There are sessions we plan carefully and then become even more incredible than we imagined them to be in the first place. Kara and George’s Cottonwood Pass engagement was exactly that: one of the most visually layered evenings we have had on this pass in years.
Kara heard about George through a mutual friend, brushed it off, and then discovered on her own that this same George had been showing up at every concert she attended that summer. She confirmed it was him, and that was that. George, in her words, accepted his fate. We love that for both of them.
They are best friends in the most grounded sense of that phrase. Kara is direct and takes a little time warming up to people; George is personable, openly affectionate, and by Kara’s account, arguably too kissy. Watching them together, you can see exactly how those two things fit. She lights up in a way that is completely involuntary. He is steady and easy and clearly just happy to be wherever she is. They ski, camp, packraft, and do most things outdoors together — which made Cottonwood Pass feel like a natural choice for them.
The evening started at the alpine tarns just below the summit as the light began to drop. Cottonwood Pass at 12,000 feet catches the sunset lighting at its best, and that evening the clouds stacked and caught fire in a way that turned everything below a deep, layered blue while the sky above burned orange and red. We were at the water’s edge for the silhouette shots as the last light dropped behind the ridge, and the reflection in the tarn doubled everything — the color, the peaks, the two of them.
What we did not plan for was the moon. A thick gibbous was already up before the sun finished setting, hanging in the cobalt sky above the ridge while Kara and George stood in the last of the golden hour.
Kara and George brought their two dogs — Theo, a cockapoo, and Millie, an aussie/golden mix. Both are gentle and loving and anxious in their own particular ways. Theo wanted to be carried the entire time. Millie wanted to roam every inch of the tundra. The images of all four of them on the wildflower-covered hillside above Taylor Park Reservoir, with fireweed and aster in the foreground and the valley dropping away behind them, are some of our favorites from the entire session and they used one for their save-the-dates.
Cottonwood Pass Road climbs east out of Buena Vista and crests at 12,126 feet, making it one of the highest paved passes in North America. The views from the summit and the surrounding tundra extend across the Collegiate Peaks Wilderness to the east and drop toward Taylor Park and the Gunnison Valley to the west — which means at sunset, you are watching light move across an enormous amount of Colorado all at once.
The alpine tarns near the summit are what make a Cottonwood Pass engagement session exceptional. In calm conditions the water holds a full reflection of the sky, and at golden hour the combination of tarn, tundra, and peaks creates a layered landscape. Wildflowers along the pass typically peak in mid to late July into early August, and the hillsides above treeline fill in with fireweed, aster, and alpine clover in a way that is distinctly and unmistakably Colorado summer.
The pass is accessible via a well-maintained paved road and does not require off-road capability. Dogs are welcome, and we love it when couples bring them. As your date approaches, we are happy to advise on which areas of the pass are likely to be at their best given the conditions that year.
After the session wrapped, we camped out together — which is honestly one of our favorite ways to end a night like that. Around the campfire, we enjoyed the kind of easy conversation that happens when everyone is a little tired and a little in awe of what just happened. Kara and George are exactly the kind of people you want to be out there with.
Kara and George trusted us with more than just this evening on the pass. We photographed their backcountry skiing proposal, and we were also their wedding photographers. Getting to follow a couple from the very beginning of their engagement all the way through to their wedding day is one of the greatest privileges of this work, and these two made every single chapter worth documenting.
If Cottonwood Pass is calling you, we would love to be there with you. Browse our engagements portfolio to see more of what this valley looks like through our lens, and when you are ready, reach out — we would love to hear about your plans.
