Burro Trail in Breckenridge, Colorado

On August 19, 2019 By Living The Q Life Travel AdventuresIn Colorado8 Comments

We spent a long weekend in Breckenridge, Colorado and one of our main priorities was to get out and do some hiking. Breckenridge has many options for hiking trails, so we chose one that was near where we were staying called Burro Trail. The trail is considered moderate and has some beautiful scenery, including following a stream for much of it. The overall elevation gain wasn’t too bad, although it was steep in some places, which is pretty normal for any hike in the Colorado mountains.

Crossing a Stream on the Way to the Trailhead

In order to get to the trailhead, we had to take a smaller trail that wound its way through the woods near our condominium. Although not part of Burro Trail, it was also quite beautiful, winding through meadows, woods, and crossing several streams. Once on the actual trail, we hiked through pine tree forests and saw a variety of wildflowers as well as some wild berries. The weather was absolutely perfect with mild temperatures and sunny skies. Burro Trail is an “out and back” trail that is a little over 6 miles in length if you do the entire trail. We didn’t go to the very end, but close enough to give us a good 3 1/2 hour hike.

As with many trails in the mountains, we came across a few other hikers, but for the most part we were alone to enjoy the tranquility of nature. We didn’t come across any wildlife during our hike, but we were told that moose are particularly active around Breckenridge this time of year. With such beautiful scenery, Burro Trail was a perfect hike to start our time in Breckenridge. It was strenuous enough to get our legs tired and earn a couple of craft beers.

Our Hiking Season Has Officially Begun

On June 10, 2019 By Living The Q Life Travel AdventuresIn Colorado, Hiking15 Comments

Although some people hike year-round, regardless of the season, we prefer to wait until most of the snow has melted before going hiking in the mountains. It has been a cool and rainy spring in Colorado and the mountains have continued to get snow even as summer starts around most of the country. We decided to hike a trail that we’ve done before, but this time we chose to go a different direction, which completely changed the hike. It was a relatively easy hike and there was almost no one else on the trail, making it very relaxing and peaceful.

We decided to hike the Falcon Trail on the grounds of the United States Air Force Academy here in Colorado Springs. We originally hiked it back in August of 2017, so it was nice seeing it during a different time of year. Thanks to all of the moisture that we’ve had, the wildflowers are in full bloom making the trail even more beautiful. The entire trail is a 12 1/2 mile loop, but we only went 5 miles on this hike as we get back into hiking condition.

Now that the weather is getting better, we expect to go hiking quite regularly between any trips that we have planned. We find that hiking on the weekends is a great way to relax as well as truly enjoy the beautiful scenery that Colorado has to offer. Although we didn’t see any wildlife on the trail itself, we did come across some wild turkeys crossing the road as we approached the parking area at the head of the trail. The Air Force Academy is also a protected area for wildlife, so it is quite common to find elk, deer, and other wild animals on the grounds of academy. It was certainly a wonderful way to kick off our hiking season and we look forward to getting even farther up into the mountains on our next hike.

Seeing Tropical Flowers When Traveling

On February 15, 2019 By Living The Q Life Travel AdventuresIn Photo Challenge5 Comments

One of the things that we enjoy when traveling to destinations such as Central and South America are the beautiful flowers. We have gone to botanical gardens and seen some amazing flowers, but there is something special about seeing them in the wild. They have such vibrant colors, especially all of the red varieties. They are often very unique and different than what can be found throughout other regions of the world. We also find that photographing these flowers provide very striking pictures as they tend to almost have a 3-D quality to them at times. Here are a few of our favorite photographs of these tropical flowers.