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We have shared so many wonderful moments above timberline over the past ten years, it was only natural when we finally decided to get married that we wanted to do it on top of one of Colorado's highest mountains! The fact that our state is one of only two in the country that allows people to marry themselves made everything extremely easy. The hardest part, of course, was finding a day with suitable weather!
We left Colorado Springs Thursday morning, drove to Lake City (county seat for Hinsdale County), and picked up our marriage license. We then drove the 4WD up the road 3.9 miles along Nellie Creek to the trailhead and camped. After dinner, we met the first members of our wedding party: Laurie, Becky, and Caleb from Montrose, CO . (Rather than invite specific family and friends and risk hurting feelings by leaving someone out or picking a date when they couldn't attend, we decided to invite no one to just "make do" with whoever was on the trail with us that day. This worked even better than we expected--we met 23 wonderful people and 4 dogs on the mountain that day....as you know, there aren't any "bad" people on Colorado mountains.)
We were up at 5:30 the next morning and on the trail at 6:00 (our alarm clock didn't go off, but luckily we were awakened by other climbers arriving at the trailhead). Weather reports had been a bit sketchy suggesting a 30% chance of thunderstorms and rain, but it was a beautiful day on the mountain. The trail up Uncompahgre is known for offering a view of the destination during most of the approach, and it was beautiful watching the sun rise on the peak . We reached the south ridge about 7:30 am . The large pockets of snow still remaining in the meadows below were a testament to the heavy snowfalls last winter .
We met Laurie, Becky and Caleb just at the crest of the south ridge where the trail leads around to the steep section on the west face. They had left camp at 3:30 am to be on top for sunrise and were on there way back down. Shortly after, we ran into Steve from Denver , also on his way back down, and Todd and Sarah from Rangely . Finally, in the same area, we ran into Chris from Evergreen who, with his two dogs, became our impromptu wedding photographer .
We were on top before 9 am and after a quick change, ready for our brief ceremony--an exchange of vows and rings . Joining us at the top were Chris and dogs , Scott and Eva from Lockport, IL who come to Colorado whenever they can to hike and climb, and Janice and Paula from Colorado Springs .
After a few more moments at the top and time for everyone to sign the wedding guest book, we started back down . On the way back, we met Brian, Janell and Aya from Kansas City --though she was only 11, this was Aya's second 14er! Shortly after, we ran into Ross and Mike , doing trail work for the Colorado Fourteeners Initiative and Tim from Monument, CO .
On the way down, we stopped before leaving the ridge for a brief wedding reception of sandwiches and champagne. The wildflowers were gorgeous . It had been a beautiful day on the mountain, but storm clouds were beginning to gather and we needed to get back to Lake City to have our marriage license recorded, so with one last look back we headed back to the trailhead.
Certainly this is one climb we will never forget--maybe next year on our anniversary.....Wetterhorn?
Thumbnails for uploaded photos (click to open slideshow):
What a cool way to get married. A rather strenuous honeymoon, I‘d say. You really did it right and I‘ll keep this in mind if I ever consider such an extreme measure
I climbed Umcompagre a couple of days ago and also found it spectacular. Not quite as fast as you, but I made it
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