Esplen in the Winter

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Esplen_(Pittsburgh)

Thanks for joining me! I started this journey of running all the streets in Pittsburgh by heading out to the neighborhood of Esplen. Esplen is a little community in a corner of Route 51 as it swings away from the Ohio River to cross over Chartiers Creek and go into McKee’s Rocks. Driving north on Rt 51 coming out of the Southside, I just put “Esplen” into Google Maps and let it direct me.

• “Go North on Rt 51”
  • check!
• “Make the next left onto Tabor Street”
  • Great, it’s at a light, check!
• “Make a right onto Radcliffe Street”
  • Hmm, I suppose, but check.
• “Make a left onto Oak Way”
  • Wait a minute, that’s just a little alley between some houses! Argh, I’ll do it THIS time.
• “Make a right onto Harrison Way”
  • WTF! No way, that’s an even SMALLER alley

At this point, I turned off Google Maps, drove to the next bigger street (Stafford) and headed toward a shopping area I had noticed across a low bridge.  I was now out of the City of Pittsburgh and in the shopping Mecca of Mckee’s Rocks.

I crossed the bridge over muddy Chartier’s Creek and plunged into the streets of Esplen.  There are some industrial looking buildings on the right and then the little houses of Esplen. It was a gray, cold day, just above freezing. Most of Esplen is flat, with a gradual rise in the streets as you go away from Rt 51 and away from Chartier’s Creek. The houses were mostly occupied. They looked to be two or three bedroom houses. Alleys are  standard between all the roads and most people’s garages opened up on the alley. It was quiet. I think I saw two people, total, in that morning’s run. One section, Esplen Street and the alleys coming off of it, was dominated by the hill behind it and a railroad bridge which crosses the Ohio onto Brunot Island. Houses decorated for Christmas and ever-present Steelers flags lifted the gloom of the morning.

Rising above Esplen is the neighborhood of Sheraden. The streets going up to Sheraden are long and steep, Stadium, Arden and Stafford to name a few. Sheraden had nice views of the Ohio from Brunot Street. The streets continue to rise to the crest of a hill.

I ran slowly and took pictures. Only a few miles of running and I had done most of the streets and alleys of Esplen. Not bad for the first foray.

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