Secret Stairs #20: Sunset Junction Loop, 2 miles, 305 steps.

A quick early morning hike from the junction of Sunset Blvd. and Santa Monica Blvd. in Silver Lake. The first stairway, named Esther's Steps for the woman who climbed these 246 steps daily for 50 years, took us up to streets circling the historic Canfield-Moreno Estate. The photos below of the steps are mine, but I had to cheat with a Wiki photo of the C-M Estate, now known as the Paramour Mansion. We couldn't see a thing beyond the gates—the 22,000 sq.-ft. Spanish Revival Villa is surrounded by 20-ft concrete walls topped with an iron fence. It was built in 1923 by silent film star/director Anthony Moreno and his oil heiress wife Daisy Canfield Danziger, and is now leased or loaned to musicians (Elton, Sting, MCR, Stefani, Beck+,) filmmakers (Scream 3,) music vids, reality shows, parties, etc.—you've probably seen it and didn't know it. But oh, what a view at the top! A full 360 of the city from the mountains to downtown to the ocean. How could you NOT build an estate up there? Along the way, the friendliest dogs in Silver Lake, and a house with a full teepee in the backyard. We ended with this cheery staircase through the Manzanita Street Community Garden to Sunset. Loved it.