Posts Tagged ‘Pittsburgh’
Slopes to flats
Monday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
As described last week, your humble narrator was engaged in walking a downward sloping section of the milieu here in Pittsburgh, in pursuance of exercising several otherwise hard to hit muscle groups in my atrophied legs.
Said atrophy had been caused by the ‘recovery from the broken ankle situation,’ which I do realize that it seems I never stop mentioning.
Sorry about constantly bringing it up, but it’s been a pretty impactful experience for me and it’s become one of the ‘book end’ events with which I’ll be using to differentiate the various sections of my timeline. Book ends are what I call life changing events – graduate school, first job, marriage, death of your parents, etc. The ankle and it’s aftermath also has become a delimiter to my movements, and thereby omnipresent.
I soon found myself limping down South 18th street, a pathway which I’ve shown y’all before. This scuttle began in the South Side Slopes area, and it was all downhill on the walk until I reached the South Side Flats section which occupies the flood plain of the Monongahela River.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
When you get to the Flats area, the first thing you notice is the strict homogeneity of much of the housing stock. I always refer to this kind of row houses as ‘Philadelphia Style,’ with narrow sidewalk pavement and little to no space between buildings. Directly across the street from these houses is a busy railroad trestle which carries Norfolk Southern traffic, and it provides a neat division between ‘slopes’ and ‘flats’ here on the south shore of the Monongahela.
Yeah, I did hang around the tracks for a while, but at the time of day I was passing through – nada – as far as trains. As is usually the case, as soon as you get far enough away from the tracks to make it impossible to photograph the scene, you hear a train coming through. Sigh.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I showed y’all a view from the opposite side of this newly cleared parcel of land a few weeks ago, a point of view some three city blocks away. This time around though, the camera was already wearing a lens that could fit through a chain link fence, I’d offer.
Back tomorrow with more.
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“In the Shadows at Newtown Creek,” an 88 page softcover 8.5×11 magazine format photo book by Mitch Waxman, is now on sale at blurb.com for $30.
All downhill from here
Friday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Every now and then, I’ll be driving somewhere and spot an interesting or oddball situation which I make note of for a future exploration on foot.
To wit, a recent diversion due to street construction forced me into driving down St. Patrick’s Street in the South Side Slopes, here in Pittsburgh, to get from ‘A’ to ‘B.’ While negotiating its steep grade and winding path, a mental note to walk this route was filed and ‘here we are.’
The housing stock you observe in this area is disturbingly heterogeneous. If you encounter two buildings that are from the same plan (as above), write that down and comment on their homogeneity. Part of this lack of a standard typology of design, of course, is due to the terrain and the unique opportunities and challenges of each parcel. Properties here, observably, can display a height differential of as much as twenty to thirty feet from one side of a lot to the other. Retaining walls, and other accommodating infrastructure to combat landslides and gravity, are everywhere you look. It’s wild.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The landform here is part of Mount Washington, which is basically a tall ridge overlooking the Monongahela River. The other side of this prominence slopes away in a comparatively shallow fashion towards a region called the ‘South Hills,’ where HQ in the borough of Dormont can distantly be found. The roads here are narrow, too narrow in fact to require sidewalks for most of the downward course. Urban forest fills in the edges of, and areas between, the real estate parcels.
Speaking of, valuations seem to be all the place in this area, ranging from the mid $100 thousands all the way past the half million mark. There’s also open lots for sale, which is kind of interesting, given the recent popularity of Yurts.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
St. Patrick’s street itself offers a series of switchback curves on the downward path, and it eventually leads towards South 18th street. I’m certain, from the shape of the topology, that water flowed through the interchange area between them, probably still does beneath the asphalt. There’s a shallow angled set of steps which allows egress from one to the other, city infrastructure which I took advantage of.
My legs got the workout I was seeking.
Back next week with more from the south side of the Monongahela River, here in Pittsburgh – at this – your Newtown Pentacle.
“follow” me on Twitter- @newtownpentacle
Buy a book!
“In the Shadows at Newtown Creek,” an 88 page softcover 8.5×11 magazine format photo book by Mitch Waxman, is now on sale at blurb.com for $30.
Get’s and go’s
Thursday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
That’s a T light rail entering Potomac Station in Pittsburgh’s Dormont, where Newtown Pentacle HQ currently is found. I really have to get back to doing night shots, I’ve decided. Miss it.
Problem is that Pittsburgh is a very, very daytime focused place – or at least my style of life here has been. I get up early these days, about six in the morning, and am usually back in bed by about eleven at night. A huge change for me, this is, given how thoroughly nocturnal I used to be back in NYC. It’s darker here, I should mention, as there’s far less scattered light pollution bouncing off of concrete and buildings.
It’s funny, I feel like I’ve been slacking lately, although in reality I’ve been pushing the physical envelope as much as I can, post broken ankle wise. Every one of the longish walks I’ve been showing y’all has resulted in a day or two of painful soreness, but echoing in my head is ‘everything’s ok now, push harder.’ In reality, everything is definitively ‘not ok,’ but I’m trying. Everything will be better if I just work harder.
Really do miss the night stuff, though.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Next door to Dormont is Mount Oliver, and amongst other things, that’s where Moe the Dog goes for his dog training. He’s good at being a dog – to be clear – what with all the barking and the pooping so he doesn’t need any help on that front, but Moe has a lot of rough edges and bad habits we’re trying to coax him out of.
After dog training, it was time for me to figure out a route for my next walk. As mentioned, ad nauseum, one the goals at the moment is to pick routes which will provide certain otherwise hard to impact muscle groups in my legs which atrophied during my hermitage a decent workout. I also want to ‘see some stuff’ along the way.
On this walk, I had the whole kit with me – tripod, prime lenses, zoom lens. For this sort of carry, I prefer a knapsack, and the one currently on my back is from the Patagonia brand. Water resistant, lots of internal pockets, multiple compartments. The bag itself weighs practically nothing. This particular bag can – and has – held more than I had packed into it on this outing, but this was a day trip and not an overnighter. Additionally, I have to be concerned with how much the bag weighs which I’m slinging it onto my back because… you guessed it… the ankle.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
St. Patrick’s street, in the South Side Slopes/Allentown zone of Pittsburgh, that’s where I had a Lyft driver drop me off. I’ve been up here a few times in the past, but have never walked this particular route before. It’s almost like I’m systematically working my way through the street grid of an intriguing neighborhood, isn’t it?
I’ll show y’all what I saw along the way, on what ended up being a four and change miles scuttle, much of which was walked downhill at quite a steep grade. Interesting neighborhood, this.
Back tomorrow with more, at your Newtown Pentacle.
“follow” me on Twitter- @newtownpentacle
Buy a book!
“In the Shadows at Newtown Creek,” an 88 page softcover 8.5×11 magazine format photo book by Mitch Waxman, is now on sale at blurb.com for $30.
Thornburg Conservation Area, pt. 02
Wednesday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
As described yesterday, a quick walk around a roughly square 38 acre public property called the Thornburg Conservation Area, nearby Pittsburgh’s Borough of Crafton, was recently undertaken.
After following the sound of flowing water across the verge, one encountered a drainage system for a set of rail tracks that are set into the hillside, about fifteen to twenty feet above the level of the earthen berm that I was scuttling on.
It’s been a fairly long time since I thought ‘hey, I should set up the tripod and put a filter on the lens for a low and slow shot’ so I did so.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
What with all my troubles, an effort has been made to minimize the amount of crap I carry with me in the camera bag. Normally, I’m ready for most anything that might pass in front of me, but for obvious reasons I’ve been trying to travel a bit lighter of late. On this walk, and since I’d driven here, I had the ‘whole magilla’ with me.
The tripod was all set up and the lens cloaked with an ND filter, so I decided to get a few more shots. ‘Up, down, all around.’ The light was crappy, with an overcast sky, but that’s it’s part of the challenge.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
On my way back to the parking lot, I noticed this set of stairs set into the hillside leading to where those rail tracks are. Hmmm.
Have you ever read that amazingly cool Reddit thread about avoiding interacting with stairs you might find in the woods? Check it out here.
Back tomorrow with something different – at this – your Newtown Pentacle.
“follow” me on Twitter- @newtownpentacle
Buy a book!
“In the Shadows at Newtown Creek,” an 88 page softcover 8.5×11 magazine format photo book by Mitch Waxman, is now on sale at blurb.com for $30.
Thornburg Conservation Area, pt. 01
Tuesday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
You just have to take notice of signage warning passerby in a park about possible injury or death due to Goat. You really do.
Saying that, there were zero goats to worry about on the day which I visited the Thornburg Conservation Park. This is a roughly 38 square acre patch of green with stands of trees that a waterbody called Chartiers Creek flows past. This is more or less in the community of Crafton, which isn’t far at all from HQ, in neighboring Dormont, and both are Boroughs of the Pittsburgh milieu.
A nine hole golf course was established here in 1898, and the property changed hands privately in 2001, whereupon a combination of wealthy residents and the municipality of Thornburg then acquired the land in 2005, in order to establish a public green space and nature preserve for the community on the grounds of the former golf course.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Two big friendly dogs that came bursting out of the verge soon introduced me to their friend Richie, who also happened to be recovering from an orthopedic dealie and stretching his legs, so we started chatting. He told me that a big part of the reason behind establishing this space involved a massive flood that occurred ‘about twenty years ago’ and that when the Borough was working on this project, part of the project’s aim was the creation of a spongy green barrier between the settled community and businesses in the area and the flowing waters. He mentioned ‘EPA’ and I asked ‘the Feds?’ It wasn’t clear, his answer.
Me?
This was my ‘walk on natural soils’ day, providing a series of challenges for the recovering ankle that you just can’t find on pavement. All of the rather subtle angles your foot finds itself in while walking on a natural surface, that’s what I was after. Also, I wanted to take a few shots of something that wasn’t a train or a city street.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Turns out that there are, in fact, rail tracks at the edge of the property.
Conversation with a different fellow, whose dog also handled the introductions, revealed a schedule for a reportedly once a day journey of trains along these tracks, and that has been noted for future excursions.
I was following the sound of flowing water down a trail that followed the shore line of Chartiers Creek.
There were a few interesting compositions which I had to deny myself from capturing, I should mention. Doing so would have involved negotiating down an eight to fifteen foot muddy slope on the berm I was walking on down to the level of the water. Given the ankle situation, this wasn’t worth the risk, and I’m also not 100% sure I would be able to climb back up to the anti flooding berm which I was walking on without help.
Back tomorrow with more.
“follow” me on Twitter- @newtownpentacle
Buy a book!
“In the Shadows at Newtown Creek,” an 88 page softcover 8.5×11 magazine format photo book by Mitch Waxman, is now on sale at blurb.com for $30.
The Newtown Pentacle 