Everyday I have the treat of Grouse, Seymour and Cyprus Mountain views from my Gastown apartment.
My buddy Rich from the UK who’s just finished up his Banff ski season, (jealous) stayed over with us for a couple of nights before his flight home the other day. I thought for a great Canadian departing memory we could do the “Grouse Grind” – a 1.8m hike to the top of Grouse Mountain. First developed in 1981 by mountaineers looking for a challenging, convenient workout to sustain them for their longer hikes, often in prepartion for K2 and Everest, its now become a popular climb for tourists and locals alike to test their stamina and, as a reward, take in a sweeping view of metropolitan Vancouver. Annually, over 100,000 people hike the Grind, taking on average up to an hour and a half to complete, with the option to take the “SkyRide” ski gondola back down the mountain after enjoying a snack or drink from the summit’s cafe.
I assumed the hike would be a leisurely stroll to the top, followed by a beer and a pasty, but no… It was a vigorous hike, a never-ending, sweating, stair master!
The Climb
Length – 1.8 miles
Elevation Gain – 853 meters
Summit – 1,127 meters
After an eternal grind up the mountain, Rich, Katie and I stopped, polished off one of our water bottles, and rested exhausted near a tree posted with signs. “1/4″ and “The remainder of this hike is steep and dangerous, proceed at your own risk”. No waay, we said. We can’t only be a quarter of the way to the top!! Katie checked our time – and sure enough we’d only been climbing for ten minutes. Our dream of beating the record 24 minutes to the top died there and then. For the next hour and twenty minutes we struggled along, pulling each other up rocks, and around trees. Offering words of encouragement to fellow climbers around us. We slowly passed the 1/2 mark, then the 3/4 mark… and finally, legs wobbly and sweat-soaked we stumbled to the summit to take in the view everyone said would make the climb worth it…
And wouldn’t you know it, but a cloud had descended in the valley of Vancouver while we hiked. The mountain’s summit was clear, but the view of the city was obscured by a thick white fog.
Well, so much for Rich’s parting view of Canada. Still had a great time while he was with us, and look forward to cutting some minutes off the next time i dare to Grind.
The view (on a good day)
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
Yup, there’s definitely some kind of invisible, irresistible pull that that damn hill has on you once you’ve done it a couple of times. I actually went full-on last Summer completing it at least once a week for a total of 25+ trips up the slope over the course of the season.
There’s so many wonderful photographic opportunities on the trail too…
http://www.masey.com.au/2008/09/the-grind-elley-james-and-the-critters/
…Opportunities that constantly change depending on the weather, time of year etc.
Great post mate. ;)
Sounds a bit scary to me – you never said – did you get the cable car down??? Pity about the cloud cover but looks a great view anyway. Good luck with your next attempt! Mum X
you should be jogging up that hill old man, you’ll never get in that lovely 3 piece grey thing if you carry on like that and eating chips and gravy, hehe, amazing views though puts silksworth to shame!
ps- good blog very bill bryson, sure you could sell it to someone and make some moolaa, but your spelling is shocking, have you changed your mac to american dictionary??!
x
@Masey, some great pictures! I’ve bookmarked your blog :)
@Mum, Cable car down for $5, great views coming down. Going for sub one hour next.
@nat, I wont be fitting into that suit, I’ve got back to a fat man again, all of Kates great cooking! It’s an American mac, had it replaced my new one broke. My spelling has always been crap!