Photo Walking

5 Spot restaurant along the staircase trail

    Recently I came across a website that has a list of 30 staircase trails throughout the city of Seattle and thought these would be perfect for photo walking. I’ve been doing photo walks since 2003, when I purchased my first camera. It's been something I’ve been doing a lot more this past year during this the Covid epidemic, especially in the last couple of months.   

    Seattle is composed of a series of hills and on those hills are more hills, slopes and ridges. Some of the steepest roads in Seattle: Denny Way, Dravus and Queen Anne Ave can be accessed by walking on the sidewalk. There are, however, many areas in Seattle where a sidewalk wouldn’t work. So Seattle built close to 500 staircases to access the streets below and above wherever you may be on any particular hill, some dating back to 1905. With these 30 staircase trails you can go in either direction, however the list does tell you how many up and down steps there are and favors the direction with more up steps than down. I’ve always loved walking and it's great exercise, especially if they involve lots of stairs to climb so it wasn't a problem to see the hikes were 4 to 5 miles, so I chose the direction with more steps up. I'm all for the challenge.  I chose the first trail on the list called “Queen Anne” simply because I could pick up the trail a half a block from my front door. I was familiar with most of the areas on this staircase climb, though I certainly hadn’t been on all the staircase before. Some of them are quite remarkable and beautiful such as Wilcox Wall, The Galer Crown and The Comstock Grand Dame. 

                                     

The Comstock Grand Dame-the only staircase I saw with turns

The Galer Crown just off of Queen Anne Ave N

Staircase at Wilcox Wall

Many others are strictly utilitarian. And when you consider that the top of Queen Anne Hill is approximately 470 feet above sea level the views you get of Elliot Bay and the Seattle skyline from these staircase hikes are quite majestic. On clear days you can see the Olympic Mountains, The Cascades and glorious Mt. Rainier. I also love learning about everything I photograph in my path.
    When I get done with a photo walk and download all the images to my computer, the next step is to do some research. If an old building is the subject, when was it built? Is it a landmark? Is there anything significant or remarkable about it? I enjoy the whole process of finding out all this information by researching and sleuthing. It’s like a puzzle sometimes. One example was one of my favorite things along this trail, Queen Anne High School. It’s such a beautiful building. I loved to photograph it. Built in the classical revival style in 1908, it was originally named Jefferson High School but was changed before the school opened in September of 1909. The school closed in 1981 due to decreasing enrollment. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984 and became an official City of Seattle landmark in 1985. In 1986 it went under renovation to become a residential apartment building with 137 apartments. In 2006 the residential apartments underwent another renovation and were converted to condominium units. All this information I learned as part of my research post photo-walk. I actually had been in this building before. Way back in September of 2005, I worked on a show called "Move This House" and they filmed a segment there. The premise of the show is to help a couple moving from one place to another, usually to a house they just bought, and help design their new place. This was when Queen Anne High School was still apartments. I was actually the video editor on the show so I had no need to be on set but I figured I’d check out the whole production process and to take photos of course.

Queen Anne High School

Above the main entrance

My high school school entrance didn't look like this

One of two lions greeting you at the main entrance. Look how different
it looks in the photo below

Back in 2005 filming Move This House Host Tanya Memme 

Filming inside one of the apartments with very tall ceilings

    Another cool subject I came across on my trail was an old fire hydrant. I love the way the yellow, rusted fire hydrant looked on an overcast day so I snapped a picture. When I got home, I thought about how old it looks and wondered how long it’s actually been in service. Researching this was a little more difficult, after all who researches fire hydrants? This hydrant is over 100 years old and was forged at the now defunct Rensselaer Valve Mfg. Co of Troy, New York. 

A very old fire hydrant

    I did have a great time on this trail but it’s not necessarily because of the staircase theme. I did like having the planned trails to hike on and the challenge of the stairs, but the reality is I love taking pictures. When I am taking photos is when I am most happy. Happy probably isn’t the right word. I think content and fulfilled are better. At these times I am truly in the moment and when that is the case I am most at peace. I think that is the key to life; being able to be in the moment as much as you can. During these times I get such a magical feeling inside. It’s so much better than any drug I’ve ever consumed. I’m very grateful to have a passion which gives me this joy and then to also really enjoy what I capture through my lens. 1 trail down, 29 to go.

                            Check out my album on flickr to see all the photos from this day.