Sep 13, 2008 Posted in Fun and Inspiration

A Tourist in Vancouver

Before I bolted out of Canada to Brazil, I lived in Vancouver for almost eight years. Now I’m back in the city and a Brazilian friend of mine is visiting so we’re doing all the touristy things. Man, this is one nice city.

The sun has been shining since she arrived and it has been about 25 degrees celsius. Not to hot to be uncomfortable but just right.

Speaking of uncomfortable we did the Grouse Grind yesterday. For anyone not aware of what this is here is the skinny. There are three local ski hills in Vancouver. One of them is called Grouse Mountain and for the longest time ambitious hikers have been climbing from the base to the chalet up top. It has become a very popular event.

The first time I did the Grind was about ten years ago. My buddy Patham and I did it in 54 minutes if memory serves. The record these days is about 33 minutes and they say that the average first-timer takes about an hour and a half. Yesterday, we took an hour and twenty minutes and I WAS DYING.

It really is a grind. I’ve been running and hitting the gym pretty consistently for the last few weeks and I shudder to think what would have happened if I did the grind straight of my stint in Brazil. Yikes! That is a scary thought.

Once you finally get to the top, it is pretty cool though. And it has changed a lot since the last time I was there. They now have a Birds in Motion and a lumberjack show that anyone can enjoy. They also have grizzly bears in an enclosure if you want to check that out.

My favorite part was sitting on the deck outside the chalet and having a beer in the sun. A great reward for a very tough hike.