Hiking Elopement in Rocky Mountain National Park

Sunrise Elopement at Hidden Valley

Ashley + Rick

The amazing thing about eloping is that it gives you the opportunity to roll your wedding day into your honeymoon! That is exactly what Ashley and Rick planned. When we first started talking to Ashley and Rick, they didn’t know too many specifics about their elopement in Colorado (let’s be honest, most of our couples don’t), but they did know that they wanted to travel from coast to coast by train. They started in Richmond, Virginia, and made their way to Chicago. In Chicago, they boarded the California Zephyr, which is an Amtrack passenger train that stretches from Chicago all the way to San Francisco. During their stop in Denver, they rented a car and met us in the mountains for their elopement.

After brainstorming Colorado elopement locations with us, Ashley and Rick quickly fell in love with Rocky Mountain National Park. They decided to start their elopement day before sunrise with an early hike to Dream Lake for their first look, followed by a forest ceremony at Hidden Valley. They would celebrate with cake and end the morning on the top of Trail Ridge Road.

On the morning of their elopement, we met Ashley and Rick in the Bear Lake parking lot. Usually, we are one of only a few cars in the lot, but with Rocky Mountain National Park getting busier and busier, we were joined by over a dozen other cars. Fortunately, we know of a few quiet spots to take our couples to give them the privacy they want. As the sun just started to peek out over the horizon, Ashley and Rick changed into their wedding attire and then hiked separately to our favorite overlook. Rick waited on the rock while Ashley carefully joined him, adjusting her dress before asking him to turn around. They greeted each other with huge smiles and hugs before the wind blew Ashley’s hat off and we all rushed to catch it before it blew over the edge.

After their first look, we gathered our backpacks to continue the hike when we witnessed a female elk lunge at another group of hikers on the trail. Not wanting to get too close and put ourselves in danger, we waited for about 20 minutes until it was safe for us to continue our hike. As we got closer and closer to Dream Lake, we came across some snowfields that were very difficult to cross, even in our hiking boots. So we all put on microspikes and easily completed the hike. Dream Lake is one of our favorite places in Rocky Mountain National Park, and for Ashley and Rick’s elopement, it was even more magical with the leftover ice and snow. We explored the lake before making our way back down to the trailhead.

Ashley and Rick’s ceremony was held in a clearing in the forest at Hidden Valley. This is one of our favorite ceremony sites because it’s usually pretty private! Ashley and Rick read their vows to each other, both laughing for a majority of the time. Our favorite part was at the end of Rick’s vows when he shouted a very distant Happy 10th Birthday to Ashley’s dog back in Richmond. After the ceremony, we all hiked back to the picnic area where they shared a breakfast of cake and champagne. And finally, we ended their elopement morning with a drive to the tundra. There, they read letters from their friends and families and enjoyed the view.

After their wedding, they continued their train ride all the way to the Bay Area and then road tripped to Big Sur. We had so much fun exploring the mountains of Colorado with Ashley and Rick, while also hearing about their amazing cross-country adventure.

This elopement took place on Ute, Cheyenne, and Arapaho Land.

Photographs

Colorado Elopements

Destination Elopements

Hi There!

We're Lisa + Alex, the goofballs behind Vow of the Wild. We live in Colorado, but we’re passionate about exploring new places. Being elopement photographers + videographers is a dream for us and we can’t imagine doing anything else (other than being professional dog petters).