Walk #42 - Pacific Palisades - Giant Steps

Distance: 3.6 miles
Steps: 1,117
Difficulty: 5

"Here is the monster step walk, a lovely, bucolic stroll through a secluded canyon that culminates in a hideous climb of over 500 steps, in a single staircase! Alone amont the walks in this book, it is over stairs not originally intended for public use, on a route that offers no cafe or restaurant and no public restrooms, and is not well served by bus or Metro. But it is a walk of staggering beauty, over public parkland, filled with historical interest. Plus, it has that 500-step staircase!" Taken from Secret Stairs by Charles Fleming.

We saved the best/worst for almost last! The best as in the longest staircase in Los Angeles; the worst as in the longest staircase in Los Angeles. I say "almost last" because this walk marked the 39th of 42 walks. If you have not participated and want to, act quickly! It turned out to be a perfect morning in the hoity-toity neighborhood of Brentwood. If you don't know where it is, it's where OJ Simpson lived... This swanky hillside neighborhood is also adjacent to Topanga State Park (Rustic Canyon) and within minutes of starting we were in the country. A strenuous walk yet very enjoyable.

From left to right: Ines, Willie, Charles, and Enrique.

We began this walk at the intersection of Amalfi Drive and Casale Road. After walking for only a few minutes we encountered views of the Pacific Ocean and a dirt path leading to the entrance of Topanga State Park.

The Pacific Ocean in the background. I think those are vineyards on the hillside.


Rustic Canyon

Charles and moi.

The canyon views provided a dramatic backdrop to what we were about to see. Several minutes after walking on the trail we found our first staircase taking us down to the the canyon floor.

The first one consisted of 40 steps.

A 'decorated' water tower .

In addition to steps we found long, paved paths leading to more stairs; 321 of them.

They were several landings and became very steep towards the end.

Ines

This path would lead us to a big surprise! It is said that in the 1930s a local heiress, Winona Stephens, invested a fortune to build a 50-acre self-containing compound which included water tanks, fuel tanks, and power generators. The man who persuaded her to build it was a Nazi sympathizer who believed that Hitler's army would eventually take over the US. He was accused of being a spy, arrested, and sent to prison and the compound fell into disrepair and was ceded to the State of California.

At the bottom of the Canyon and along a creek lies the compound. Very little remains intact and the structures we sawe were covered over in graffiti. Charles exploring the former power station with Ines in the window.

Seeing the creek was a real treat. I felt transported by it and truly it made me forget that I was only 25 minutes (there was no traffic) away from home. Ines, Enrique and I felt a little adventurous and continued along a path for another quarter of a mile while Charles and Willie stayed at the compound.

This path would lead us to the barn.

The path continues for many miles and leads to many other trails that lead to Mandeville Canyon and Temescal Canyon and even to Mullholland Drive! I definitely want to explore this area at a later time. Charles and I are getting used to our Sunday walks and are looking for more opportunities to hike whether in urban LA or in the wilds of the city. Just don't ask me if I'll be blogging as for now, the answer is a firm "no!"

On the way back from seeing the barn I heard my name being called. Charles wanted me to hurry up and join them as they had come across some fellow Secret Stairs walkers. This was the 3rd time this has happened and I did not want to miss the photo opportunity. The other 2 encounters have been included in previous entries. We quickly caught up to the group and one of them said we were an 'inspiration' when they found out we were nearly done with the 42; they were just starting.

What goes down must come up.. It was great going down to the canyon but there really was only one way up and it was the mother of all stairways. 512 steps with no breaks! They went on, and on, and on and I felt like the kid asking, "are we there yet?"

They went on like, forever!

Almost to the top.

Charles and Willie hoofing it up the final steps. We all eventually made it up in one piece.

The view from the top.

This house was in really bad shape; likely due to land movement.

Soon we were back in 'civilization' and walking among some serious real estate. One of these has various terraces with an infinity pool on one, a tennis court on the other and I don't know what else..

Our starting point.

After a serious stair walk it's only proper to grab a bite to eat so we headed to the little village at Sunset Blvd. and Barrington Avenue in Brentwood for lunch at the Bellwood Bakery. I lived down the road on Barrington Avenue my Junior year at UCLA and it brought back some memories!

Feel free to join me as I discover hidden parts of Los Angeles and tackle the remaining 3 stair walks.

Steps walked to date: 20,097.

Follow me on Twitter: @ClimbingLA

Walk #17 - Fellowship Park

Distance: 1.5 miles
Steps:148
Difficulty: 3

"This is a short,sweet canyon walk highlighted by a tour of Fellowship Park- but it comes with a warning: In recent years, residents have tried to close this public passage to the pubilc, and have installed gates and locks. Most of the time these are open. If they're not, you may have to retrace your steps a bit, but you'll be retracing some of the city's loveliest public pathways."


Me in my Oscars garb.

What a way to spend a beautiful Sunday morning in Los Angeles! It was Oscars Sunday and I got all dressed up as you can see in the picture above. Charles, in his work, deals with the Academy and he hooked me up with my Oscars outfit. In 2008 we went to the actual ceremony and walked the red carpet but on this day we walked the asphalt streets and it was still a blast! The end of the blog is very near. Only 4 walks remain.... This walk took us to Echo Park; I've written about this neighborhood in several previous posts. In addition to the regulars (Enrique, Ines, and now Mark) was Norbert who is visiting from Germany and joined us for his 2nd stair walk. Too bad he is going home soon as he will miss the blowout picnic to be held after our last walk on April 3! We were all very surprised by this walk as it led to a very secluded green spot in the middle of the city Fellowship Park. I'm sure the neighbors will hate me for this but I just have to share this delightful part of LA.

From left: Norbert, Ines, Mark, Jessica, Enrique, Charles.

We began our walk at Echo Park Avenue and Baxter Street and soon found our first staircase (39 easy steps) which took us to Preston Avenue.

Many of the streets in this neighborhood are very steep. If you drive a car with manual transmission you had better be good at it!

A view of Downtown LA.

Very near our initial staircase appeared our 2nd one; only 39 steps, heading down to Baxter Street again.

Jessica is UCLA Class of 2010 (I'm old, UCLA Class of '89) and not a big USC fan.

Notice how steep the street is. In the background are the massive Baxter Street steps that we climbed on a previous walk.

No, it's not San Francisco!

At Donaldson Street we found our next staircase (25 steps) which led us to a surprisingly sloped walkway.

The gang walking up the steep, sloped, walkway.

At Lemoyne Street we turned right where we found the stairway pictured above; 30 steps that took us to another world. Behind the water tank lies Fellowship Park. Accroding to Secret Stairs, this hilltop enclave was founded by a religious group in the 1900s. I never saw a 'park.' What we encountered was a very hidden, verdant walkway lined with houses. At one point a man came out and told us that it's private property. We were on the path and not on his property so whatever! There is a gate at the end of the path with a lock on it and I think it's people trying to make a PUBLIC walkway into a private one.

The start of 'Fellowship Park.'

Charles being himself a kid at heart.

As we continued along this amazing path we felt as if it was a walk in the woods but occasionally we would get a glimpse of the city. In the picture above you can see the Glendale Freeway below.

Century City in the background.

The winding path.

Look closely and you'll see the Griffith Observatory with the Hollywood sign as well.

From the path we could get a glimpse of Downtown Glendale and the San Gabriel mountains dusted with SNOW!

As we walked along the path we encountered a little gopher. He was very cute and not afraid of us at all. In fact, he let Enrique pet him.

One of the houses along the path.

Thankfully the gate was not locked!

I love this view of Downtown LA. So close to Echo Park.

One steep hill going down leads to another very steep one.

UGH! That misplaced apostrophe; an epidemic these days. One of my pet peeves - it's not a possessive. It should read, "Trucks and semis." Thank you.

We ended our awesome walk with a trip to a local coffeehouse, Fix Coffee. It had great coffee and food and the outdoor patio provided great ambiance. While the Oscar telecast later that day was disappointing, this walk won Best Prize!

From left: Charles, Jessica, Mark, Norbert, Enrique, me.

Feel free to join me as I discover hidden parts of Los Angeles and tackle the remaining 4 stairwalks.

Steps walked to date: 18,980.

Follow me on Twitter: @ClimbingLA