Yesterday (Sunday) was a busy day. I had made plans with Michelle, someone I used to work with, to check out the Grouse Grind. She had done it before and was looking for someone (some sucker?) to share in the abuse.

If you don’t know what the Grouse Grind is, it is sometimes called Mother Nature’s stairmaster. It’s a STEEP climb up the side of Grouse Mountain. Stairs have been cut into the mountain, and some sections are so steep that you need to use your hands to pull yourself up. It’s roughly 2850 steps straight up Grouse Mountain.

Sunday was not the best weather, and the further up the mountain we moved, the more the weather became overcast, drizzly, and flat out raining. It is very challenging. I’m not great on stairs, even though I do quite a bit of running. I was pleased to make it in at 1 hour 35 minutes.

Michelle did much better – making it in just over an hour. A really terrific time for her. She had set a goal of 1:35 for herself – so I was happy to make her goal! Way to go Michelle.

It was too bad the weather was so overcast that the views were totally obscured from the summit. So we had a beer and took the gondola back down. The larger pic here was taken on the journey down.