Long Weekend Report and Some Overdue Photos

So, as I previously mentioned, the weather forecasters are dirty, dirty liars and it was a gorgeous, hot and sunny long weekend! Highlights include (a) a party on Saturday night to which I brought Canada Day cupcakes that I made from scratch and (b) doing the Grouse Grind again, for the second time in less than two weeks. I have now doubled my lifetime of Grouse Grinding compared to how many times I had done it as of June 21.

Also of note: my time to complete the Grind’s 2,800 foot ascension on June 22 was 1 hr 43 mins. Time yesterday: 1 hr 18 mins! Granted the June 22 hike was done with a “let’s take it easy” pace in mind as we had a first timer with us, whereas for yesterday’s hike I went with a season’s pass holder and nearly fainted trying to keep up with him until I finally told him to go on without me and I’ll meet ya at the top. But still – an improvement of almost half an hour is nothing to sneeze at!

And speaking of sneezing, I was pretty sure as I sat in Altitudes Bistro that the hike had cured my cold, as my sinuses were clear and I could breathe through my nose for the first time in 8 days… but alas, it’s now the next morning and I’m back to being all stuffed up. Perhaps I need to be on the top of a mountain to cure my cold – maybe cold viruses don’t like the height.

Also, I was remiss in that I took no photos of either the Canada Day cupcakes or this trip up the Grind. A girl at the party did take a pic for me, but not of the cupcakes…. a pic of me drinking a Granville Island Maple Cream ale – a pic with which to make Sarah very, very jealous! Now I just have to wait and see if she accepts my Facebook friend invite so I can get the photo from her. As for the Grind, we were traveling light – I brought only a water bottle¹ – which may also help to explain how I shaved half an hour off my time (since last time I had a backpack full of stuff). In lieu of, however, I give you a photo of me, Christel and Tenny at the top of Grouse Mountain from the trip on June 22, since I’m a delinquent and haven’t posted that yet:

Also amusing: Vancouverites are tree huggers!

¹I realized about 1/2 way up that I had no ID whatesoever on me (my wallet having been locked up in the trunk of the car for safe keeping) and if I fainted or tripped and fell down the mountain, there would be no way to tell who I was. And, since I told my much-faster-than-me hiking companion to go on ahead without me (I really hate feeling like I’m holding people back), if he got tired of waiting for me and took off (not that I thought he would, or anything), I wouldn’t even have any money to take the cable car back down, let alone get home! Note to self: wear something with pockets next time!

Half Year’s Resolution

So, I’ve decided that since we are now at the halfway point of the year, and since I’ve had complaints about my poor posting frequency of late (you readers sure are demanding!), I’m going to give my post-every-day resolution another go. Starting yesterday, July 1 – this posting makes 2 days and counting. ‘cuz it’s easier to count from July 1. The last streak lasted 88 days. Do you think I can top that? Only time will tell….