Pittsburgh StepTrek 2015

I've started a new feature called Travel Tuesdays. Each week I'll post photos, recommendations, or itineraries from trips I've taken or am planning to take. You can see past posts here. 

The first staircase on the Black Route

Last weekend Alex and I went to Pittsburgh to visit our friend Tricia and attend Pittsburgh StepTrek in the South Side Slopes neighborhood.

The weather forecast looked pretty bleak in the week leading up to the event. Until the day of, it looked like a 90-100% chance of rain all day Saturday. We were prepared. We each wore our rain jackets, rain pants, and baseball hats. Luckily, the rain stopped around noon and we didn't have to deal with much more than a few sprinkles while we were trekking. It was a little chilly, but perfect weather for climbing.

Black Route

There are two routes to follow. We chose the Black Route. Each route was estimated to take about 90 minutes. The event program included maps for both routes, so we could always go back and do the Gold Route on our own someday. (Or just do StepTrek next year.)

Here are a few photos from our trek:

Some steps along the way

Off-roading

Thanks for the photo, Tricia!

Alex looks like he's in a sci-fi movie

One of the first vistas

Downtown behind a valley of green

This guy (or gal) was not a happy camper when we walked by.

One of the last views near the end of the walk

Overall, we walked 3.3 miles and – according to Tricia's Fitbit – climbed about 85 stories.

I'd recommend the event to anyone who likes seeing different houses, exploring a unique neighborhood, and getting in a bit of workout. I'm so happy the rain held off so we could enjoy our time.