Roger and Lynn Smith are streetwalkers extraordinaire.

The Genesee Hill couple, who are in their early 70s, recently finished walking every block of every street in West Seattle. It took the Smiths about four years to hike all of the roads from Duwamish Head to the southern city limits and from Puget Sound to the Duwamish River, including South Park.

For the record, there are 286 miles of city streets in West Seattle, with another 24 miles in South Park, according to Gregg Hirakawa, spokesman for the Seattle Department of Transportation.

The goal of traipsing down every West Seattle street was Roger's idea. He's the hiker of the family and a native West Seattleite. Unlike many other men who are cured of hiking while in the Army, Roger took it up as a lifelong hobby.

Lynn (her real name is Carolyn) grew up in Illinois and never got into hiking. But one evening four years ago, she and Roger enjoyed a walk they took from their home to Alki, where they ate dinner and strolled home afterward.

A few days later, they walked to the Junction and ate at the Husky Delicatessen before hoofing it home happily.

"I thought, let's walk every street in West Seattle," Roger said, as if by deduction.

Using a Thomas Bros. map, the Smiths began marking off each walk with a red pencil. At first, they walked about a mile and a half per session. Toward the end of the project, Lynn was feeling pains in her knee so they cut back to just three or four blocks.

"We went year-round," Lynn said, "as long as it wasn't pouring rain."

Roger figures they walked about half the streets twice because they frequently had to double back to where their car was parked or to get out of dead-end streets.

The Smiths particularly enjoyed walking the streets of North Admiral.

"I liked it more than the beach," Lynn said. "You can see so much of the city and there are those little, windy streets."

She also was enchanted by the neighborhood on Boeing Hill, where Sixth and Seventh avenues southwest meet Othello and Austin streets, off Highland Park Way.

Roger found the area north of Admiral Way and east of Fairmount Ravine to his liking. He also smiled through the wooded roads around the ravine as well as strolls through Arbor Heights, Fauntleroy and the area around Lincoln Park.

There were some difficult stretches too.

"Olsen Place," Lynn said somewhat wistfully. "That's a big hill."

She wasn't wild about walking along some of the industrial roads near the Duwamish River either. Some have no sidewalks with lots of 18-wheel trucks whizzing by.

"It was kind of scary," Lynn said.

They walked all of the old roads in High Point. Then they went back and walked the new roads of the redeveloped High Point, Lynn said. Except a one-block cul-de-sac that wasn't quite ready for pedestrians when they rewalked the neighborhood. Lynn expects she and Roger will go back sometime soon to pound out that last section of pavement.

The late-afternoon walks proved there's a lot of other construction going on in West Seattle besides High Point.

"I bet a third of the houses (in West Seattle) are new," Roger said. "There's a lot of remodeling going on."

Roger grew up on Gatewood Hill. He attended Gatewood Elementary, Madison Middle School and West Seattle High School. He became a draftsman, got a job at Boeing and was drafted into the Army in 1957.

He was stationed at Fort Hood, Texas when Elvis Presley was going through basic training there. One Saturday, he and a friend went to the other side of the base to catch a glimpse of the original rock star. They spotted Elvis climbing into a black, chauffeur-driven Cadillac as he departed the fort on leave.

After the Army, Roger returned to Boeing, where he stayed for 22 years. Then he shifted into a new business providing oxygen and other gases to hospitals and welding shops alike.

He's spent the past 14 years as custodian of Grace Baptist Church in North Shorewood.

Besides being a hiker, Roger is also a train buff. He combined his interest in hiking and railroads to walk every mile of abandoned railroad track in Western Washington. He did it using the same section-by-section method that he and Lynn used to conquer West Seattle.

Two Saturdays a month, Roger takes an eight-mile hike with a friend who's been his hiking companion for 44 years.

"I've walked from Canada to Oregon and back," Roger said. "I've walked from Everett almost to Wenatchee."

Lynn taught at Schmitz Park Elementary School. She also taught at Lafayette and the now-closed E. C. Hughes elementary schools, and was a substitute teacher for many years.

Roger and Lynn agree their walks created good opportunities to talk with each other.

"Yeah, I think it brought us a little closer together," Roger said. "I was amazed she agreed to do it."

Since Lynn was willing to go along with her husband's love of walking, Roger is considering next doing something Lynn enjoys. That means he might soon be strapping on a helmet and pads for his wife's newest interest, rollerblading.

"He (Roger) said we could walk every alley in West Seattle," Lynn chuckled. "I said, 'Not on your life.'"

Tim St. Clair can be contacted at 932-0300 or tstclair@robinsonnews.com