Brandon and Kristina's Mountain Adventure

Brandon and Kristina came to visit us the past weekend in Colorado.

They came in late Thursday night, Friday Megan and I went to work and they had a day to motor around Denver.  We went out for a dinner 

Friday night and planned our adventures for the weekend.

We started on Saturday heading to Breckenridge.

We booked a hotel room  at the Wayside Inn, where Megan and I stayed a couple of weeks ago.  

On the way we stopped at Berthoud Pass to get a little hike in.  There was much more snow on the ground this time.

This is the start of the trail at about 11,000 ft

Looking down on the parking lot, we did not go as far this time, just enough to get to the top of a good hill.

We decided to go down on the hill rather than head back down the trail.

Megan, Brandon and Kristina headed down the hill....

You can see that there are ski trails in the snow, other people were hiking up and skiing back down!

This guy was skiing

Of course Gob was there and loves the snow

Bottom of the hill....Your feet get tired more than anything!

And Gob is frolicking.

After Berthoud Pass we got back on the road to Breckenridge, stopped at the hotel to drop off our stuff and went back out on the trails.  

We liked this one spot called McCullough Gulch, some great trails, views and terrain.

Brandon found himself a good hiking stick.

Jerky time...protein snack of champions.

We stopped here to see about climbing these rocks...that is Adam up there

Brandon is checking it out

Decides it is worth a go...

He is up there, but hard to see...Adam again in the yellow

Climbing up

Time to come down

Gob is a great hiking buddy....

This is the view of Breckenridge from our hotel....pretty nice.

THE BEST Travel Companion EVER

After a long day of hiking we needed some sustenance.

We went out to dinner at the Whale Tail in Breckenridge. Afterwards we drove out on a small dirt road by the hotel to get away from the lights so we could see the stars.  It was pretty awesome, clear sky, and the Milky Way was all you could see.

Sunday we got up and went to the Gold Pan Saloon for breakfast before another day of hiking.

Made our way to Hoosier Pass which is south of Breckenridge.

This was a good mix of forest hiking and wide open views.

It started in the woods with lots of snow and shade, so it was pretty chilly.

Found some fire pits

This is looking back down the hill into the woods we just hiked through.  

It then opens into a trail that climbs up the side of the mountain, to the right are some amazing views of the Montgomery Reservoir down below.

Looking down on the reservoir

Looking like the locals...

Gob did not get to go off leash on this one, but was still having a good time.

Little panoramic view for ya...how bout that wind

Kristina was all about Shiny Rocks!!

Happy Couple

Some gnarly trees

Brandon decided he wanted to climb up a little off trail

Brandon looking down on the rest of us

Making his way back down....

Looking for rocks

More gnarly trees

Just a great view

Surveying the land

We headed back down to the car to make our way to the next stop...Kenosha Pass.

Gob gets cuddly in the back with Brandon...they have a special relationship.

This hike was a little different, more trees and less steep, but more rolling hills.  

Time for another snack

Working our way up the trail, there was a split here and we decided to go up instead of down

The way behind us...

Looking for more rocks...can't help it they are everywhere

Still looking....

Look Look...more Shinys

See let me show you how shiny it is

Here you can see the rolling hills, and behind us open plains

This was a great place to stop, catch our breath and enjoy the surroundings

At the top of the trail we were climbing there was a little lookout spot, this was laying up against a log

Great place for reflection and relaxation

Brandon and Gob having a moment

Time to head back down

Megan and her "Candy Baby"...for the State of Slim Colorado diet, one of her homework assignments was to carry this bag of candy with her everywhere....and she did just that.

After this we felt we had done a pretty good amount for one day, so we headed home.

Sunday night we just wanted to relax so we watched a movie and crashed.

They got up Monday and tried to go to Red Rocks, but it was very foggy, when we get some pics from Brandon and Kristina we will add them here.

We had a great time with them here and we know they loved it too.  Hope to see them again soon, and to everyone else...let this be an open invitation to come visit.  As you can see we will make it worth your while.

Until the next time......