The Grouse Grind 2012

The Grouse Grind opened for the summer season this year earlier than last – on Saturday, May 19 and when Jason asked if I wanted to go today to kick off the season – I couldn’t say no!

Even though it was rainy we hiked to the top attempting to beat out own personal goals (mine being 50 minutes) – but missed it by 4.5 minutes :( I ended with and official time of 54:32 (<- time to beat!) and funny enough we both definitely thought we were going to make in in under 50. We thought wrong.

It was tough, but now gives us a new challenge for the summer :) Grouse Grind PR here we come!

Have you ever climbed the Grind? What’s your personal best time?

The Grouse Grind

I hiked the Grouse Grind today in 50 minutes flat!

What a beautiful, action packed, sunny Vancouver weekend! I really hope I’m not rubbing it in.. or jinxing myself.. but Vancouver has literally been sunny for the entire past month (thus my lack of updates…). I’ve been waking up every morning to the sun at 5:30, hitting the gym, working in an office overlooking the ocean and watching the sun set over English Bay from my neighbourhood at night.

Life is incredible. I am so lucky.

This morning I hiked Grouse Mountain (aka. The Grind to locals)!

Trail Facts (from their website):

Length: 2.9 kilometres (1.8 miles)
Elevation Gain: 853 metres (2,800 feet)
Base: 274 metres above sea level (900 feet)
Summit: 1,127 metres (3,700 feet)
Total Stairs: 2,830

Statistics: Annually, over 100,000 people hike the trail.
Average Time: On average it takes up to an hour and a half to complete the hike (<– I did it in 50 minutes!). For novice hikers, two hours is recommended.
Participants: Hikers range in age from 7 to 90, with an equal male/female split.

(Un)fortunately (I’d rather hike when it’s cloudy than the hot sun!) it was cloudy on the way up and too overcast to get the real view of Vancouver. I had no idea what to expect going into it the grind, I just thought it was a lot an insane number of stairs to the top. I was very wrong! It was literally climbing up a rocky steap hill side… it was tough and I loved it.

All in all, I really enjoyed the challenge and am very glad I kicked my butt and pushed hard to the top – I can’t wait to do it again and aim for under 50 minutes!

Oh, look how amazing this latte was from The Coffee Bar in Gastown tonight:

A-MA-AING!

This cafe is adorable, the staff is very friendly and the coffee is outstanding. I highly recommend insist you check out it next time you are wandering around Gastown! I’ve come to the conclusion that I need to learn the skill of latte making. I really want to learn how to be a barista… I think it’s fitting!

Any barista in Vancouver willing to teach an eager latte-art student? Let me know!