Itinerary

Where I Went

Places



Grouse Grind


This post was published on Tuesday 20 August 2013.

Disaster.. the swimming pool and hot tubs are closed!!  I just went down to the Health Club for a nice end-of-day swim, and it is all closed until tomorrow.  Sad face.  So I am writing my blog post instead, and then I shall console myself with a local beer and dinner at a nice restaurant.. my last dinner of the trip.  Second sad face.

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Bible, pizza and beer:
what more could a man want?
Perhaps a person on the chair next to me,
instead of my rucksack?!

So last night my plans didn’t quite work out.. somewhere inbetween clicking on the Google search result for the cinema outside the hotel, and buying the ticket, the cinema switched to one of the same chain, in Toronto.  That’s in Ontario, approximately 3,000 miles away.  It probably won’t surprise you to find out, I didn’t make it.  And online reservations are non-refundable.

On the plus side, my pizza was delicious, and I consoled myself with a double espresso, and pudding (I haven’t been eating pudding when I’ve been eating out).  I then headed back to my hotel room, and watched the movie Kick-Ass on Netflix while slowly falling asleep.

And so the morning hazed into view, complete with a dodgy breakfast muffin, and a large coffee, followed by a walk back down to the waterfront, to catch the free shuttle to Capilano.

I have to say, the promotional photographer for Capilano is excellent.  I compared the photos that tempted me to go, with what I actually saw, and frankly I’m not convinced he or she wasn’t using a crane to get into impossible positions.  And as for the snow-capped mountains clearly visible in one of the main pictures in the brochure.. Let’s give him the benefit of the doubt and say he was shooting 200 years ago, before the trees that now obscure those same mountains, had grown so tall.

That said, it was quite fun walking around (it took about an hour, and cost $37).  The suspension bridge is huge, and writhes and wriggles tremendously as you and a hundred other people walk across it.  What amused me the most was the number of people attempting to take photographs while on the bridge that was swaying back and forth, and then looking confused and frustrated at the blurry result.  Movement of the camera doth not a good photo make.

After this, it was still late morning, so I jumped on a bus and headed up to Grouse Mountain.  I wasn’t going to go, as it is pretty expensive; but it turns out this is only if you want to take the cable car up to the top.  If you are willing to walk, it’s free to get up and much cheaper to get down.

At the top of the walk, they have t-shirts dedicated to the trail.  I bought one: yes, I went there, and I literally got the t-shirt.  The trail is called the Grouse Grind, and here is the warning sign before you begin:

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The warning sign of all warning signs

I did actually buy extra water, which it turned out I didn’t actually need, but better safe than sorry.  Here is the Grouse Grind in numbers:

Length: 1.8 miles
Base: 900 feet
Summit: 3700 feet
Elevation gain: 2800 feet (yes, that equals an average gradient of 30%)
Stairs: 2830
Average time: 2 hours
Record times: 25:01 (male), 31:04 (female)
Ben’s time: 1 hour 25 minutes

Oh my goodness was it hard.  The trail up to Poo Poo Point was tough going, but that only gained 1600 feet, and over a distance 50% longer than the Grouse Grind.  People were crying, dogs were wailing.. perhaps that’s an exaggeration, but it was seriously hard.  At the top, one of the rangers helpfully told me that the climbing record is eighteen times in one day, and last week two people did it sixteen times.  I smiled politely and passed out in front of him.

Perhaps that’s an exaggeration too, but I did enjoy my cold beer and slice of pizza at the top, sitting watching all the pretenders climbing out of the cable car all refreshed and happy.

Fortunately in that third photo the camera hides the rivers of sweat pouring off my face and dripping onto my boots.  I did wonder if I would be asked to leave the restaurant, but thankfully I have powerful deodorant.

TMI?!

At the top, the views of Vancouver were of course spectacular: Grouse Mountain is the highest peak around.  You can see almost the entire city from up there, and the enormous cargo ships queueing up to use the docks.

I had my first encounter with a grizzly bear, unfortunately in a cage, so it doesn’t really count.  He seemed quite content though, with crowds of people snapping happily away.  I wasn’t expecting quite so much at the top of the mountain; there were zip lines, chair lifts, the grizzly enclosure, birds of prey displays, a lumberjack show, helicopter rides, several cafes / kiosks selling food, at least three gift shops.. it was quite the small town up there!

Now, the lumberjack show was lots of fun.  They did axe-throwing (you can see the result of one such throw below), lots of sawing with hand-saws and chainsaws, log running, and an incredible 60 foot climb up two poles (it was a race), in the traditional manner.  I couldn’t believe how fast they were up and back down again!

By this stage I was cooled down and ready to take the cable car down.  There is no other way down; the Grouse Grind is one-way traffic only.  It was quite fun, especially all the screams when we got to the first tower and suddenly accelerated, downwards.  It took about five minutes, which was a little depressing given how long it took to get up, but from the pictures you can see how steep it is.

Thankfully it didn’t stop, which happened once to us in France.  I did not like that at all, suspended 100 feet above trees, swaying in the breeze.

And so.. we are not quite at the end of the trip.  My plane home tomorrow does not leave until 6pm (or thereabouts, if I miss it.. I’ll just have to stay..) so my plan is to get the train to the airport, check in my bags, and then head back into Vancouver to visit a couple more places (like the steam-powered clock).

So there you have it.. if I don’t have any wifi access in Vancouver airport then this will be my last blog post from North America.  It has been quite a journey, and I would not complain at all if I had to do it all over again, starting tomorrow!