Grouse Grind the 2026 Edition

The start of the Grouse Grind

The Grouse Grind is considered a very Vancouver thing to do, and with relatives visiting, we did the trek this morning in overcast conditions which was perfect temperature-wise.

As we drove up Capilano Road, we saw people running with race bibs up towards Grouse Mountain and supporters ringing cow bells. The racers went to the BCMC Trail, while the rest of us went on the Grouse Grind. I can't imagine running uphill and then racing up the mountain too!

It really is "Mother Nature's Stairmaster"

We started just after 9:40am and there were already several people lingering at the start waiting for others, or commencing the hike. 

It's a 2.5km hike up the face of Grouse Mountain, and the Grind is nicknamed "Mother Nature's Stairmaster". And you'll realise it soon enough.

The path is practically a natural staircase that winds around, over giant tree roots, rocks and some wooden staircases, thanks to Don McPherson and Phil Severy, who built the path in the early 1980s.

It's now maintained by outside workers of Metro Vancouver, though they are currently on strike, demanding improved health and safety protection, and retention of workers.

The first section of the grind is tough -- it's a shock to your system having to climb up so many stairs in a relatively narrow path and keeping steady breathing is the key, as well as hydrating and taking breaks.

Lots of heavy breathing from everyone hiking

The hike is divided into 40 sections, and periodically there will be posts marking how far you've gone.

For example at around the 10/40 sign indicates you've completed one-quarter of the hike. And there's a sign celebrating your achievement, but with a warning.

"Congratulations! You've made it to the 1/4 mark," it reads.

"That was the easy section. Now comes the hard part. The trail gets steeper and narrower from here.

"So, do an honest check in: feeling tired already? Used up all your water? Light-headed or dizzy?

"This is the best place to turn around. Beyond this point, downhill travel is not allowed."

Beautiful views along the way

Before we reached this point, we saw several people making their way down. They were obviously frightened by the sign and gave up. It's a decent enough warning as it's good to have a lot of water and snacks to stay hydrated and have enough energy to make it up to the top.

I just tried to keep going, even if it was slow, and take breaks to catch my breath and drink some water. Many people passed me along the way, some were seasoned hikers, going up with a small bottle of water, or even none at all! One man who passed us was already on his second trip up the Grind!

There are "Grinders" who do this hike once a week or more, and like to boast their times. The record is 25 minutes! Most people finish in about an hour and a half to two hours.

Last stretch is a scramble up rocks

At around the one hour mark, I overheard one young man tell his friend that he forgot to pay for parking! I tried to help him by opening my parking app to get the code number of the parking lot, but I hardly had an internet connection.

Eventually I passed the 1/2 way mark, and then it was such a relief to see the 3/4 mark to know the end was near. We could hear the hum of the electricity of the gondolas nearby going up and down, and in the distance the clearing in the trees. 

But it would be a ways before finishing, as the path veered to the right, and then finally swung back to the left. I had to use the hand railings made from tree branches, or wooden posts to help me up.

The last part was literally a scramble up some rocks before finally making it to the top of the mountain. What an ordeal but also what a workout! Completed at around 1:39.

We had a quick snack, drinks and washroom break before getting a lift ticket to go down. And it's quite the sight looking down and realising how far you've hiked up.

Gondolas taking passengers down the mountain

It took us around 38 minutes to drive to Grouse, but double that to get home thanks to single-lane traffic on the Lions Gate Bridge and traffic jams downtown.

When we got home, we took a shower and then had to lie horizontal for a while...

Cruising to Alaska with Waves

Dramatic sunset from the bow with clouds gathering above

Yesterday we embarked on a cruise to Alaska and it's been quite the trip so far. We had a glorious departure, sailing out of Burrard Inlet, passing under Lions Gate Bridge and into the Pacific Ocean with blue skies.

Towards evening despite gathering clouds I caught a fantastic sunset at the bow of the Ruby Princess as I got my 10,000 steps in. It was quite windy, but lovely to be out in the open sea.

Seeing Vancouver from the ship before departure

Or I might have spoken too soon. Later in the evening I could feel the rolling waves and went to bed hoping the next day would be fine.

The choppy waves continued pretty much all day and I had to lie down most of the time to keep my dizziness at bay! As a result I didn't have much of an appetite. 

Heard later from my relatives who are traveling with us that at breakfast the waves were so rough early in the morning that people dropped food from their plates, causing quite the mess for staff to clean up. I later saw many people holding white paper sickness bags in case they didn't feel well...!!!

Then around 5.30pm the captain made an announcement that a passenger had a medical emergency and needed surgery -- a helicopter would be arriving in about 1.5 hours to evacuate the person and that no one should go outside at that time. I've been on a few cruises before but have never heard of an instance where a helicopter actually flew to a ship to pick up a patient.

About half an hour later the ship began to slow down and then as if by magic my dizziness dissipated and it was a relief!

About to pass under Lions Gate Bridge

By 7.30pm the captain made another announcement the helicopter was coming soon and requested all hands on deck in terms of the staff to make sure no one was outside, and people in their rooms were advised to keep their balcony doors closed too.

We were told later that the evacuation was successful and the ship began gathering speed again, but this did not cause me to be dizzy again.

It was still bright out at 9pm and caught the last of the sunset. Hopefully the rest of the way to our first port of call, Juneau will be uneventful!

Incredible Gingerbread Art

Heritage Hall captured in gingerbread form

Yesterday we saw some impressive-looking structures made out of gingerbread for the annual Gingerbread Lane, now in its 31st year. The entrants range from amateurs to professional cooks and the results were really creative and fun.

Some featured Vancouver landmarks, like Science World, Lions Gate Bridge and the Hyatt Regency hotel where the gingerbread submissions are displayed. Another which one a prize, was of Heritage Hall on Main and 15th Avenue. Its stucco exterior was decorated with peanuts, and the roof with almonds, and even had trees in the background lit up with lights.

Snow-covered Grand Budapest Hotel

Another had a candy cane fantasyland theme, featuring lots of icing and candy canes. It was shaped like a three-tier cake with a gingerbread house at the top, complete with a swirled candy tower and even had a narwhal poking out of the icing or shall I say icy sea?

But most impressive was the culinary students at the Pacific Institute of Culinary Arts, who built a seven-storey chateau that looked like the one from the movie, Grand Budapest Hotel. It had a walkway sprinkled with icing sugar for frost, and even a blue pond, and the building itself had lots of icicles on it and even a large Christmas tree next to it.

The gingerbread displays are a fundraiser for the Make-A-Wish Foundation, to fund wishes for children with critical illnesses. 

Vancouver landmarks in gingerbread

Gingerbread Lane will be displayed at Hyatt Regency Vancouver until December 29, 2023.

Blustery Day on the Seawall

Dramatic windy scenes along the west side of the Seawall

Today was a long day that started with breakfast with an ex-colleague who is in Vancouver for Christmas. We loaded up on brunch at White Spot and then headed downtown to walk around the Seawall at Stanley Park. 

Construction of the Seawall began back in 1917, overseen by master stone mason James Cunningham. But it wasn't until 1980 when the entire loop of the Seawall was declared completed.  

Lions Gate Bridge with busy traffic

Thankfully it wasn't raining in the early afternoon, and by the time we got to the start of the Seawall, the sun came out, along with gorgeous blue skies and fluffy white clouds. The 13km walk started off well, though once we got to the north side of the park it was chilly because the sun wasn't shining in this area. 

By the time we reached underneath Lions Gate Bridge, the temperature became chilly, and powered on to keep warm. Towards the mouth of Burrard Inlet, the wind picked up and I was bent forward as the wind blasted us head on. Even the water crashed onto the walkway, spewing onto the asphalt. We thought we had avoided it and then splash! We were sprayed with seawater. Luckily it wasn't a lot, but it was such a surprise!

From walking around the Seawall we didn't see too much of the trees taken down. About 25 percent of 160,000 of the trees need to be chopped down because they were infested by the hemlock looper moths, a native species. The problem was further exacerbated by drought this summer. Removing the dead and dying trees will cost taxpayers C$4.4 million, but it needs to be done, and other, more resistant trees need to be planted.

Looking out to the Pacific Ocean and the sun

After over two hours, we reached the end of the Seawall at David Street and made the hike up to Burrard to get back to the hotel again.

Needless to say we were exhausted by the time we got back and I promptly closed my eyes for a light nap on a chair! We had walked 16km in total, over 22,000 steps and 1,000 calories spent.

Visiting Squamish on a Foggy Day

A brief break to see blue skies through the fog at the top

The other day I took a quick side trip to Squamish, which is just over an hour away by car, north of Vancouver. 

We set off early in the morning at around 9am, and despite the one-lane traffic going across the Lion's Gate Bridge, we were able to get to the Sea-to-Sky Gondola in less than an hour and a half, which is just before the municipality of Squamish.

We were supposed to see this mountain...

The gondola takes visitors up 885 metres to have reportedly stunning views of the mountains, but the day we went it was lightly raining -- a good thing since it has been so dry and hot this summer -- but it was really foggy when we went up to the top.

Tickets are not cheap, at C$65.95 for adults, C$59.95 for seniors, but we made the most of it. The ride up was smooth, and less than 10 minutes was up at the top.

We couldn't see much, but could imagine the views were stunning if the fog had lifted. In any event we had a quick bite to eat in the cafeteria (sandwiches, tacos, poutine) before trekking one of the 12 hiking trails, six frontcountry, the others backcountry, from very easy in 20 minutes and short to a long eight-hour hikes. 

Panorama Trail was recommended to us so we took the frontcountry route that was estimated to take 30 to 60 minutes. If you don't stop at various scenic points along the loop, it will take 30 minutes, and for us relatively fast walkers, we finished in about 40 minutes.

The trails are very clean and natural, and we were most impressed by the diversity of the trees and plants. It seemed much more diverse than in Pacific Spirit Park, a place I frequently walk in. Here there were different species of trees, such as cedar and pine, along with various plants and huge boulders.

Walking along the Panorama Trail

Scenic stopping points encouraged people to try to spot birds, though there was another sign pointing out various wild animals like cougars which was not very reassuring! 

We did see a tiny chipmunk, sitting in the middle of the trail eating something. At first it seemed completely unaware we were there, but as soon as we pulled out our phones it ran away into the trees.

Overall we enjoyed the easy walk and if we had more time we would have chosen a longer route.

The gondola was opened in 2014 after a year of construction, but was plagued by two incidents of vandalism. Someone cut the table of the gondola on August 10, 2019 and it took months to repair, but was vandalised again on September 14, 2020. Still to this day no one has been arrested for these crimes.

We also made a quick trip to the municipality of Squamish which was a short distance from the gondola. The main street is lined with small shops, cafes, and restaurants. There's a ramen/sushi place and another to get Vietnamese food. There are many coffee places as well as for wine. A sign on the sidewalk read: "Day Drinkers Welcome."

A welcoming mural in the town

Xoco is a shop that makes local chocolate. The salted caramel chocolates are apparently best sellers and they are packaged in boxes designed by the artist in the next door gallery. 

What a great way to support the community!