Fall Hiking and Jeeping Elopement in Colorado

Annie + Chris

As soon as Annie and Chris reached out, we knew they wanted a bit of variety in their elopement day. An off-road adventure, a hike, alpine lakes, towering mountains, fall colors, and ending the night looking up at the stars. But I don’t think any of us anticipated they would get all of that and then some.

Our journey together began in the Spring of 2021, when Annie wrote to us with one of the sweetest inquiries we had ever received. Unfortunately, we were fully booked for 2021 at the time, but these two were willing to wait until 2022 to make things happen. So with a year and a half to settle on our final plans, we dove in with lots of flexibility. At first Annie and Chris were leaning toward a completely different area of Colorado than where we ended up. However, upon looking through the options and trying to visualize their day, it just didn’t quite feel right. Based on what they had told us, we had one other idea we just couldn’t get out of our heads. It was a location that had been on our radar for a long time, so we took the opportunity to go scout it and see if it was everything we thought it would be.

When we sent the photos to Annie and Chris, they immediately knew it was the one. It had the perfect mix of everything they were after, and now having experienced it, we’re convinced it’s one of the best elopement locations in the state. We started their day by driving our Jeeps down a dirt road, stopping occasionally to take in the golden aspen trees that lined the route. During one of our stops, we got our first surprise of the day, when maybe a dozen wasps somehow got themselves trapped in the tulle of Annie’s dress. The four of us were able to teamwork an evacuation, with no stings to report, thankfully! But just a short drive later we got our next (and far more enjoyable) surprise.

A hiker with her dog waved us down to let us know that a family of moose were in the adjacent meadow, meandering through the brush and bushes. Moose sightings aren’t terribly uncommon, but when you’re only in Colorado for a handful of days it does usually take a bit of luck. So it was quite the treat for all of us to watch as a mommy, daddy, and baby moose munching on the grasses in the distance.

Pit stops were aplenty at this point in the day, we decided we should finish out the drive and get Annie and Chris married already. We winded our way up further until we were past tree line, and at the trailhead to our final destination. We can’t speak for Annie and Chris but we definitely spent most of the hike wishing the dirt road had led a bit further and saved us some effort. But as we arrived at the top of the saddle, no one could complain about the view in front of us.

Once we all caught our breath, Annie and Chris exchanged their vows just as a small snowstorm moved in. They laughed off the cold as tiny, perfectly spherical little dip n dots of snow caught in their hair. And beard. The clouds above us blew quickly across the sky, and no sooner had they finished their vows and put their jackets back on, than the snow was gone and we were back to bluebird skies. The views on both sides of the saddle opened up and the peaks stretched for miles around us. Exactly what they had been looking for.

We took our time soaking in the last bit of sunshine, before the peaks we were nestled between blocked the warmth. To end the night, we meandered our way back down the trail and then the dirt road, to set up a picnic at a dispersed campsite. Annie and Chris read letters from family and friends while eating sandwiches, and drinking a bottle of Tequila that Chris had bought for the day they got engaged. But as far as Alex is concerned, no night spent deep in the mountains is complete without staying out until the sky is nothing but stars. So the four of us spent just a bit longer waiting until we could see the milky way stretching out above us, the perfect end to a day full of a little of everything.

This elopement took place on Ute Land.

Photographs

Elopement Location: Aspen, Colorado
Elopement Photographer + Videographer: Vow of the Wild

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