One-hundred and eighty-three. That’s how many wooden steps make up the perhaps ironically named Stairway to Heaven, the steep uphill and staired chunk of the Veteran’s Memorial Park Huckleberry Hill Loop in Monterey. Whether you’re walking it, running it, doing an interval workout on it, it’s the kind of place you go to if you really want to feel some pain… in a good way… we think. If you’re just out for a nature walk, it seems harmless. The keyword here being “seems.” But by the end of 183 steps, you would have gained at least 300 feet in elevation in a short amount of time, and by that point you’d think it would end in a nice plateau. But nope. The little bunny hill at the top will make you scream for your mother and a stretcher if you’re not quick to stretch it out at the top. If you’ve been there, done that and you’re running up the dang thing, turn it into a full hill workout starting at the base of Quarry Park, keeping right at the fork of the trail (that’s the one with the big hill), and keep running until you hit Veteran’s Park. You’ll have a brief respite from the rolling hills of the trail before you hit the stairway and well, we hope you don’t turn away from the challenge, but we don’t blame you if you do. Super-advanced ironman types can choose to continue over the bunny hilltop and do some loops – if you really want that Jell-O leg feeling tomorrow morning.
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