Our starting point, this stairway runs alongside the closed-for-repairs funicular railway that had its first incarnation in 1901 as an easy-does-it access route up Hill St. (not everyone wants to take the stairs.) It continued that way until the 1960s, when the city closed it, took it apart, promising to rebuild it quickly. It took thirty year; in 1996, the "world's shortest railway" reopened, only to close again in 2001 after a fatal accident. Repairs have been underway, but two promised return dates - 2006 and 2008 - have passed, though testing began on a new funicular mechanism earlier this year. We're taking the stairs, which are officially part of a state park (Saturday, Stairway 1)

The first part of our walk passes by many of the landmarks listed on the city's official walking route, which you can download here.

We've arranged a special tour of L.A.'s home cathedral that will take us behind the scenes at this architectural landmark. Stairways included! (Saturday, Stairway 4)

The upper garden at this musical landmark is actually a state park, bordered by two public stairways. Up one, down the other. (Saturday, Stairways 5/6)

The elevated sidewalks above Figueroa St. have been named after a person since 1997. But who was Calvin Hamilton? Does the terms CONCEPT: LOS ANGELES! mean anything to you? Saturday morning, stairways 8/9.)

An amazing oasis in the Temple-Beaudry neighborhood - and a redemption of one of the biggest controversies in the history of Los Angeles urban development. (Saturday morning, Stairway 12.)

A tiny, community garden run by ArtsCorpsLosAngeles (also known as Arts/Community/Land/Action) built on property owned by the L.A. Unified School District and left idle for years. Other stairs on our walk are graffitied. This one was painted by local kids (Saturday, Morning, stairway 14)

An author of children's books, including the Caldecott-medal winning "The Song of the Swallows," and "Pedro, The Angel of Olvera Street," Politi and his family lived in Angelino Heights. Both is work for children and his painting in general were known for their empathetic and authentic style, making him both an artist and a documentarian of the neighborhoods of Los Angeles. (Saturday, between Stairways 12/13)

Sometimes even for people living nearby, this neighborhood of Victorian homes, just north of the 101 Freeway, comes as a surprise. The Angelino Heights Trolley Line preservation group describes it as the city's "first suburb," with some of the buildings dating back to 1866. Saturday Morning. (Saturday Morning, Stairway 19.)

The Echo Park Historical Society has its own list and history, along with some videos and pictures. (Saturday Afternoon, Stairways 25-42)

When Red meant even more than Blue, and Echo Park was truly the center of radical Los Angeles. A hidden stairway gem. (Saturday, Stairway 32)

If the name alone doesn't interest you, then this might: one of the last and most beautiful undeveloped areas in Silverlake. Learn about it, and life before the freeway. (Saturday, Stairways 33-34)

Crushed by the 2 Freeway. (Saturday, Stairway 44)

Erik Knutzen and Kelly Coyne raise chickens, ride bikes, and live an off-the-grid, on-the-land lifestyle on what is probably the most sprawling on-the-grid, off-the-land patch of territory on earth. We visit their homestead on Saturday (Between Stairways 46/47
)

Eloise Klein Healy - a local poet whose works evoke the terrain, both past and present, of urban Los Angeles - will send us off Sunday morning with a mini-reading.

Our destination on Day One, start point on Day Two, and inspiration - where the stair routing began, five years ago. The Laurel & Hardy short that the stairs are named after won a 1932 Oscar for Best Short Subject. Sunday, Stair 1.

Terrible. Sunday.

Stairway madness; urban wilderness and archaeology; transit history, and - if you remember that the hillside at the corner of Fletcher and Riverside drive was once covered with broken television sets - a mystery solved. (Sunday, Stairways 18-24) Local historian and preservation activist Diane Edwardson joins to tell us the whole story.

The "lake" in Silverlake is over 100 years old, and though it is no longer stocked with black bass - perfect for urban anglers - it boasts a newly-constructed walking path, which we'll travel for a bit. Sunday, between stairways 27/28.)

Home to a scandalized silent film stair and his oil-heiress wife; then a convent; and now a hideaway for rock stars making big-budget recordings, this sprawling estate sits at Silverlake's highest point east of the reservoir. (Sunday, Stairways 32/33)

Just below Griffith Park, this neighborhood has fourteen public stairways packed into a loop of just about two miles. All in lovely shape, including the weird U-shaped Mayview Stairs. Sunday, stairways 34-43.

A charming gem, built in 1926, that climaxes our 14-stairway, two-mile Franklin Hills route, and a major point of neighborhood pride, restored after much lobbying and love in 1998. Sunday, following Stairway 43.

Four stairways, one with a mural, and, along with the Hollywoodland grouping, the only ones recognized by the city as an official Historic and Cultural Monument - numbers 657 and 535, respectively. (Sunday, Stairways 44-47)

This Mayan-themed concrete masterpiece is visible from our final stairway before we enter Griffith Park. The structure has been severely damaged by recent earthquakes and flooding, and is currently in need of a buyer who'll be able to prevent it from further decay, or even collapse. (Sunday, view from 59; short loop walkers will pass directly.)

Formerly a Spanish land grant ranch, an ostrich farm, and an airport, and now the largest urban park in America. There was a real Griffith, too, and we owe him plenty, even though he was a bit nutty. (Sunday, following Stairway 59)

As Lisa Anne Auerbach, one of our organizers - and a former editor of the Griffith Observer - tells us, it is Griffith Observatory. Not "The Griffith Observatory," or "The Griffith Park Observatory." She will reveal many more dark secrets on Sunday (in Griffith Park)

This wood ramble leads us out of Griffith Park and into Hollywood.

We've added a new neighborhood and three new stairways to the route. Stairways 48-50. Stunning architecture, and not as much climbing on the streets.

Five of the most beautiful stairways on our route as we climb to the finish. We'll stop to meet Hope Anderson, director of the documentary "Under the Hollywood Sign," to discover the neighborhood that surrounds them, and tell us the history of the stairs. (Sunday, Stairway 54)

Our last stop, and arguably the most famous one. Live webcams, and everything else you need to know. Watch us get there.

On Saturday, we'll have lunch as The Hawks serenade us. Sunday, our lunch break will be accompanied by Triple Chicken Foot, an old-time - and very modern - string band. We exit Griffith Park Sunday to the strains of Telematique, a duo that's "classical gone eclectic."