Skylor & Chris - Wallowas Backpacking Elopement

This wedding deserves a little bit of a story; in September, Sky and Chris reached out to see if I was available and interested in shooting their elopement in eastern Oregon… in 2.5 weeks.. And it would require an 8 mile hike in with 3200ft of elevation gain, overnight tent camping, and then another 8 mile hike out. I was so excited for the challenge, and started doing as much training as I could in the short amount of time I had.

It felt really incredible to have so much trust from strangers to come along with their 15-20 closest friends to hike a mountain and document their wedding ceremony, but by the end of the weekend, we were all friends and I felt like my heart was so full and my legs were so tired.

We started the weekend with a welcome dinner at the Wallowa Lake Lodge in Joseph and some pre-wedding photos, and then got up early the next morning to hit the trail. After a few set backs, like the pack mules potentially not showing up, and a quick dash into Joseph to grab some toiletries I forgot for the overnight tent camp, we finally made it on the hike and all split into groups on the way based on pace. I ended up right in the middle alongside some of the nicest humans I’ve met, who all took turns waiting for each other on the endless switchbacks to catch our breath. We shared trail snacks, hiking equipment, carried eachothers loads, donated band-aids for blisters and just had the most wonderful and strenuous hike possible.

Their wedding was perfect, we were prepared for snow and ice, but instead were gifted with sunshine and 65 degrees in October.

I am so thankful for these two for bringing me along on this incredible weekend and truly invite more opportunities like this! Here’s a few snapshots from the weekend.