07:00am - 125m Elevation
We woke, showered, breakfasted, dressed, and left the house.
08:00am - 163m Elevation
Tim Hortons, the ultimate caffeinated sugary injection to get our heart rates up and get us pumped for what was to come. We waited for the Grouse Mountain bus as the day began to warm. This morning's challenge: The Grouse Grind. We had heard it was difficult, so we were slightly nervous.
08:50am - 286m Elevation
We arrived at the bottom of the Grouse Mountain, the first gondola for the morning was about to depart.We made a quick pee stop and limbered up. Top tip for The Grind: download the app, that way you can hit 'start' in the designated area at he bottom and time your progress, then when you get to the top your name and time will appear on the board. That way you have the incentive of digging it in.
09:00am - 288m Elevation
We hit 'start' and we were off. The first section of The Grouse Grind lulls you into a false sense of security. It is not hard going. When you get to the 1/4 mark you feel great, it's been uphill the whole way, but nothing overtly difficult.
However, after the quarter maker things take a turn and the track become slightly more vertical!
The slog sets in, and you keep powering on. By this stage there are nutters wearing nothing but lycra running up: "On your left"
As the track becomes steeper more and more rocks and logs are used as basic steps. This gets the old quads going.
Laura and I are making progress, and feeling good. We've definitely broken out in a sweat, but I wouldn't say we were puffed. I don't even thing we were heavy breathing, especially compared to some of the people we passed; I though they were going to die!
The half way mark puts a smile on your face, until you look up. More slog, more steps, more quad burn. And its the last section that's a real killer. It seems that The Grind could be broken into thirds - the first 1/3 was hilly but easy, the second 1/3 was steep and tough, the final 1/3 was just steps, and steps, and steps. That would be why the track in known as Nature's StairMaster.
We made it to the top in 1hr 13mins, which was not a bad effort at all from the sounds of things. Now I'm itching to go back and see how I can do solo!
10:13am - 1,093m Elevation
The top of Grouse Mountain was in the clouds, which made the rewarding view non existent. That didn't matter too much as there is heaps to do at the top. So we took a breather then headed to find the Bears.
Grouse Mountain has two resident rescue grizzlies Grinder and Coola, who were rescued when they were both cubs in 2001. They aren't tame, but they are used to human presence so you can gawk at them from up close. Grinder, fun fact, was the 'reference bear' for the the CGI Artists on The Revenant (a great film to watch before camping in Canada, Richard...!). They are also the research bears that have provided us with our greatest insights into the lives of this magestic species.
11:00am - 1,106m Elevation
The Lumberjack Show is definitely worth seeing. It plays out three or four times a day and has the feel of any 'cultural show'. The production value was awesome however, and it really showed how insane you must have been to have chosen Lumberjack as your trade back in the day. Two blokes 'competed' to see who was the better woodsman. It was pretty much like any A&P Show; axe throwing, saw chopping, chainsaw art, and lots of flannel. The most impressive feat was when the two donned spiked shoes and raced to the top of a 20m high pole to demonstrate what the most nut-job Lumberjacks would have been doing. Those were the ones who got the real cred' in the pub back in the Big Smoke.
13:00pm - 1,100m Elevation
After looking through the (actually quite good) souvenir shops, grabbing a coffee, and looking out at the not-view, we decided it was time to catch the gondola back down. This only costs $10pp if you climbed up, and is 'mandatory', although there technically is another walking track back down, I think you have to know about that one.
13:45pm - 163m Elevation
Back down, we wandered to the nearby Capilano Lake for a picnic lunch. It's a really nice spot, the edge of the lake was dotted with tables and benches, lots of high trees swaying gently, and the view over the sparkling water was insane. Being Canada there are no doubt countless miles of walking track, but by this stage it was beer-in-the-sun-o'clock. Besides, we needed to chill, we had a beer pong party to get to that evening...
Labels: Canada 2017
