— My goal was to finish all the walks in the book, “Secret Stairs, A Walking Guide to the Historic Staircases of LA” by Charles Flemming. I only had about 10 walks left when I pushed it to the back burner. One of my 2014 resolutions is to finally share those last walks with you. —

Sadly, Im no longer in the funemployment game, so my Secret Stair walking days are now reserved for weekends only. Thankfully I have a handful that I still need to tell you about. This next walk is Secret Stair Walk #5: Mt. Washington.

The walk begins by the busy intersection of Figueroa and Avenue 45. It starts with congestion but then quickly becomes a quiet neighborhood trek.

I love finding little neighborhood details.

After a steep hill, comes steep staircases. Thankfully, what goes up must come down.

This walk was “pre-rain” so the sky still has a cloudy (cough* smoggy) haze to it.

This old ranch had some fun colorful lighting to jazz it up.

It’s rare you see tile work like this along the driveway.

Reaching the top of the hill, I could barely see the faint outline of the downtown skyline. Grrr smog.

This residential neighborhood opens up at the top of the hill to be a quiet valley without many signs of life.

After the short dusty loop, it becomes a plush neighborhood again. In fact, it leads right to the Self-Relization Center on Mt. Washington which has super pretty gardens open to the public. It’s so relaxing there.

They keep the gardens so well manicured.

This is some tile fun on a bridge just past the meditation center.

I passed a few local schools up on Mt. Washington. I imagine the neighbors walking their children here. It must feel so far from LA, because it’s all so peaceful up on the hilltop.

Thankfully, I was not attacked by a dog here.

Stairs, stairs, stairs…

The faux broken turtle trying to climb the stairs…

 

I love doors and gate doors are no exception.

 

Back down to the hustle and bustle of Figueroa.

Happy Friday everyone! I hope you have a busy weekend full of Secret Stair walks!