2024 LA Loop Segment O - Watts to Naples in Long Beach - 20.6 mi - 30 stairs

Video Highlights:
0:10 Watts Station
0:32 Watts Ped Bridge over the A-Line - 47 up / 48 down steps
0:46 Simon Rodia State Historic Park & Watts Towers
1:25 - 16:23 Following former PE Long Beach Red Car Line (now Metro A-Line)
2:22 Welcome Home mural by Skye Amber Sweet (a fitting end to the LA Loop)
2:38 Rosa Parks Metro Station
5:02 Rosecrans Ped Bridge over the A-Line - 49 up / 48 down steps
5:44 Wilson Park - Restrooms/Water (not always open on weekends)
6:30 Compton City Hall w/Obama mural, stairways and the MLK memorial
7:18 5 miles ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
7:39 Caldwell Ped Bridge over the A-Line - 51 up/down steps
9:00 Crystal Casino Stairway - 32 steps
9:42 - 11:42 Compton Creek Shared Use Pathway traverse (1.7 miles)
12:18 - 13:50 Dominguez Gap Wetlands traverse
12:52 Flood Control Station Stairway - 16 steps
13:16 10 miles ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
14:13 Del Mar Side-Stair - 6 steps (at Los Cerritos Park in Long Beach)
15:41 32nd St Stair-Street - 20 steps
16:33 Willow Station Parking Structure - 74 up/down steps (largest on this walk)
16:58 Begin Lunch Zone (for 20.6 mile version) at Wrigley Marketplace
17:26 End Lunch Zone - Bus benches on Willow St
17:31 - 28:15 Following former PE Newport/Balboa Red Car Line (LB diagonal)
18:29 NAACP Freedom Park and Shared Use Pathway
18:51 Jenni Rivera Memorial Park (great murals) w/Shared Use Pathway
19:52 - 20:28 Signal Hill City Hall complex, park, and stairways
20:45 15 miles --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
20:52 - 23:12 Signal Hill Crest stairway circuit of 6 stairways
21:28 Discovery Well Park - Restrooms/Water (makes for a good rest stop)
22:27 Disc Well Pk/Panorama Dr stairway - 73 steps (2nd largest on this walk)
22:35 Walter Pyramid at CSULB 23:56 Orizaba Park - Replica Red Car art & "tracks" + Red Car sound effects
25:10 Zaferia Community Garden (locked) follows former Red Car Line
25:26 - 26:45 Long Beach Greenbelt segments (3 former rail sections converted into parks)
26:48 - 27:05 Colorado Lagoon
26:15 Marine Stadium - Built for 1932 Olympic rowing events - multiple RRs/Water
27:50 20 miles --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
28:44 Naples Fountain - Congratulations! You have completed the LA Loop!
28:58 Photos of all 31 Official Los Angeles Loop Finishers
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Welcome to the 2024 Los Angeles Loop. This Segment O stair-walk is the fifteenth and final 20+ mile segment of the full 305 mile, 15 segment, Los Angeles Loop stair-walk that traverses over 808 stairways, with 31,663 stairway up steps, and climbs just over 33,000 feet in total elevation gain. The Loop circumnavigates Los Angeles County, starting and finishing on Naples Island in southeastern Long Beach. .This final segment, is as much a Red Car route as it is a stair-walk. The route follows two historic Pacific Electric Red Car lines, the former Long Beach Line (now the Metro A-Line) and the former Newport/Balboa Line (now a greenbelt in Long Beach). The 1st half of the route follows the Metro A-Line, visiting 15 stairways in 12 miles on the way to the Willow Street Station for the lunch break. After lunch the last 8 miles of the route diagonals through Long Beach, visiting parks like Orizaba with Red Car history, and stairways in Signal Hill, as well as a 3 Greenbelt linear parks built along the former Newport/Balboa Red Car line. The sky was amazing on the day I shot the video for the second half; check it out! Near the end, the route follows Marine Stadium, built for the 1932 Los Angeles Olympics rowing events, and ends back where we started on Segment A at the Naples Fountain!
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This video was shot in May (Part 2) and June (Part 1) of 2022, with a few 2024 updates, with a GoPro Hero 9 Black video camera, at 10X hyperlapse, meaning that the action is sped-up by a factor of 10, so this 29+ minute video captures just under 5 hours of walking. In the video, I used titles to identify each stairway, streets/parks, and many other interesting features, including spectacular mural artworks. I’ve also set the action to the duty free electronic music by various artists. I created this video so you can see what the route looks like, and with the map below, you are welcome to try it yourself, or with friends.
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Detailed Google map of this Segment O route, suitable for solo and group walk use:
www.google.com...
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Link to the Segment O page on the SoCal Stair Climbers website:
socalstairclim...
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Link to the LA Loop homepage on the SoCal Stair Climbers website:
socalstairclim...
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Link to the LA Loop Finishers page from the end of the video:
socalstairclim...