Park Stairway to Heaven

[David]

The Stairway to Heaven is in Chatan, Okinawa. It can easily be located as it's right outside Camp Foster's Firehouse Gate (Gate 3). It leads directly up 268 steps to the outer perimeter of Plaza Housing and is a grueling leg workout.

From the base, it doesn't look that tough. However, the steps are high, and it will give your legs a killer workout whether you walk it or run it. Depending on your activity level, you might need to do it more than once to get that burn in.

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But, bring water, especially if you bring your dog as there's nothing around! That is, except from maybe a vending machine or two down one of the side streets at the bottom.

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If you're traveling there in a SOFA sponsored vehicle (Y-plate), you must park on Camp Foster and make the rest of the trip to the Stairway to Heaven by foot.

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[Rob Oechsle]

Did you hear of the guy named John,
Who climbed up those stairs before dawn?
He did it at night
To stay out of sight
'Cause he had his pajamas on!

A Pin Drop prodded me to go climb that dastardly "Stairway to Heaven". I've been looking at that long flight of steps for years, but always said, "Meh... I'll do it later". Well, "later" was tonight, on the spur of the moment, as I was actually headed somewhere else. Good thing I had a flashlight with me! Cheers!

View from the very top, looking over Camp Foster and the distant lights of Okinawa's beautiful skyline. The closed gate is right behind me.

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Just my luck... another closed gate. "Nobody loves me, everybody hates me, I'm going to eat worms !" Oh, well, I'll just turn around and go ALL THE WAY BACK DOWN to my car.

One... THREE... FOUR ??? Gimme a break. This and other lapses in our graffiti artist's math abilities caused me to dispute his big old "261" sprayed on the bottom step. Not that my own count of 264 is right, either. I was trying to count, take pictures, and watch out for snakes all at the same time! ^_^

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Shining my flashlight on the bottom of the stairs. Somebody sprayed 261 on the bottom step... however, I beg to differ, and counted 264.

The next photo shows the long flight of steps illuminated almost to the top!

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100...99...98...97... (huff...puff)... 96...95...

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Ooooooo... MANHOLE COVERS !!! Hey, who doesn't love Okinawa manhole covers --- and the ones along these stairs are very rare. The foundry down in Nishihara only made relatively few of them have the English "SEWER".

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