Tracy + Alex’s Engagement

Location: Northwestern Montana

Montana Engagement Photography

Feeling a tad bit defeated upon arrival to Glacier National Park in Montana hearing the iconic Going-to-the-Sun Road was closed for the season still due to snow at higher elevations (we had no idea it was still very early in the year for them... think spring conditions in the middle of June!!) Note: best time to see Glacier we heard is July through September... so if your planning your wedding there or simply a trip out there, that's the time to do it!! Literally our LAST day there, the entire road opened to vehicles!! Here's how it went... the morning of our last day there when we went to grab our morning coffee (total caffeine addict here) and heard other travelers chatting about the road finally being open... holy-man were we beyond stoked! After all, I planned all these amazing alpine hikes in Logan Pass and a thru hike to Grinnell Glacier... PLUS let's not forget the unbelievable overlooks along the road (which we didn't really get to see anyway due to the massive amounts of fog, but hey, just a reason to head back there to see it all again in a different light...!!) 

Well we set off on one of Logan Pass's most popular hike, in search of that epic vista view of the mountains at the end. We were told it was only a little over a 5 mile trek round trip with minimal elevation gain which sounded like a quick little jaunt from the parking lot, so we ventured off without our packs or any extra layers... about a mile into hiking through the alpine meadows (they call the Hanging Gardens when it's ya know... not still covered in 4-6 feet of snow, lol) it was nearly impossible to stay on trail due to the heavy amounts of fog, even the bright yellow trail markers were hard to spot most of the time. But all that aside & only a bit of freezing here & there we made it to the "outstanding view" which was 99% white with a soft outline of tall pines, as if there was no giant mountain there at all. There was a serene feel to the area though, with only a few people making it as far along the trail as us... due to the sketchy switchback on an incredibly steep & snowy slope at about a mile and a half in. But it was SO worth all the scariness...one girl may or may not have sat on her butt & did a little crawl thing to make it around, (that girl being ME, lol!! 

We met up with a couple we had seen on a previous hike to Avalanche Lake on the West side of Glacier the day before & decided to do a little mini engagement session in the Montana mountains!! Tracy & Alex mentioned they didn't have an "official wedding photographer" for their wedding a couple years ago, so they were all for doing a quick adventure session along the trail! There is a certain moodiness to photographing the dense fog in Montana's highlands that I just love!! I cannot wait to visit again, fingers crossed its for a rad mountain elopement or Montana engagement next time!

UPDATE: A little manifesting later and here is an elopement we got to document in GNP a couple years later: Natori + Joel’s Glacier National Park Wedding

Heya, I’m Cass, your Montana engagement photographer!

Curious how this whole
thing works?