Well, I'd like to say I did it...but I can't. What's "it" you ask? Well, in conversations at work a colleague of mine said I should get out and just do the Grouse Grind, prepped or not, to give myself a benchmark. I considered, and mentioned it to my ex-roomie and friend M...she disagreed. She thought the BCMC trail which runs parallel to the Grind might be better for a first attempt at the summit.
SO, Sunday morning (yesterday), on a typically gray, drizzly, humid June day, I met her at the base of Grouse Mountain. Once we determined where the trail was (Grouse staff are not allowed, nor do they want to tell you where BCMC starts...even though you still get to the top and have to pay to download anyways...go figure) from a search & rescue employee, we set off. I packed a couple of pieces of fruit and my platypus water bladder with 2L of water in it. Nothing heavy, just enough to keep me hydrated hands free and provide a wee bit of energy if the need arose.
M's boyfriend D was smart enough to send his snow shoe/trekking poles, with the advice to M that it would probably be a good thing for me to use them. Boy did he know what he was talking about! The poles made ALL the difference, if I hadn't had them I doubt I would have made it as far as I did in the end.
So, there's 160 numbered markers on the BCMC trail...apparently (I discovered upon researching once I got home...) they're roughly every 20m of distance on the trail. It's a 3.2ish km hike, with about 850m elevation gain. Apparently #31 is 1/4 of the way up elevation wise, so making it to 35 we made it between 1/4 and 1/3...700m distance based on the markers, and from a topographical map I referenced, about 200m elevation gain. I crapped out at #35...we'd been toodling along, I'd been doing alright taking lots of breaks (this took us an hour and a bit to reach btw), but around the approach to #35 I started feeling queasy, and I just couldn't go on. As M reminded me, if we went further and I totally lost my strength or started having issues, there's no way for search & rescue to get in. I'd have to turn back.
So we turned back, and let me tell you, it was a hard climb down...almost as hard as going up, because of the stress on my knees and the worry about foot placement, etcetera. Again, the poles proved invaluable (remind me to get a set...they're expensive, but worth it!!). M has been rock climbing for a couple of years, so she's learned a lot about trusting her footing, I on the other hand have just gotten over a chest & sinus cold, and haven't been as active as I should be for a long time...I'm also quite overweight so it's pretty stressful on my body to do these things - but I'm still going to do them!! No better way to get fit and feel good than to indulge in outdoor activities.
SO...in the end we made the trip back down, and then took the gondola up to have lunch atop Grouse Mountain (since I'd invested in the $99+HST Annual Locals pass before the adventure started, thinking glibly we'd be making it up and downloading hahaha...d'oh!!). It was a nice lunch, but by the time we got to the car I was done. Sadly I decided to go to Richmond Ikea, which turned out to be a waste of time, and then got lost and went through the tunnel and ended up in South Delta instead of on Westminster Hwy headed back to New Westminster. Double d'oh. Argh. I'm directionally challenged sometimes...but oddly enough I can navigate Dublin, Galway, Belfast and Derry...even though 3 of those towns I've spent a grand total of about 72 hours in each one...but home? Pffft, who needs to know how to get from Richmond to New West...?? Sheesh!!
So, the moral of this tale? I'm going to do some less steep, but longer distance hikes for the next several weeks, then I'll work on elevation gain training. I forsee the stair climber at the gym in my future..as long as it stops making that horrible breaking clunking noise at me...
Right, my quads are KILLING me, and I have to get up for work again tomorrow...I survived Monday, but who knows how the rest of the week will treat me.
I also have a gluten free chocolate cake to give to my Fr. Mark when we meet tomorrow evening...I'm hoping flavour wins out over consistency...that darn oven makes baking so difficult!
Ok, that's enough, I'm really going to bed this time, HONEST! ;)
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