The public transportation system here is really quite good. I took the SeaBus across to North Vancouver, and hopped on the 236 bus which took me to Grouse Mountain. Easy, quick, cheap, very nice.

Grouse Mountain is quite an attraction. There's skiing in the winter, and various other attractions at the top during the rest of the year. There's a gondola to take you to the top...but that's for wimps. I took the other way - the Grouse Grind.

No kidding around here, the Grind is tough. It starts off fairly innocently, like you're walking a giant staircase in the woods, but it quickly gets difficult. There are still steps of some sort the whole way, but the route turns nearly vertical. On the way down they told us that the annual race up the trail had just taken place last week, and a new record of 26 minutes, 26 seconds was set. After 26' 26", I was standing next to a sign telling me I was 1/4 of the way up. I took a picture of that sign, because its just that cruel. I briefly considered turning back, but in the end I decided that since nobody else was turning around, I could make it too. So I pressed onward.

There were quite a few other people on the trail with me, a large group of Japanese tourists, some locals that looked like they did this all the time, and various other tourists. I talked with one guy from Edmonton for awhile until I couldn't keep up with him anymore.

My final time was 1 hour, 25 minutes. Next time I'll do it in 1:15.

The view from the top was somewhat spoiled by clouds, but as they cleared out a little, it was spectacular. I took a bunch of pictures, but they didn't turn out that great because the clouds were still lingering.

I took the gondola back down - walking down is highly discouraged, I can't imagine doing it, it would be pretty dangerous - and got back on the 236 bus, which dropped me off at the Capilano Suspension Bridge. This is a tourist trap, and a ripoff, but I knew that going in. Its just one of those things where I was was there, and its such a well known thing that I had to check it out. Its just a big suspension bridge over a river. You get to walk across it. It was kind of fun, but not remotely worth the price of admission. At the other end of the bridge there are walkways through the forest, including some more bridges between trees about 80 feet off the ground. That also was kind of neat, but still not worth it. Oh well.

Back in town I had dinner, watched the Angels lose game 1 to the Yankees, and picked out another movie. This time I saw Look Both Ways, and it was excellent. Its a comedy about death that somehow works really well. I have no idea if any of these movies will make it to Southern California, but if this one does come to a theater near you, go see it. It comes from Australia - oh, how nice to see a movie in english again...I'm fine with foreign movies, but they lose something when you have to read the dialog.

Today I decided to take it a bit easy because I've developed a bruise of some sort on my right heel that makes walking somewhat painful. It isn't that bad though, so I went over to Granville Island to have a look around. The public market there is awesome, fresh fruits, vegetables, meats, fish, bread, everything was mouth watering. I wished I had somewhere to cook so I could have taken advantage of it, but it was still fun looking around.

There's also a lot of artists and artisans working and displaying their wares on the island, so I walked around for awhile until my heel made it less fun. I'd also seen all I wanted to see, so I headed back. Now I'm in my room watching hockey, and waiting to leave for the Canucks game tonight. Hockey is back and I couldn't be happier. Well, maybe if the Ducks had a better team....

After tonight I'll have done everything I had planned while I was here, so I'll have to be a bit more creative. Suggestions are welcome :) .

Postscript: Awesome! The Barenaked Ladies are singing the Canadian national anthem at the Maple Leafs game.