Fauntleroy and Morgan Junction

Here's a wide-ranging stairway walk in the northern part of the Fauntleroy neighborhood. On this walk you'll step down the second-longest Seattle stairs, at Thistle Street. You'll also see wonderful examples of neighborhood art; take winding timber stairs down the Lincoln Park bluff to the cobblestone beach below; and "discover" a well-hidden stairway as you near Morgan Junction. There's also a stop at Solstice Park, where you'll visit a giant earthen astrolabe - an instrument that predicts where on the horizon the sun will set with each solstice. Where your stair walk nears the end, you'll find ample opportunities for food or drink - such as the excellent pub in Morgan Junction that specializes in craft beer and cider.

The slideshow marked by the "www" icon below contains the extra pictorial content referred to in the book. 

Looking back up the Thistle stairs, midway down

Here are a few more pictures: 

Detail of the Thistle Street stairs: note the recycled electric streetcar railing
After walking to Solstice Park, with its astronomical earthworks, you'll make your way over to Lincoln Park. To get down from the top of the bluff in Lincoln Park to the beach, you'll have two choices. The main route takes a bluffside path right. Or, you can turn left to walk along the top of the bluff south, until you arrive at the alternate bluffside pathway down to the beach, pictured below:

Midway down the alternate south bluff stairs

At the base of Lincoln Park bluff: looking across the Sound to Blake Island

Eastlake, North Capital Hill, and Portage Bay

This stairway walk carries you from the top of Capitol Hill down to the edge of Eastlake, before heading back up the hill and over to Portage Bay. As Seattle stairs go, this is the route with the mostest: you'll get a chance to climb the longest stairway in Seattle, the Howe Street stairs, though on this route they don't come all at once - and there's an optional shortcut too. Of course, you can do all 388 steps in one go, if you want to.

Note that the "www" icon above the slideshow indicates extra content that's referred to in the book. 

This view across Lake Union is from Streissguth Gardens, an early highlight along the route, just off the Blaine Street stairs 

Colonnade Mountain Bike Skills Park, shown in the slideshow above, is a very special park. It's located just below the Blaine and Howe Street stairways and directly under the freeway. You can view a video of Colonnade riders exercising their considerable mountain biking skills here.