This run, RATS #00462 in the East Hills, was at a strange time…Friday morning. It turns out I had some vacation to burn, so I took a day off to complete some streets. Now, overall, I had been through this area many times, but I needed to finish up Hill Street, Square Way, Cain Way, Hallam Street and Angoria Way.
On my way to Hill Street, I passed the pink Triceratops near Braddock Avenue. From there, I made my way past a little-used skate park to Hill Avenue as it smacks into the East Busway. It seems someone’s intention is to close that street, so a pile of dirt and bushes cuts it off for cars. However intrepid pedestrians can find a path to the end of Hill Avenue. There’s not a whole lot to see as it curves around to Madeira Street.
Now I kinda did a U-Turn. Madeira runs into Wood Street and I picked up the other side of Hill Avenue. I roughly followed the border of Pittsburgh and Wilkinsburg as it undulates up and down Swissvale Avenue and Laketon Road.
My goal was the end of Square Way. It is an alley from Fairlawn Street to past Frankella Avenue. I was thinking this was the only Frankella in the US, but no, there’s another one in Florida. How weird is that? Anyway, Square Way just ended unceremoniously in a grassy area. Now, my next target streets were over on Frankstown Road, so I took the widely curving trip up Robinson Boulevard. At the top there’s a very large vacant area on the left. Well over twenty years ago there was a shopping center here, “East Hills Shopping Center”. Now the best they can do is a U-Pull-And-Pay, an auto salvage business.
That took me to Frankstown Road and back into the city. I picked up Woods Avenue (no relation to Wood Street) and went up the hills onto Dersham Street. Slashing onto the wooded hillsides above, many streets jut off of Dersham. They are mostly dead-end streets with modest houses along them. I went up Cain Way to the last house, to the bumper of the car parked at the end. It didn’t look too promising, so I scurried back down the hill. Dersham ends at Standard Avenue, where I took a right-left combo to climb onto Perchment Street.
Perchment is similar to Dersham, but further up the hill and more isolated. Passing Lawndale, with its steps, I came to Hallam Street. This street always had worried me. Often cars parked up the small street and the corner, dilapidated house scared me. I suppose its silly to be scared of a house, but there it is. This day, however, maybe because it was a Friday, the road was open; no cars parked on it. So I explored.
Rather quickly the smooth pavement becomes a rutted road. A little further, downed trees attempted to block the way. More insidious were the weeds with bristles and thorns. But lingering asphalt showed where the street had been, all the way to a house’s foundation. Google Streetview shows a house there as late as 2011.
I was surprised not more was left of the house. What happened? Was it demolished? Is this a parable for the transitory nature of human existence? Tracking my way back, I noticed a grove littered with monkeyballs. Those have been around since the mastodons. Now, the end of Hallam Street looked very much like civilization and I felt more friendly towards the house on the corner.
Now, I just had one more adventure in store. Angoria Way had a little branch off of Ferndale which I had earlier missed. I went up Blackadore to catch that end but initially missed the turn and ended up in Penn Hills. Realizing my mistake, I more carefully ran back. The reason I missed it was that it looked like a grassy driveway. I should’ve known by now.
Angoria just took me past dilapidated houses and the occasional car. With this, I made my way down Wheeler, through the heart of Homewood. Great way to spend a day, seven miles done.