This hike was initially planned to meet the Mountain Communities Chamber of Commerce 3-2-1 Hiking Challenge. The 3-2-1 challenge is named because it calls for the hike of 3 peaks in 2 counties in 1 day. Later in the year after Mt. Pinos became an alternate peak in the Six-Pack of Peaks Challenge I decided to do the hike to bag the peak for both challenges. Also given the caveat that Mt. Pinos was an easy hike from the Nordic Base, the addition of Sawmill and Grouse made the hike more in tune with the spirit of the Six-Pack of Peaks challenge. The hike itself was pretty straightforward. Most hikers I encountered during the day were mostly hiking to Mt. Pinos and a few were out backpacking to a campground in the area. While on the Mt. Pinos summit, a few yards from the antennas I came across an older man talking with a couple of backpackers. He was talking about the local trails and by chance he mentioned Grouse Mountain: “the trail is not marked, there is a rock pile and then you go uphill. There are no views at the summit because of the trees”. The trail from Pinos to Sawmill involved descending into a lower altitude before climbing again. The trails were more or less well indicated and although there was no sign when the side trail to Sawmill diverged from the main trail, it wasn't difficult to notice. The real challenge was finding Grouse. I correctly noted the direction and correctly noted which peak it was but hiking to where the trail should be it was frustrating not to find a side trail. I knew that the trail was headed to a different peak Cerro Noroeste. In frustration I turned back as I had no desire to hike Cerro Noroeste although it would have been a third peak as it would not have met the 3-2-1 challenge. On the way back I saw two cairns indicating what seemed to be a use trail. With nothing to lose I decided to explore the use trail and to my surprise it was heading uphill. Then I remembered what the old man earlier in the day at Pinos said: “the trail is not marked, there is a rock pile and then you go uphill. There is no sign at the summit other than a register and there are no views at the summit because of the trees”. Sure enough the cairns had indicated the use trail, so if I followed the use trail it would lead me to the summit. It did lead me to the summit of Grouse Mountain and just as the older hiker had said, there were trees on the summit which prevented a 360 degree view. As the old man had said, there was no sign at Grouse Mountain summit only tin cans containing pens and two small notebook register. I leafed through the register and found to my relief and joy that I had indeed summitted Grouse Mountain and thus completed the 3-2-1 Challenge. After taking a short break, I headed back the way I came to the Nordic Base. I would definitely do this hike again. Only next time, maybe I would bag the fourth peak: Cerro Noroeste in addition to the 3.