The Grouse Grind
http://www.grousemountain.com/grousegrind
This the the Grouse Grind, a 2.9 km walk straight up a North Shore mountain consisting of 2,830 steps. It has the nickname of "Mother Nature's Stair Master" and will make the strongest of people sweat. Me and a friend decided it was time we took on the challenge, after all it's a kind of Vancouverite tradition. We started off with a regular paced walk, having a chat and a catch up, but by the half way point we weren't so chatty. Most people were stopping to have there photo taken with the half way sign, not us, we had to carry on, only because I said "If we stop now, I won't carry on!" in a joking manner, but I think there was some element of truth there! ;)
3/4 of the way was a lot further than we though. We saw a "3/4" painted on one of the trees and assumed that was the 3/4 point, with the end in sight (or so we thought) we continued on for another 15 minutes when we saw the official 3/4 sign...this was not fun anymore it was PAIN!
The last 1/4 of the walk would not of been possible if it wasn't for my friend, we encouraged each other to keep going by saving up a little bit of energy so we could speak. On the way we met a n older lady, about 75, who told us she was just "having a little rest" with not a bead of sweat on her head. She told us that she did the Grind every week to stay fit....WOW!
1:22 was the time we completed it in. Covered in sweat with just a small drop of water left in my bottle and very weak legs I turned to my friend and said "Fancy doing it again next week?"
