Kasey + Erich // El Chaltén Patagonia
Backpacking wedding photos in Patagonia
“If discontent is your disease, travel is medicine. It resensitizes. It opens you up to see outside the patterns you follow. Because new places require new learning.”
I read that sentence from Jedidiah Jenken’s book To Shake the Sleeping Self while on the plane from Mendoza, Argentina to El Calafate, Argentina. Kasey and Erich sat behind us, listening to music, sleeping on each other’s shoulders after a beautiful several days celebrating their wedding at a wine lodge in Mendoza. We were on the second leg of an epic trip documenting Kasey and Erich’s wedding, heading for the land of glaciers and toothy mountains – Patagonia.
Kasey and Erich might be some of the most well-traveled individuals I’ve ever met. They’ve been all over—from surfing remote waves off the coast of Bali, to bungee jumping in New Zealand, to actually living in one of the most beautiful places on earth (Hawaii). It really only seemed right that they celebrate their marriage somewhere just as epic as all the other adventures they’d been on together, so they took on a new challenge and did their first backpacking trip ever in one of the most unforgiving landscapes in the world. To some that might seem reckless, but to them, it’s just another story to add to their collection.
We wanted to see it all. A total of 19 miles over two days, two alpine lakes, many peaks photographed, many muscles worn out. We started with espresso and cheese bread in a cafe, then hiked our way through town and up a steep trail headed towards an alpine lake at the base of the infamous Mount Fitz Roy. We set up our tents near the outlet river and climbed the steepest part of the trail to see the lake at sunset. As we neared the top and the peaks of Fitz Roy and Poincenot became visible, I kept hearing “wow” and “oh my god” muttered as we hiked. We crested the summit and by that point even those words didn’t satisfy the awe we were all experiencing. Mount Fitz Roy—even more indescribably massive than we could have imagined.
Kasey and Erich changed into their wedding clothes and held each other close while a chilly breeze danced across the water. Pleasant weather by Patagonia standards. We tenuously hopped rocks at the edge of the lake, watching our footwork while marveling at the expanse of granite and glaciers before us. It honestly felt silly to try to capture photos and describe Patagonia, a place that can only be truly understood by experiencing it oneself. It’s an absolute wonder.
Kasey and Erich – in their element, inspired in the place before them, energized by the trek it took to get there. A love no less mystical than the Chaltén massif itself.
Dress: Sara Janks from Love & Lace
Groom’s Attire: Suit Supply
Cedar & Pines is an adventurous wedding and elopement photographer duo made up of Nate and Megan Kantor, a married couple living in their Airstream and traveling the American West. They believe in honest wedding photography, capturing the small candid moments to the epic landscape views. They travel to photograph adventure elopements and destination weddings in Colorado, California, Utah, New Mexico, Arizona, Wyoming, Washington, Patagonia and the ends of the earth.
