Feet First's Stairway Art and Photo Contest

Mary Magenta's "Deadhorse Canyon, Rainier Beach"Stairway art was the focus at Feet First headquarters Thursday night, April 4th. As part of Stairway Walks Day back in February - when 300 people simultaneously walked one of 15 stairway routes around Seattle and environs - walkers were encouraged to create stairway art. Last night was the big night for display and judging of about a dozen works, in a variety of media, in conjunction with the First Thursday Art Walk in Pioneer Square. See the slideshow below for glimpses of two more pieces and their artists. (Apologies for the unflattering photography. Our regular photographer, Cathy, wasn't available.)

Public Stairway Walk: "Alki from Above"

Recently, we led a public stairway walk along the route described in Chapter 18, "Alki from Above." We volunteered as Walking Ambassadors for Feet First, a membership organization that promotes neighborhood walkability and walking. They're currently working with King County on the "West Seattle In Motion" campaign. About 20 people joined us to explore North Admiral and Alki and enjoy all the georgeous Fall colors!  

Our 3.4 mile loop began just outside the southeast corner of Schmitz Preserve Park, heading along residential streets through North Admiral. Then at College Street Ravine we began a steep, curving descent down the bluff toward Alki Beach. A series of stairways took us down to the Alki Beach Trail, where we strolled beachside for a few blocks. 

Heading back, we took a well-hidden set of stairs that led us farther up the bluff toward Admiral Way and Schmitz Preserve Park. Just past the vintage 1936 bridge over the ravine, we stepped down a corkscrewing timber stairway into the park. There, a trail led us across Schmitz Creek and up and out the far southeast end of the ravine toward our starting place. We got lucky, nearing the end of our loop just as rain started up!

This was a fun tour of Seattle stairs at an especially colorful time of year for urban hiking. Feet First does good work, and we hope to do more public walks of Seattle stairways with them.