Sunday, May 31, 2015

Secret Stairs Walk #8


This walk takes place in the Highland Park area of Los Angeles.  The walk starts near the intersection of N. Figueroa St and Avenue 53, near the old brick Faith United Presbyterian Church.  This section of Figueroa Street is Historic Route 66.

Red door of Church

Window of church




















We head north on Avenue 53 toward the hills and cross the Gold Line tracks at Marmion Way.

Wall art

Wall art























We head along Avenue 53 and turn right onto Monte Vista Street and then turn left onto N. Avenue 54. where there is an elementary school with a mural on the side of the school.

Wall art on school

Wall art on school




































As we continue to walk we find our first stair case.  This is a wide set of stairs, fitted with handrails, but not lights, rising over multiple landings.  Climb up 127 steps.  At the top of the stairs is the cul-de-sac end of Granada and we continue to walk straight ahead as the road rises and crests.  There is an Historic-Cultural Monument along this walk.  From here you can see Eldred Street and the staircase on the hillside across the canyon.  Eldred Street is the steepest street in California and was in Walk #7.

Turn right onto No. Avenue 53 and begin our ascent.  We see older homes and freestone rock walls, as we walk along.  We continue on winding up and around, to the corner Avenue 53 and Abbott Place, where there are two old homes with grand views.  Avenue 53 continues along until we get to Aldama Street, where we turn right and continue to the bottom of the hill, where we turn left onto Avenue 54.  There are some older homes in need of repair along this street, but we keep walking until we find Raphael Street. We turn left and walk up a half block of roadway and find the next staircase that has not been kept in good repair and has graffiti.  At the top, we keep walking straight ahead on Raphael.

Turn left, one block on, onto Aldama Terrace, where there are some interesting houses and then we turn right onto Aldama Street.  We walk straight ahead and following the road as it crosses Avenue 53 and bends to the left, where we find Avenue 52.   We walk on Avenue 52 and look for a driveway that leads to a staircase and up!  This staircase is a newish, double-railed set of 56 steps over several landings in condition, but not well maintained.  The top of the stairs puts us at the bend where Avenue 51 meets Shipley Glen Drive.  We walk straight ahead going down Shipley Glen.  At the bottom of the hill, we turn right on Avenue 50 and observe a pedestrian underpass.

Altar
Calico cat
Cat
Decoration on an address
Stairway
Front Porch
Fruit tree
Nature
Stairway
Tree Decoration
Up the stairs
View
Windows

Pedestrian Underpass























16 comments:

  1. I love the red door of the Church!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Eydie Stumpf, I loved the red door as well. I am learning that I like red doors!

      Delete
  2. So glad to have been there with you on this excursion. Just wonderful!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. John, I am glad you were able to go on this! Looking forward to the next one.

      Delete
  3. You got me by the street art and the cats!
    :-)
    Happy Travels,
    Nat

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Natalie for your comment! I love street art and cats and I love to take pictures of them!

      Delete
  4. Love the red door! Street art is always so fun, too.
    Natalie, The Educational Tourist

    ReplyDelete
  5. A lot of people aren't fans of street art, but I love the colour it can inject into a neighbourhood!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Chris, thank you for the comment! Many people look at street art as graffiti. I agree it does put color in a neighborhood. Many of the people who do this are real artists.

      Delete
  6. The street art's my fave too!

    ReplyDelete
  7. I love taking pictures of street doors too!

    ReplyDelete
  8. I really like the photos you've taken, especially the ones of the street art. I'm a big fan of good graffiti and you've captured some great examples here.

    Keep up the good work and have a great day.

    Conor

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Conor for your comment! I love taking pictures of street art and I will continue.

      Delete
    2. Conor, I have another blog post that is called "What is Street Art?" Check it out!

      Delete