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.