The Griswalds Family Vacation - The Grouse Grind

When Thomas, Laura and August showed up with all of their luggage our exhausted visitors deemed themselves the Griswalds! Wow. Babies need a lot of stuff! I haven't really had a chance to blog about all our adventures yet, however, last week we went up to Grouse Mountain. Laura, Jan and August went up the gondola and Thomas and I went up the Grouse Grind. I have to admit I wasn't really expected it to be all that hard. DUH....I'm not sure why as it's 2.9 km straight up a mountain! Anyhow about 30 seconds into the trail I was breathing heavily and that continued the whole hour and 10 min. The pictures were taken after a few minutes into the trail and do not adequately show the steepness of the trail. It got worse. A lot worse. I'm talking you had to use your hands at some point. We didn't stop for longer than a minute as I was sure I would never get going again. Thomas would have made it up faster but he kindly waited for me. The ridiculous part is that people do that trail in half an hour! I seriously don't understand how. I hate to admit it but I got passed by a man in his 60s. Yes. It is sad. That said, I was actually fine the next day and was able to move around quite freely despite the hike.

At the top Thomas and I joined Jan, Laura and August who were enjoying a loggers sports entertainment show. It sounds odd but it was quite cute. They were professional logger sportsmen who rolled logs and climbed poles with just the boot clamps and a rope. I think August really enjoyed himself. We also enjoyed watching the grizzly bears wrestle and swim while we enjoyed a well deserved beaver tail.