Vangie and Greg | Silverton 4×4 Elopement | Just the Two of Us
Savannah Chandler Photography | San Juan Mountain Elopement Photographer
Vangie and Greg made their way out to Southern Colorado to celebrate their San Juan mountain elopement this past summer. After decades of knowing one another, they knew it was time to tie the knot with the mountains as their witness.
Colorado Summer Mountain Weather and Snow Pack
What I’m sure is common knowledge at this point – Colorado weather can be bonkers. Every year we have variable weather that impacts our entire ecosystem. Some years we have heavy snow that lingers, while others it’s quite warm and everything melts out quickly. In 2025, we had an interesting late spring – not much snow at all, which made all of us Coloradans think everything would melt out early. However, the end of spring and start of summer we saw very low temperatures and thus very slow melting of snow. There was lingering snow in places that typically are melted out – including many 4×4 roads (which is one of the things the San Juan Mountains are known for).
Just about a week prior to their elopement, we had a phone call to go over what the area looked like and what our final plans were. I had done some digging in my hiking/running apps (if you know me, you know I can find hidden data pretty well 😉 ) and knew that the trail we were originally going to head out onto was covered in snow up top. Some of the places I typically recommend in the area were still knee deep in sloppy, heavy wet snow or had raging rivers to cross.
Pivoting Locations | Picking a new spot to fit the feel of your Elopement day
One of the great things about hiring someone who knows the area well (and is a HUGE researcher in general) is that it’s much easier to find places to pivot to. Vangie and Greg had let me know that not only did they not want to trudge through snow on their elopement day, they were both getting a good bit of altitude sickness and were looking to bring down the physical intensity of their day. Elopements are so wonderful in the fact that we can adjust on the fly and give you what you need in that moment. Don’t want to hike? No problem. Hop in my 4×4, I got you.
Knowing that Vangie and Greg were looking for:
Mountain Views
Water if Possible
Greenery and Trees
Wildflowers
I made the suggestion that we start our morning for sunrise at Velocity Basin, a wonderful and accessible area with mountain views and a small alpine lake nestled back behind the town of Silverton. You can access the basin via 4×4 as soon as the road is melted out, and it’s a very moderate drive for those not looking for a scary 4×4 experience.
Velocity Basin, Corkscrew Pass, and Black Bear Pass | 4×4 adventuring for Vangie and Greg’s Elopement Day
We met just before the break of dawn and headed into Velocity Basin. During the summer months, just before sunrise when the light breaks the horizon you can catch a stunning alpenglow on Storm Peak – a 13,000 ft. peak jetting out of the basin. One of the best things about Velocity is that the views are fantastic from the second you step foot out of the vehicle.
I had asked Vangie and Greg what they envisioned for their elopement day, and they had wanted to start with mountain portraits in a few locations before heading to a very specific spot to say their vows to one another. So we ventured around the basin, hiking up just a little ways into the forest to get those stunning top down views. I was a little in shock how full of snow the basin was – it shouldn’t have taken me that off guard knowing everywhere was still snowloaded, but I’ve been there in June years past where flowers were already starting to blossom and the gulleys were nearly clear of snow. You can see in all their images just how much snow there still was to melt off.
We then began making the 4×4 rounds – up and over Corkscrew Pass to get some of those top-down views as well as capture some of the Iron-stained red mountains that Silverton is known for. The top of the pass is nearly 13,000 ft, meaning we had walls of snow surrounding us with pops of green in the Southern facing fields. There’s a particular spot where you can look back over Velocity Basin, and I love how you can point back to where we just came from.
The day before their elopement, Vangie and Greg (as well as myself) had made the rounds to check on wildflowers on some of the roads heading West out of Silverton. Unknowingly, we had both checked the start of Black Bear Pass and found a few fields of stunning wildflowers with rolling green peaks in the background. Vangie had let me know she found the perfect spot to say their vows – out in the field where you could see both distant waterfalls in the background and there was not a soul in sight. Needless to say, it was the perfect location for the two of them.
With just the distant snow-capped mountains and raging waterfalls as their witnesses, Vangie and Greg said their vows to one another and signed their marriage license. Just the way they had envisioned it. We didn’t get a single person even driving by during their ceremony – just a little blessing of some gusts of wind.
Congratulations again, Vangie and Greg! It was such a wonderful day celebrating with the two of you.
Cheers-
PS – check out the video from Vangie and Greg’s Silverton Elopement at the bottom of the page!
Basic Video Elopement Coverage
Video coverage from Vangie and Greg’s Silverton Elopement