Once you start up the steps, you are immediately thrust into the shade.  The stone walls have been assaulted by graffiti - it appears that someone attempted to whitewash some of it. 

Here are two more views of the start of the steps.  The stone walls are clearly old, but they still appear to be in pretty good shape.  A few stones are chipped or missing, and there's the stray crack here and there - but considering that they've probably sat unattended to, they're still pretty sturdy and in good standing.  And the steps themselves are in remarkably good shape. 

Once you rise past the first group of steps, there is a break -- a small path that runs about 20 years to the next series of steps (below).  There were a lot of people in the park today, and the steps were a popular place to sit and relax.  There were some kids sitting on the steps below, enjoying the weather -- they kindly stepped aside while we took these pictures.

On the second rise, there was a fallen branch - that was easy enough to step around.  But once we passed that branch we came across something we hadn't expected -- a brick wall!  The steps continue up a ways beyond, but the wall was a formidable barrier.

Correction - two brick walls!  Now, we were stumped.  It appeared that we were going to have to content ourselves with half a stairway.  But it did make us curious.  Were the steps in poor repair, and the walls placed there to protect us?     

So we took a closer look - a peek over the wall - and the steps looked fine.  Here's a closer looks at the steps behind the wall: 

So, your guess is as good as ours as to why they were placed there.  That was a little frustrating. 

We were committed to covering the entire stairway, but there was one problem - I'm just plain lousy at climbing walls.  But Mrs. Project Woodhaven came to the rescue and volunteered to vault the wall and make the climb.  Well, vault might be an exaggeration - but she clambered over the wall and walked up the hill alongside the steps until she bypassed the second wall - then she climbed the wall again and she was in!

As you can see, the steps are fine -- and soon, Mrs. PW was at the top of the steps, which - as you can see below -- ends at the back of the Oak Ridge House. 

Here is a picture (below, left) that Mrs. PW took of me, outside the wall.  After that, she climbed back over the wall and walked down the hill.  It turns out that going up the hill was a lot easier than going down -- and there were a few shaky moments.  But halfway down, she steadied herself long enough to pose for a quick picture. 

Over the years, we were aware that this was a spot where pot dealers used to congregate.  And we did see some evidence of pot use - in the form of some discarded dime bags, or perhaps nickel bags.  At least, that's what they called them when we were young.  Has inflation changed the names of the bags?  Are they called quarter bags now? 

Perhaps the pot dealers took a cue from the Department of Transportation, and just as you now get 20 minutes instead of 30 for your quarter at the parking meters -- perhaps the dealers still sell dime bags, but you just get less pot.

Here's a picture we took on the way back down -- and you can see the break, and the little path, we mentioned earlier - the beginning of the steps and park Lane South are straight ahead.  In our report the other day, we said that we could picture an artist sitting down to paint these steps -- it really is a visually interesting part of Woodhaven.  Lots of steps with interesting angles -- lots of trees and little paths that go off this way and that way -- and lots of shade with bursts of sunshine. 

Total number of steps from Park Lane South to the back of the Oak Ridge Building - 94.  Most rises contained 10 steps -- others contained 11 - and one rise near the top (behind the wall) contained 14.  The very last 2 rises contained 4.  Here's a rough sketch we made, showing the path of the steps.  The red bars show where the walls were constructed.