Well, okay, maybe not every mountain, but I would like to climb this one.
When I first arrived in Vancouver and had a friend come visit me we attempted the Grouse Grind… we didn’t end up getting to the top.
Now, I’m not much of a hiker per se… I had a couple of major ankle injuries years ago, so rough terrain isn’t my favourite thing usually but for some reason I just really, really feel like I need to get to the top of Grouse Mountain under my own steam.
Things that I think will help make this possible:- go with someone who has done it before (neither my friend nor I knew what to expect and so we were scared off by the sign that said, “The trail gets significantly steeper and more difficult past this point”... but, how much steeper?)
- go with someone who doesn’t mind that I like to stop and take a look around on a fairly regular basis. I’m not interested in doing it as fast as possible. I’ll need to feel free to stop and breathe and have a sip of water and just enjoy from time to time.
- better cardiovascular health (admittedly, I was getting pretty winded there when I attempted it before)
So, I think continuing to build on my recent increase in walking (perhaps specifically up hills), and maybe starting to take the stairs in my building (I’m on the sixth floor) should help with the physical stuff. Then I just need to find a patient, mellow, experienced partner or two and I’ll be ready to give it another go.
