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Links & Media

* Seattle Channel's City Stream: Seattle Stairways (2016) 

* KPLU 88.1 "Tourist in Your Own Town" - Mount Baker Stairway Walk (2013)

* KING 5 Evening Magazine - Discover the Secret Stairways of Seattle (2013)

* KUOW News - The Hidden Legacy of Seattle Stairways (2013)

* AAA Journey - Last Stop: Stair Attraction (2012)

* Seattle Times - Guidebook Authors Show Ups and Downs. . . (2012)

Feet First - Seattle Walkability Advocates

* Sound Steps - Great Walking Groups for Over-50s!

* WalkOn inBellWa! - Walking Routes in Bellevue's Parks and Neighborhoods

Inventory of Seattle Stairs of 100 Steps or More website by Doug Beyerlein

* All Stairs Seattle Guide website by Susan Ott & Dave Ralph

* Year of Walking Seattle's Parks blog by Linnea Westerlind

*KOMO News - Year of Mapping Seattle's Stairs (2011)

*Seattle Times -  Queen Anne Stairways Map (2009)

* Washington Trails Association Magazine -  Urban Hiking (2007)

* Seattle Times - Seattle Stairways: Taking Time to Learn More About the City (2003)

* Seattle Weekly - Stairway Weekend (1999)

The Mountaineers as well as our publisher, Mountaineers Books

Seattle Stairway Walks: An Up-and-Down Guide to City Neighborhoods 

by Jake & Cathy Jaramillo

* The only guidebook to stairway walks in Seattle
* Explore Seattle neighborhoods in a new way with these interesting walks in Seattle
* Written for people of all ages who want to get outside, exercise, and explore
*Learn more --> 


ORDER TODAY

Entries by Jake Jaramillo (127)

Tuesday
Sep172013

Seattle's Newest Stairway

 

The Charlestown Hillclimb is the newest stairway construction in Seattle, completed this June (at S Charlestown Street between Courtland Place S and 37th Avenue S). The new stairway greatly improves the pedestrian connection between Rainier Valley and Mount Baker, and it adds striking views and cool art into the bargain. We met recently with Judith Yarrow, one of the local residents who was instrumental in working with the city to get the new stairway built.

Judith told us that before the stairs were in place, a narrow footpath headed up the slope where S Charlestown Street ended. It was slippery in winter and tended to get overgrown with blackberries in summer, and had probably been in use since the neighborhood itself was built, maybe 85 years ago. In the early 2000s she helped found the Friends of Charlestown Hillclimb, a group of residents who obtained Department of Neighborhoods grants to make initial landscaping and art improvements at the top of the Hillclimb. They also developed conceptual plans for a future stairway that could become a neighborhood gathering place. You can learn more about the Hillclimb project and its history at the Friends of Charlestown Hillclimb website.

With the stairs now in place, Friends of Charlestown Hillclimb are working on the final landscaping touches. On four consecutive Saturdays starting October 19, work parties will be held to put in plantings. Volunteers are needed and welcomed!

  

Monday
Aug262013

Wilderness Stairs, Part II

Here's another stairway we found in an unexpected wilderness setting a few days ago, about 25 miles into a backpack in Olympic National Park. This magnificent cascading stairway was built to preserve a fragile slope in the rainforest near the headwaters of the North Fork of the Quinault River. The second picture below has nothing to do with stairways, but it was very memorable, so what the heck!

Cathy and our friend Bill, descending one of the few stairways along our 44+ mile trail

A mysterious fungus pops out of a log