Salina and Ryan | The Loch and Sky Pond Engagement
Rocky Mountain National Park
Savannah Chandler Photography | Estes Park Engagement Photographer

 

These two.

 Salina is one of my closest friends… one of my peeps that I love.  We’ve known each other the past decade, have gone through many ups and downs together.  Along with our mutual love of all things history related and spending days climbing mountains, Salina herself is a photographer (and produces some pretty amazing shit if you ask me).  3 years and some change ago, enter Ryan.  My sister-in-law (whom introduced Salina and myself) kept talking of this guy at work that Salina needed to meet.  Well, the two of them did meet… online.  By chance.  The universe clearly knows that these two belong together.

We all knew that the questions was coming sooner rather than later, and that time came this past summer.  Ryan proposed in Glacier National Park… in a canoe.  Amazing, right?  As they traveled up and down the Canadian Rockies, I dreamed of hiking up to Sky Pond… An amazing alpine lake in Rocky Mountain National Park.  As soon as Salina and Ryan returned to Colorado, I asked if they were crazy enough to hike to the Loch and Sky Pond for their engagement photographs.  Nearly 10 miles of hiking, at sunrise.  Her response was “we’re just crazy enough”.

On September 3, we put our headlamps on at 4:45am and headed out to reach Loch Vale by the time the Alpen Glow hit.  We couldn’t have asked for a better morning, just clear enough skies for the sun to peek through and hit the granite towers surrounding the Loch.  After spending some time enjoying the sunrise, we continued on our journey towards Timberline Falls and Sky Pond.

Timberline Falls is the next major landmark following Loch Vale, it’s an amazing waterfall that you reach after a series of some pretty good switchbacks up the mountain.  We spent some time getting slightly damp in the falls, red pumps and all.  The last leg to Sky Pond is a doozie – you have to climb up the side of the waterfall (a class 3 scramble).  Climbing with nearly 30lbs of photography equipment on your back is interesting.  Terrifying, yet immensely satisfying.

4.6 miles and 4 hours later, we reached the cathedral spires at Sky Pond.

Thank you or indulging me in my crazy, yet beautiful, ideas.  And for being an amazing friend.  I can’t wait for October 7, 2017 – when I’ll let someone else take the camera and be fully present for your wedding.

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