Reigning it in, a bit
Tuesday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
‘Dude, every time you leave the house it doesn’t need to be the Bataan death march…’ that’s what I said to myself in the bathroom mirror on the morning that I set out for this latest scuttle.
One shlepped up a steep hill to the ‘T’ light rail, and headed into Pittsburgh from Dormont, where HQ is found.
The Newtown Pentacle time warp is still very much in effect, and growing more severe. These shots were gathered on the 9th of June, and these words are being written on June 30th. If my scheduling is correct, this will publish during the second week of August.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The T dropped me at the Station Square stop.
You get a free transfer to one of the incline/funiculars here, so I decided to take advantage of that service to get high up, on Mount Washington. It had been a while since I walked the ‘PJ McArdle roadway’ path, so that was my plan for the afternoon.
For the last few months, I’ve been intentionally pushing my limits, as far as endurance and overall length of walking and photo sessions. Big part of how I’ve managed to maintain a month of lead time here.
The busted ankle is still a background character in this story, and whereas I’ve reversed a great deal of the atrophy to muscularity caused by the injury, I’m still living with it and getting used to the aftermath.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Up top, and the scuttle gets started.
The goal for this day was just to kick a bunch of dirt, and not to explore new or novel places. It was about obliging a certain walking speed and maintaining a slightly above average heart rate. One walked a bit more urgently than normal – not ‘maximum boogie’ speed – but a couple of paces faster than my ‘usual.’ Close to 3 mph, as opposed to my more normal 2.3 – 2.6 mph.
It’s all downhill from here.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
One remains fascinated by that ‘Colors House’ on Cola Street, in the South Side Slopes. At least one of those other homes sitting on the cantilevers near it is an expensive AirBNB. Fun.
The camera was waved around for a minute or two.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
This shot looks along the Monongahela River; with Smithfield Street, Panhandle, Liberty, South Tenth Street, and Birmingham Bridges in view.
In the distance is PITT’s Cathedral of Learning in Oakland, and closer to the POV is the uptown or Bluff neighborhood where Duquesne University is installed. Recent posts have wiggled about in the areas visible in the shot above.
Man… I do get around.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Finally, one reached the pedestrian walkway of the the PJ McArdle roadway itself, a diagonally set double lane street which descends from the prominence of Mount Washington’s ‘Grandview Avenue’ down to the mean streets of the South Side Flats below.
Come with?
Back tomorrow.
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The Newtown Pentacle 
Great photo showing the evolution of bridge designs on the Monongahela River. Sad to see the bit of land that is Downtown with its glut of highways. To think this was not accidental but is just as it was planned and approved by some bygone administration.
dbarms8878
August 11, 2026 at 8:43 pm
Hi MitchI wanted to tell you how much I enjoy the rail background descriptions in your Pittsburgh articles.Slowly I am recovering from my 2 month hospitalization and maybe I will be strong enough to visit Pitts (by Amtrak & traction) before it freezes over.Note I have been visiting your town vicariously going by rail on UTube.
Stay safe, Louis
Sent by mobile – please excuse typos and/or AI insanity.
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