Fall elopement hiking around Mt Baker
This hiking elopement out in the Cascades was the best way to cap off my season spent in Washington. These two were down for whatever trail, so I suggested we do one of my personal favs, and it’s safe to say the location choice was a winner. We saw a handful of hikers on the trek out to their ceremony spot, but once we started setting up for the ceremony, we had the beautiful sunset views all to ourselves. It was cold, it was magical, it was romantic, and it really felt like fall. These two knew they wanted lots of film shot on their day, so they brought some friends along and busted out the super8 in addition to me shooting a few rolls of 35mm film, so you’ll see a small handful of those sprinkled throughout this blog post.
We started off the day at a cute little woodsy A-frame about an hour from the trailhead. Josie and Mike got ready semi-together but saved their first look for when they were fully dressed. Mike is a musician, so I joke that the photo of Josie putting her shoes on with the guitar next to her was probably Mike’s favorite photo because it had his two loves in it 😂
After their first look and on the way to the trailhead, we made a little pit stop at this beautiful spot along the Nooksack River. The water is just SO blue, and every time I come to this spot during the summer months, I’m always tempted to jump in. Everyone was in awe of how pretty this little hidden gem of a spot is, so I knew they were going to be blown away by the views once we started hiking.
We left the river and continued the drive up the winding mountain road where we finally reached the trailhead. We loaded up our backpacks and started hiking out. It was so windy, which made for some beautiful photos of Josie’s dress but also made for some chilly conditions, but nothing we weren’t prepared for! We stopped along the way for hiking photos before the final little climb to their ceremony spot where we could see Mt. Baker making an appearance behind us. The sun was setting, and the wind was picking up during their ceremony, but it was so sweet and heartfelt. After they sealed it with a kiss they both looked back over their shoulder towards the last little bit of sun above the ridge, just taking it all in. It really was stunning and I couldn’t believe it was just us out there.
We started our hike back to get out of the wind, stopped for a quick cake break and celebratory champagne, and of course, more photos. The cakes were all homemade by one of Josie and Mike’s friends who were there with us; they were DELISH! It was getting dark at this point, so we broke out the headlamps and continued back towards the trailhead. We still had their first dance on the agenda, so I suggested we save that for the trailhead, and we could do it in front of the car headlights; it was a vibe. They danced to the Black Keys, and we finished the day off by signing their marriage license to make it official!


