Grouse Grind is a trail the runs right up Grouse Mountain - it is about 3 km long and the ascent is around 800 metres vertical. We had heard lots of fun stories about the trail and about the Vancouver outdoors enthusiasts who are there every week working on improving their time. The official record is around 26 mins!!!
On our weekend adventure, we woke up at 6 am, left home by 7, took 3 buses, and arrived at Grouse before 9 am. We had each brought a warm shirt since Vancouver mornings can be chilly, that day was around 14 degrees. We were well-prepared: hiking shoes, energy bars, Gatorade, and water. When we started up the mountain, there were several other hikers, but it wasn't overcrowded.
About 1 minute into the hike, Rob was huffing and puffing...but so were most of the people
around us. Guess all that exercise has done me a little bit of good, after all!! Since this was our first try, we just kept our slow, measured pace going and tried to remember to breathe.We had read some "tips and tricks" about the Grind before going. The first 1/4 was supposed to be the flattest and longest (since quarters are measured in vertical distance), but every quarter is marked so you know how much progress you've made. And the last quarter is supposed to be the steepest.
So after taking about 3 or 4 short water/re-fuelling breaks, we figured we HAD to be close to the 1/4 mark.
We knew it was long, but this was taking far longer than we expected. So when we saw the 1/2 way mark we were relieved. We weren't doing so badly after all! We took a nice long break there (also a tip from our online reading). We took the time for a photo op, enjoyed the tall, straight trees all around us, ate some snacks and caught our breath.From there on, I think we only stopped once or twice. We both got into a bit of a groove and you just focus on the next step and stop worrying about the distance you still have to go. Getting to the top was pretty exciting - the trees finally clear out and you can see that you're in the clouds and looking out over the whole city. Amazing view! Our time was 94 minutes, just over the 90 minutes our online reading had told us to expect on our first climb. So we were pretty satisfied. Still room for improvement next time, though!!
There is a beautiful lodge at the top where we sat and ate some snacks, drank water, took in the view, and got ready for the trip home. Since you're not supposed to walk down the trail, we paid the $10 for the both of us to enjoy the gondola ride down. I'm sure it would have been another great view/experience if we weren't right in the middle of the gondola with about 40 people surrounding us, 
with the clear smell of sweat from all those who had braved the hike up.Then another 3 buses home (including the Sea Bus!), and we were both pretty beat. We just got some things done around the house before finding the energy to play frisbee on our beach (read: Kitsilano Beach) for the first time. All in all, a great, active day, enjoying the outdoors around our new home.
-Sara
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