Walk #8 : Highland Park - Highlands

Distance: 3.2 miles
Steps: 342
Difficulty: 3

"Here is a sprightly walk through some gorgeous Highland Park neighborhoods, featuring dramatic Craftsman homes, magnificent San Gabriel views and exposure to some heavy East-meets-West mysticism." Taken from Secret Stairs by Charles Fleming.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!! May 2011 be a good one for you. There was no better way to start out the new year than to celebrate our thirtieth stair walk and over 15,000 steps with old friends and new friends while taking in a really great neighborhood! Only 12 more walks remain so stop making excuses if you want to be in my blog before I put it to rest upon our 42nd and final walk. Willie reappeared and it was great to see him again. He brought a friend with him (Leo) who was an enthusiastic participant whom we hope to see on future walks. Although it was a cloudy day we had lots of sunshine in the form of 3 wonderful girls who seemed to enjoy being out with a bunch of old folks. Ines brought her daughter Leah and Julie brought her girls - Vivian and Sofia. It was our most-attended walk to date and as they say, "the more the merrier." Right Charles?!

From left: Vivian, Willie, Sofia, Leo, Julie, Leah, Ines, and Charles

Vivian, Sofia, and Leah

We began our walk at Figueroa Street and Avenue 53 in the Highland Park neighborhood of Los Angeles - an old section of the city with a heavy Mexican population. This was evidenced by the many religious icons and Nativity scenes we saw on front lawns. The area we saw was chock-full of interesting sights; especially the abundance of Craftsman-style homes. The American Craftsman Style incorporated architecture, interior design, landscape, applied arts, and decorative arts. In the U.S. the movement began in the late 1890s and remained popular into the 1930s.

Leo checking out the old Presbyterian church with the broken window at top. We soon left the busy Figueroa Street and headed for the hills.

The Yellow line (seen here at Marmion way) runs from Pasadena to East Los Angeles.


Many more Craftsman homes to follow.

Christmas was definitely celebrated here!

and here!

This posting will be rich in pictures of homes that caught my eye and this one did as did so many more on this walk.

Simple yet elegant - in my opinion.

Mural on a school building. Pretty Aztec and Diego Rivera-like.

This food truck (we called them 'roach coaches' when I was growing up) was likely around way before the current food truck craze hit.

I usually photograph the staircases by themselves but little Leah jumped in front of it and I can honestly say that it looks much better with her there. 127 steps to the top.

Vivian, Sofia, Charles, and Julie happily climbing.

The Craftsman house pictured above dates to 1907 and was built by Edward Symonds. It is Los Angeles Cultural Monument No. 554 so I guess it makes it significant. It stood out no matter what landmark status it may or may not have.

The Southwest Museum in the background. It has merged with the Gene Autry Museum in Griffith Park and its hours of have been drastically reduced but I understand you can still go in one Saturday each month. It's best to check the website before visiting.

I just love this one.

Charles, Leo, Willie, and me.

One of the girls asked me why Joseph was wearing pink and I honestly don't know why! I told her it was likely a red that faded.

2 of 3 houses all in a row.

Not all the stairways are attractive. This 27-step one was marred by graffiti and neglect.

I really liked this one too. So subtle and elegant.

At Abbott Place we found a driveway that lead to the next stairway. Several landings and only 56 steps.

In the middle of the picture you can see a very steep street and immediately after that a huge stairway, both of which we climbed on a previous walk. The houses on the top of the hill are part of the Mt. Washington neighborhood.

Our final staircase was located on Avenue 50. We would retrace some our steps on this walk to reach our starting point and that is always great because you see things from another perspective and notice many things you missed the first time.

Our patient guide Charles with two of his wards: Vivian and Leah.

When 9 strange faces walk in front of your house on a Sunday morning they attract attention. As we walked by a man approached us and proceeded to tell us about a Guiness Book of World Records story relating to this tiny house and the houses on either side. Apparently, the house with the French doors (in the middle) was once a guest house for the house on the left but the lots were divided. As you can see, the properties on either side don't allow for access to the small house so the 'world's smallest easement' (one inch) was created to allow the middle property to have rights from the street. I don't know if this is true but that's what we were told! As we neared the end of the walk everything was running smoothly until Leo approached a house with several crazed Chihuahuas in the front lawn. He put his in front of one of the yelpers and BAM! One of them bit him and drew blood. He was a real sport about it though as you can see from picture below.

Leo sporting his dog bite.

On the same block of crazy mini dogs were 2 hens and a rooster! The light colored one had feathers on her feet and it was really interesting.

We were soon back on the main streets and headed to one of our hangouts when we are in the area. We have eaten at Chico's at least 4 times after our walks and we always get friendly service and great food!

Feel free to join me as I discover hidden parts of Los Angeles and tackle the remaining 12 stair walks.

Steps walked to date: 15,773

Follow me on Twitter: @ClimbingLA

Walk #10 : Happy Valley and Montecito Heights

Distance: 3.7 miles
Steps: 626
Difficulty: 5

"This is an astonishing walk - very long and very rigorous - through one of the city's most unknown areas. As you walk you'll find horizon-to-horizon views of the Los Angeles basin, streets named after minerals and gemstones, and a network of unpaved mountain roads - all less than five miles from City Hall." Taken from "Secret Stairs" by Charles Fleming.

He calls it a "walk?" On this day it felt more like a death march! Long and tough, it included only 626 steps but we all certainly felt it. It was also long in memories as when we first moved to Los Angeles from New York in 1976 we lived in nearby Lincoln Heights and there was much that was familiar. This post is long because the walk was long..

We began this walk at Huntington Drive and Monterey Road. These 2 streets also intersect in San Marino but this was definitely not that hoity-toity neighborhood. Instead we met a the other one which is much more hardscrabble and less well-heeled. Nevertheless it was a true adventure and a walk down Memory Lane for me.
Our first stairway dates to 1928 and contained 103 steps. They call this Rose Hills but it's not to be confused with the Rose Hills cemetery chain! This is an old working-class neighborhood with plenty of color, barking dogs, and varied architecture. Did I mention the barking dogs??

The Regulars: Willie, Charles, Vlad

Willie called it from afar. He said the buildings pictured above were 'projects' and indeed they were! It was fine though. It wasn't rough and nobody harassed us or did we ever feel in danger. These are not the projects I remember when I lived in NY nor the ones that you see in the opening credits of "Good Times."

A community garden in the Rose Hill projects.

These steps led to nowhere.

A dry, dusty area with nothing to enjoy. We were soon back on the streets.

Many of the local streets are named after minerals and gems. That will explain my pictures of the various street signs. By the way, 'gems' or 'gemstones' are pieces of minerals that are cut and polished to make jewelry but some organic matter and rocks are also made into jewelry and can be considered gems!

The stairway above contained 106 steps and dates to 1928.

This is an old hillside neighborhood. As you can see, the hillside is claiming the walkway.

The walk now took on a more rural feel even though we could see that we would look down and see the city. On several occasions we saw wild melons growing on the parched hillside.

Happy Valley in the foreground and El Sereno beyond the hill. Taken from Montecito Heights.

The stairway pictured above was interesting as they form a raised walkway. If you live in the middle of the walkway it really is a far walk - and you have to bring your trashcans down!

A house along the walk-street.

As we continued down the walkway we came upon a massive stairway. It contained multiple landings and 191 steps. While they are a marvel what we found at the top was surprising.

Don't let the smiles fool you..

My attempt at artistic photography.

We lived nearby years ago and I remember that these buildings served as the warehouses for "The Broadway" department stores.

This is what we encountered at the top - uneven, rutted, unpaved streets. It was hot and dusty and the neighborhood took on a really back-country feel.

More wild melons.

As we continued along this rough road we encountered this fellow. He was pulling into his driveway - a Four-Wheel Drive is a must and he seemed interested in what we were doing. He was very friendly and told us that he is a member of the local LA 32 Neighborhood Council. He has a message: "Don't call it El Sereno; call it LA 32!"

After a rough climb we arrived onto paved streets and found incredible views of Downtown Los Angeles and Dodger Stadium. Too bad it was so hazy as the picture would have been amazing.

This saloon was not open for business.

This same area is where my brother and I used to fly our kites and run around for the year that we lived there. We moved from the outskirts of NYC to this area and it really was quite a change. Right below the trees is our old neighborhood which overlooked Lincoln High School and we too had the clear views of Downtown and County USC Medical Center. I especially remember views were more memorable when the Dodgers were playing night games.

More dogs.

From far above we could hear Mexican music blaring. I guess they wanted to serenade the whole neighborhood.

I think it was a 1939 Chevy.

These 2 characters were dancing in the streets!

Which stairway should we take?

The next-to-last stairway consisted of 123 shady steps and took us back to 'civilization.' We walked along a drab stretch of Mission Road for several blocks.

Our final stairway - 23 steps.

This is another view of the elevated walkway we were on earlier only this time we were walking on the street and in the opposite direction.

As the restaurant pictured above was closed we ended our walk with a meal at our local favorite restaurant when we are in the Highland Park area - Chico's. Good food, great prices! They are at Avenue 50 and Figueroa Street.

Feel free to join me as I discover hidden parts of Los Angeles and tackle the remaining 22 stair walks.

Steps walked to date: 10,859.

Follow me on Twitter: @ClimbingLA