemberton Steps (pic 3) lie just across the street, on Clayton. In this case, my pic turned out better without the sun radiating all the extra light. Climbed up all the steps, then crossed the street and climbed up old Pemberton (pic 4). I stopped and drank some water and a yellow cat (Pic 5 and 6) comes my way. He kept on nudging my leg. He was nice, but looked hungry. I was with him for a few minutes, but he saw a small animal in the bushes and then vanished out of sight. Turned right onto Racoon Crown. Took a sharp left on Twin Peaks Blvd and headed downhill. Turned left again on Burnett. I passed Gardenside St and a few minutes after that found my next stairway. I don't remember exactly where on Burnett it was but there are about 4 different continuous stairways, (pics 9, 10, 11) each separated on 4 different streets. Actually, 3 of them are continuous and to get to the 4th one I had to turn left. The 4th stairway had a lot of vibrant flowers and it was my first time ascending up it. As I reached the top of all those stairways starting from Burnett, I remembered Tony, the other avid hiker, had mentioned there would be steps that led up to Twins Peak. I found those steps across the street, and there were quite a few people walking on them. It was getting real cold and windy, I could barely stand it, but just thought how nice it would have been on a warm and clear day. After going up these steps, which is about 50 to 100, there are 2 more hills that also have steps, one hill to my left and one to my right. I took the one to the right. As I climbed up, it felt as if the wind would blow me all the way to the bay. I couldn't see anything, though I did like the stairway. I headed back as fast as I could. In other parts of the bay area, it's too hot. This was too cold. I'm thinking that late summer/early fall, the weather will balance out. Pic 1: Iron Alley Pic 2: Corbett Mini Steps Pic 3: Pemberton Steps Pic 4: Old Pemberton Steps Pic 5: Yellow cat Pic 7: Yellow cat on Old Pemberton Pic 8: Stone steps on Racoon Court Pic 9. Burnett Steps Pic 10. Extension to Burnett Steps Pic 11. In between Burnett Steps and Twin Peak Steps Pic 12. Start of Twin Peaks Steps Pic 14. The 2nd part of the Twin Peaks Steps. This ascends to the Summit of the hill. It was freezing cold. Pic 15. This view was NOT taken from the Twin Peaks steps, but on the way back, just before the Pemberton Steps.
By Julian Michelucci My goal today was to climb plenty of stairs and take pics from many angles. Today, Telegraph Hill was my hike of choice. Approximately 2 miles and 5 or 6 different stairways. The gardens struck me the most. I also observed some of the old character homes. I started on Sansome and the bottom of Filbert. I took pics of the wooden steps and all the surrounding plants and flowers. Many people were climbing up and down, so I had to wait a while for traffic to decrease. I climbed approx 200 steps to Montgomery. Instead of climbing up to the upper stairway which culminates up to the Coit Tower, I turned left on Montgomery all the way to Union St. I turned left on Union to discover a short stairway that I had never seen before. At the end of the block, took the stairs down to Calhoun. 51 steps down. This was a very unexpected surprise. I noticed an assortment of sharp green plants. This stairway also has 2 different sides to it. The right side is cleaner, though I spotted a shoe on the bottom. Climbed back up onto Union and Montgomery again. Took the Montgomery stairway down to Green St. Continued to walk for a block until I reached Montgomery and Vallejo. I took pics of the Vallejo Stairway which was on the right side of the street. Vallejo possesses one of the most beautiful garden stairways in the city. I climbed up 50 steps up to a collection of plants in this little stair balcony area. I took some pics of the views from there, then climbed up another 20 steps up to Kearny St. I didn't climb down the steps on Kearny, but took some pics. Instead, I turned right on Kearny, headed past Green and Union all the way to Coit Tower Steps. Climbed up 60 steps and descended back down on the Filbert Steps once more. Many folks were blinded by the spectacular views and took some pics themselves. Pic 1. Bottom of Filbert steps Pic 2. Wooden Steps on Filbert Pic 3. Napier Ln is a charming path alongside the Filbert Steps Pic 4. More steps on Filbert Pic 5. One of the many old homes on Filbert Pic 6. Union Cul de sac and top of Calhoun Steps Pic 7. Bottom of Calhoun Steps and green plant garden Pic 8. Top of Montgomery Steps down to Green St Pic 9. The Vallejo Garden Steps from a distance Pic 10. Bottom of Vallejo Steps Pic 11. Climbing up Vallejo Steps Pic 12 Upper. View from The Vallejo stair outlook balcony, Lower: An assortment of plants on the outlook Pic 13. View from the Vallejo Steps Pic 14. Upper steps on Vallejo Pic 16. Peter Macchiarini Sidewalk Steps down to Broadway Pic 17. Kearny Street and Green to Coit Tower Pic 18. View of the Russian hill and Golden Gate Bridge from Filbert and Kearny Pic 19. On Filbert; Stairs from the West side that culminates up to the Coit Tower Pic 20. Climbing down The Filbert Steps to Sansome Pic 21. Quick pic of the gardens alongside the Filbert Steps Pic 22. Climbing down Filbert
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Julian Michelucci loves climbing the 100s of stairways in San Francisco. It is Great Exercise, breathtaking views, gardens, and great neighborhoods.Categories
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