Lauren + Brad
Banff Mount Fairview Summit Elopement in Alpenglow
This hiking elopement will be shared a touch differently – as I perused through Lauren and Brad’s day I was inspired by the albums of my parents shortly after they moved out west to Alberta in the early ’80s. As I flipped through the ageing pages, the images were haphazardly arranged, a mixture of square and 4x6s, collections of two young souls exploring the mountains for the first time. Sometimes there were half a dozen images on a page, on others just a single print. As each page flipped it was a mystery as to what images would remain where they were placed three decades before, or whether the adhesive had released the prints. This post is a story, much like my parents’ albums who share images exploring these same peaks, each image arranged in a way to tell the story of the others.
Now where to begin on a day that began only a couple hours after the clock ticked past midnight?
This hiking elopement is like a postcard. I wish you could have been there. Because really and truly, as much as I know my job is to declare photographs will transport you there, all the senses contributed to the story.
To truly experience it you need to be familiar with fresh mountain air. As it changes from moss-covered forest groves, of soil and greenery, to the saddle where the air is moving and you lose the forest behind you, to the summit where the wind is now enveloping you, smelling of stone and ice on the neighbouring mountains – if I dare say that is a thing. Later the delectable scent of freshly brewed coffee served on a stone in a larch enclave.
To feel as the temperatures dropped as you moved higher, where you reach into your bag for the jacket you shed earlier on the hike as your body motivated you onwards. To when the wind tore at your jacket and exposed skin with a frigidness that makes you appreciate the comfort of the earlier weather.
To see the sunlight make its presence known by reflecting off particles in the atmosphere back onto the glacier-capped peaks giving them violet crowns. How the warmth descends into one final blue hour of the night, before the sun crests the eastern ridge, turning the landscape into Mars for brief minutes. As it continues rising, to continue it’s arch as it has every day before, without much notice from us.
To the sound of staccato chatter early in the hike, earnestly loud to ward off any animals that may be ahead on the trail. To silence on account of concentration at the final steep ascent – the stillness marked by a ptarmigan who was quite unhappy with our all too early presence.
The feeling of space. Of place. Of feeling so tiny, in a world, that is so big, and spectacular. To have the opportunity to celebrate a day so momentous for two.
I wish you your own experience such as this. It reminds me of what it is to be human.
Hiking Elopement Story
During the last week of August, at 3AM we met in the Lake Louise parking lot. A crew that had never met before, embarking on a day that was an imagined from previous hike experiences, a desire to incorporate a view of the Lake Louise Ski Resort where they met for their first date, and a desperate hope for all the atmospheric wonders to bless us with alpenglow that morning. What was perhaps only to be a group of five, consisting of Lauren and Brad, Cole the hiking officiant, and my husband and I grew as three enthusiastic friends of the couple joined. Into the night we began the hike that would take us 10km roundtrip and 1000m up, lit by headlamps and sponsored by delirious stories.
As we reached the larch filled saddle, the sky had awoken from its impenetrable darkness, interrupted only by stars, and had become a deep azure. We briefly contemplated if we should attempt the final push to the summit of Fairview Mountain for sunrise, or perchance head to the more manageable Saddle Mountain that overlooked Paradise Valley. We decided to press on, up the steep and winding path of Fairview Mountain that looks far too unassuming from the valley. Having hiked Fairview Mountain once before, I knew of the seemingly neverending slog. Having hiked Mount Athabasca in the night I knew that darkness was a friend that largely concealed the objective still ahead. One step in front of the other, a bag of camera gear I’m quite certain gaining weight as we went. The headlamps of those ahead and behind marking loss or gained progress. Then just as the silhouettes of the peaks around us became more defined, a quite perturbed ptarmigan warned us that we had woken them far too early (they make their debut in the second photograph).
Amongst the lichen-covered boulders, Lauren and Brad got ready with the help of friends. With the temperature sitting just above 0C, the 40km/h wind gusts fresh from the Victoria Glacier, had us all clinging to our jackets and looking for a ceremony spot that would offer some reprieve. Then we gathered. Glaciers and the iconic peaks of Mount Temple and Mount Aberdeen their altar. As the ceremony proceeded, the sky grew in its embrace of day. The clouds changing from hues of pink and purple. They read personalized vows to each other, they warmed each other’s hands in plush jackets. They listened to Cole’s words, and took in the most glorious views around them. The wind rising and falling, reminding us we were but experiencing nature’s rhythm. Then it was over, a kiss and arms raised in celebration.
There they stood, newly married, as the sun reached the top of the range to the east, spilling light onto the crew that had never met hours before. The subtleties of the light from before were now accented by the harshness of shadow and light, awash in orange where the light touched, and blue in the shadows. We spent a brief few minutes on the summit before relenting to the gusts of wind that urged us to begin our hike down.
Such was a morning, dreamed of improbabilities that aligned perfectly. The afternoon, a picnic area reception attended by friends who understood Lauren and Brad’s love of the outdoors, at the base of the mountain where we once stood.
Thank you so much for having Sam and me along on such a memorable, and quite frankly, dream elopement. It was an honour to be a part of.
Banff Hiking Elopement Resources
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Banff and Canmore’s Best Private Dining Restaurants for Small Weddings
Six Things to Consider When Booking a Wedding and Elopement Photographer
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If you are keen on a hiking elopement in the Canadian Rockies and in want of a photographer that specializes in documenting moments I would love to connect with you.
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