Lone Mountain Steps

I never enjoyed these steps as an undergrad…

They kicked my butt twice a week, every week (minus school-​time vacations) for more than two years.
There’s a bench at the top with a memorial to the six Jesuit priests, their housekeeper, and her daughter, who were murdered by a US-​trained (and –backed) death squad of the Salvadoran army in 1989. Or the memorial might just be to Ignacio Ellacuría, who studied at USF. In any case, if I ever got fed up with school or the walk or the weather or my relative middle-​class poverty, I would often sit at that bench, look at the tiles, and think about those Jesuits and those who served them. Celina Ramos was fifteen-​years-​old. What kind of monster murders a fifteen-​year-​old girl? You’d be surprised at how many monsters there are in the world, seemingly normal people who lose their humanity because they believe in a cause, a country, an idea, a duty.
I’m not superstitious, but I love random patterns, so I almost always ascend on the right side (facing Lone Mountain) and descend on the left side. Sometimes, especially if there was a mini-​traffic jam, especially walking with Lori, I would descend on the right, but I don’t think I ever ascended on the left. That’s not dedication, my friends; it’s pure neurosis. And I think I’ll always do that.
I could talk about windblown curtains and fog and rolling strange pinecones, but I’ll save that for a future review. Maybe I won’t mention those things ever again. If you want to understand anything I’m talking about, you need to find these steps and climb them. Muni makes is nice and easy for you: There’s a Chabot stop on the 31-​Balboa.

I love these stairs!

The only thing worse than wearing a suit is wearing a suit in the rain.
That’s what I told myself on day 2 of my trial practice summer class, when it was pouring rain on my freshly-​laundered wool-​blend suit. Whatever divine being is out there must really like to make me eat my words, which is why he/​she/​it both allowed the scheduling of said class on a weekend, and also invited the clouds to pour down over San Francisco on that weekend!
Let me explain– so the class being held on a weekend meant that my regular building, 2 blocks from my house, was locked up. 35 rising trial attorneys thus had to march up to Lone Mountain for lectures and classroom space. In suits. In the rain. UP THE LONE MOUNTAIN STEPS.
I guess to sum up, the only thing worse than wearing a suit in the rain is wearing a suit in the rain on a weekend while you’re going to class at Lone Mountain.
The steps are pretty cool though.

I’m a double alum (Biology undergrad ’05, Counseling Psychology/​MFT masters ’10) AND I work here, so I am very familiar with the Lone Mountain stairs.
How many steps? Depending on who you ask, anywhere from 93 to 103!
If you ask me, there are at LEAST a million (that’s what it feels like anyway)!
Stop along the way and peek at the Al Alessandri fountain — he was a great guy so say hi as you walk past!
Freshman tip: when you schedule your classes, make sure you don’t have alternating classes on lower campus and Lone Mountain — take it from me, it SUCKS!

The stairmaster doesn’t give you the view Lone Mountain does, but the stairmaster isn’t going to give you the look of death if you are five minutes late to class.
Bonus: If you have a class up here during your first year, your freshman 15 will be someone else’s problem.

My dorm room location? On top of the hill.
My classroom/​cafeteria location (s) The bottom of the hill.
Another Unilocaler wrote that there are 106 steps to reach the top. I walked up and down these steps several times a day and never once did I count them. I just didn’t wanna know.
After one semester I moved into an apartment in the Haight. A basement apartment.

i have a love-​hate relationship with these stairs. they leave me tired, sweaty and often late to class. yet the view from the top is one of the most beautiful views of the city… and they keep me in shape!

I decided to start walking these instead of going to the gym. Ten times up and ten times down has left me with burnin’ quads, hamstrings, and calves. Bless you Lone Mountain steps, bless you.

How many steps up to Lone Mountain?
Another Unilocaler claims 106, but honestly, I have no fucking clue. All I know is, especially when you’ve got 2 minutes to make it from main campus to your Lone Mountain class, THESE STAIRS ARE EVIL!!!
My last semester, I was elated to have just 2 classes left, and even more elated that NEITHER of them had room assignments in LM (my sociology professors every other semester just loved that building).
Then after 3 weeks or so, my Asian American Psych. professor decided to move our class up there, due to our classroom in the Education Building lacking the proper infrastructure for us to watch films like «Eat a Bowl of Tea» and «The Wedding Banquet.»
EVIL!!!
I did have to give it 2 stars though… from main campus, Turk Street, and even the top of the stairs (*huff puff* sorry… *huff puff* just catching… *huff* my breath), I’ll admit it is pretty beautiful.
However, I’d cheat and take the side driveway to get up there ANY DAY.