Bakalinsky - Stairway Walks in San Francisco

Bakalinsky is the Ferdinand Magellan, the Sir Francis Drake, the Vasco da Gama of San Francisco stairways.

Paul McHugh, San Francisco Chronicle

A fascinating trek through the sidewalk staircases hidden around the city.

The New York Times

A wonderfully informative guidebook, custom-made for a city with challenging hills and picture-perfect views chock-full of fascinating details.

Travel Books Review

Bakalinsky has been scouring the city since the mid-1970s, clambering, walking, exploring tiny alleys and stairways, grand steps, paths and risers that interlace the city.

San Diego Union-Tribune

Bakalinsky is the reigning queen of walkers in a city thats full of them.

Joe Yonan, The Washington Post

Everything of importance has already been seen
by somebody who didnt notice it.

Alfred North Whitehead

Stairway Walks in San Francisco

3rd edition, 1995

4th edition, 2001

5th edition, 2004

6th edition, 2007

7th edition, 2010

8th edition, 2014

Copyright 2014 by Mary Burk with Adah Bakalinsky

Editor: Laura Shauger

Maps: Pease Press

Cover and interior photos: Copyright 2014 by their respective photographers

Cover design: Scott McGrew

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Bakalinsky, Adah.

Stairway walks in San Francisco : the joy of urban exploring / Adah Bakalinsky, Mary Burk.

pages cm

ISBN 978-0-89997-749-2 (paperback) ISBN 0-89997-749-9

eISBN 978-0-89997-750-8

1. San Francisco (Calif.)Tours. 2. WalkingCaliforniaSan FranciscoGuidebooks. 3. StairsCaliforniaSan FranciscoGuidebooks. I. Burk, Mary. II. Title.

F869.S33B35 2014

917.94'6104dc23

2014028303

Manufactured in the United States of America

Published by: WILDERNESS PRESS
An imprint of Keen Communications, LLC
PO Box 43673
Birmingham, AL 35243
800-443-7227
info@wildernesspress.com

Visit wildernesspress.com for a complete listing of our books, and for ordering information.

Distributed by Publishers Group West

Front-cover photos: Left, top to bottom: Golden Gate Bridge wave model (Mary Burk); Onique Stairway, Diamond Heights (Tony Holiday); Sutro Baths Stairway, Lands End (Tony Holiday). Right: Hidden Garden Steps, Golden Gate Heights (Mary Burk).

Frontispiece: Iron Alley Stairway, Twin Peaks Foothills (Mary Burk).

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form, or by any means electronic, mechanical, recording, or otherwise, without written permission from the publisher, except for brief quotations used in reviews.

SAFETY NOTICE: Although Wilderness Press and the author have made every attempt to ensure that the information in this book is accurate at press time, they are not responsible for any loss, damage, injury, or inconvenience that may occur to anyone while using this book. The fact that a stairway walk is described in this book does not mean that it will be safe for you. Note that conditions can change from day to day. Use sound judgment and minimize your risk on any stairway walk or urban hike by being knowledgeable, prepared, and alert.

To Adah Bakalinsky, the Queen of San Francisco Stairways. Adah has entrusted me to continue her book, and I am humbled and honored to do so. We have enjoyed taking all of the walks and further ramblings in this edition together, and I hope you will enjoy taking these walks as much as we did.

And to new walkers and those trying out something like this for the first time. I am so happy knowing you are about to take on a small, simple adventure, and I wish you a most fortuitous, serendipitous amble.

San Francisco is enlivened by its great architecture, spirited by its vibrant and individual citizens, and as always, it quietly whispers its history and natural beauty to those walking about and listening. It is this magic through movement that brought Adahs walks together. The walks have a rhythm all their own, and like a dance, or a pattern, each were formed by what feels right in stride. Were happy to have you along!

However, Adah and I both know that as soon as something is captured or noticed, it changes. And places change too, night or day, and through various weatherand so everyone experiences different thoughts, ideas, and feelings along their own paths. So as you get out there, know that you are in good company; walking is the type of activity most folks can enjoy, and you all are just who this book was tailor-made for. Best wishes to you as you continue exploring, everywhere you go.

Thank you, dear readers. Now watch your step, and mind the path.

Now You See It, Now You Dont:
Discover the Fog & Light of San Francisco

So much of this book came into being because of the work, sweat, tenacity, and beauty of its original author and the amazing, wonderful people who have helped, encouraged, and laughed with Adah along her way. Thanks to Charles Brock for the stairways index (see the appendix) and to Ben Pease for his work on maps for the seventh and eighth editions.

Adahs network of connections and contacts is still very active, and the Hidden Garden Steps group took its community improvement projects to Facebook to promote them to a broader audience. Thanks to artists Aileen Barr and Colette Crutcher for beautifying another Golden Gate Heights stairway; the neighborhood grows more magical with each mosaic. The Glen Canyon, Corona Heights, and Dogpatch neighborhoods, among others, have also proved to be valuable resources for news in the area.

So many people enjoy this city and express themselves online that inspiration was always at hand digitally to keep me inspired even when I had to be indoors. Thanks for inspiration specifically from Tony Holiday, Jake Sigg, and Julian Michelucci, whose dedication to stairways and hiking around San Francisco reaches many others with similar interests. Thanks are also due to Mister SF, for his local San Francisco blog and points of interest, and to Dave Schweisguth, whose hill updates for the mainland and the surrounding islands helped me take a new look at the growing list of hills in the city, named and unnamed.

When I take each walk again and as the seasons change, I continue to find beautiful, sustaining vistas at lookouts and on hilltops and try to keep my eyes peeled for partly hidden gems to look out for around any bend. And after hopping around town every weekend the past year, visiting all of the stairways, rewalking the walks, taking notes and snapping photos, I love the city and its transportation agencies even more. Thank you, SF MUNI (Municipal Transportation Agency), for having GPS triangulation and reliable schedule times, and thank you, San Francisco Police Department and Department of Parking and Traffic, for not towing my car this year; Im still paying off the parking tickets.