Trip #189 Yard Way, Southside Slopes, Pittsburgh took place on September 13, 2018, and was published on September 21, 2018.
I linger at this fork in the road, rubbing my eyes and waiting for a breath of air. Standing in the middle of this quiet street gives me a strange pleasure, and I think how it would feel to lie down on the warm asphalt and close my eyes for a bit. But I don’t. I look back and down at the descent into darkness, concrete steps shrouded in heavy green canopies. And then I look up to where I’m about to go. Yard Way is hundreds of stairs long, and the hillside steeply drops so I can’t tell what lies over the crest where the stairway ends. But I can see it ends in a clearing, with the sun and open sky above me. With my heart rate back to normal, curiosity gets the better of me, and I ascend the final leg.
Field Notes: It’s waaaaay long and you’re going up a steep uphill grade but the view from the top is pretty great – all of Oakland and parts of the Hill District. A quiet and pleasant place to rest after your climb.
Want to visit these stairs? You can locate them on the Pittsburgh City Steps Plan website!
See the Risograph print of this photo and story in the Mis.Steps Shop.
Be a good neighbor! Have you visited these stairs and found them in poor condition or that illegal dumping (large items like tires, old furniture, and construction debris) and trash were abundant in the area? There are two things you can do to take action and make our city steps cleaner and safer for everyone! First, grab a photo if you can, and submit a report to Pittsburgh 311. All problems, both broken stairs, and railings, as well as trash and dumping, should be reported to the city. You can easily do this online or by calling. If the location has an abundance of illegal dumping and trash, also contact Allegheny Cleanways, letting them know the location and the nature of the garbage. Thank you!!
