Aside from the elegant stairway to shopping heaven inside Barneys as well as the unexpected steps between Beverly and Canon Drives behind the Crate & Barrel and its peaceful patio, I do not know of any somewhat public stairways in Beverly Hills.

That’s why the Big Parade is especially exciting. First of all, this is the second annual Big Parade, a two-day walk through Los Angeles that will start in downtown, at the famous Angel’s Flight Stairway, and finish with six stairways leading up from Beachwood Canyon to the Hollywood Sign.

Stair Master Dan Koeppel has researched and choreographed the walk that covers approximately 35 miles and 101 stairways, and will include a camp-out at the mid-point, the Silver Lake Rec Center. It will take place June 12 and 13, 2010. Exploring these backways of Los Angeles is Dan’s obsession along with regulars who follow in his footsteps. It truly is breathtaking!

I did the morning of last year’s second day, and was sore the next day. Even with our NetWalkers Wednesday morning walks and spinning during the week as well as the practice hike with writer/walker Alissa Walker (the official Parade “Twitterer” @bigparadela ), I have not trained to peak fitness. But I am so looking forward to this escapade on stairs.

As BPLA says, this is a community walk. That means the walkers stay together as a group, and it means that YOU CAN DO IT! Why? Because they break the walk into segments so that walkers of all ages and levels of fitness can join the group at specific times (of course, anyone is welcome to meet up at any point along the way - and all are invited to join the group at the end to celebrate the walk.) http://www.bigparadela.com/ Follow their via Twitter and join in. Boho Echo Park is my former stomping grounds, and that’s where I might join in tomorrow afternoon. (Who knew I’d end up in Beverly Hills.)

There may be hidden stairways in the hills of Beverly, and half the fun would be to discover them, but if anyone knows of any, please fill us in. A real cardio work-out before a cool-down on Rodeo is a great way to get the blood pumping.