Remember a while back I wrote about my trip up Grouse Mountain on a gondola ($34.93)? Today I only paid $5 for a ride down.

Others take the gondola, we climb.

2.9km at 1128 metres elevation. Less than 2 hours. It was a great climb, but only in retrospect.

I went with a really unexpected climber-enthusiast.

The awkward Asian

She hikes up the Grouse Grind trail (the way up to Grouse Mountain) every other Friday. She totally doesn’t look it, right? I mean, okay here’s a close-up picture of her:

I know I’m not supposed to judge a book by its cover but this cover is way off! Contrary to what I initially thought, she’s actually wayyyyy fit and very hardcore! Haha…gosh. She kept having to wait for me at every quarter of the climb.

Can you see my look of trepidation? And two very commonsensical rules to abide by, especially if it’s the first time you’re embarking on such a hike, is to ditch the bag and put on a pair of gym pants instead of the jeans I was wearing today. Duh. Oops.

The first quarter of the climb was the hardest to complete, because turning back is an option. And a very compelling one at that, as the first quarter seems so long and you know going on is just gonna get tougher. I have to admit I kept thinking of turning back during the first quarter. Fortunately, this friend of mine was way ahead and I couldn’t express such an idea to her, and so I could only swallow my defeatist attitude and trudge ahead.

For most part of the hike, there were steps (steep) to climb, but there were occasions where there were only rocks like this:

So you had to find your footing somehow and just get your ass up. I was on my hands and legs and climbed like a spider or something.

It was a hard climb, and throughout those eternal couple of hours, images of comfort such as watching a movie, or having a good meal kept coming and going as I pushed myself up on every step with quaking knees and aching calves. Considering that I had resistance from carrying a 2kg bag, it’s really quite an accomplishment.

There were many instances during the hike when I felt really all alone in the heart of this vertical forest, and could only hear my thoughts and breathing. Sometimes I heard birds chirp and the leaves of trees rustling, and I couldn’t determine whether they were mocking me or urging me on. I guess I chose to believe the latter or I wouldn’t have been able to get higher up to hear the distant waterfall signalling that I’m edging closer to the destination.

One thought that kept coming to me was how controlling my temper might be a hell lot easier than climbing a mountain.