We fetched up on a summer Sunday afternoon. Four students, still partly hungover from the night before, really rather ill-prepared to hike the Grouse Grind Trail. We didn't look very much like the other climbers; not outdoorsy and fit or in appropriate gear. With wonkier teeth and clad in jeans and trainers, we didn't even bring enough water. The Grind is well named. The hiking trail up the side of Grouse Mountain, 2.9km (1.8 miles) up, up, up.

Think of it as walking up several hundred flights of stairs.

We started off well enough, marching up the wooden steps, but quickly ran out of puff. Around us, families and old people passed us by. In front of us, successful grinders were racing down the mountain. We thought we would never get to the top. Our water bottles were emptied quickly. A backpack fell, dispensing its collection of fruit. Oranges went boing, boing, boing down the steps. We shouted "sorry!" to the hikers coming after us and hoped nobody would be knocked over by an accelerating citrus fruit.

After about an hour-and-a-half of puffing, just focusing on the next step, and aching, aching leg and thigh muscles (faces like beetroot too) we made it to the peak. The view of the city below was worth the effort. Beyond the evergreens and the city laid out before us, the sea shimmering in the summer sun.

At the top, there are a few restaurants, lots of interesting wood carvings and daily lumberjack shows (with great feats of derring do, such as throwing axes and climbing 60-foot trees very, very quickly).

There is also a Theatre in the Sky that shows a film called "Born to Fly", an eagle's eye view of the surroundings. Grizzly bears and wood chucks are in residence; there's a special habitat for them. You can also take a chairlift to the very peak.

Walk up, take the gondola down (about $5) to save your knees, of course.

http://www.grousemountain.com/