the helicopter that was booked to take us up to the top of the mountain for wedding photos had already cancelled on us on the wedding day because of rain, the day after the wedding because of rain, and the rescheduled shoot time 3 weeks later because of forest fire smoke. we woke up almost scared to look outside, knowing that the smoke was still there and it would be cancelled for the 4th time. my heart sank for kaitlyn because i knew how much she had wanted photographs deep within the mountains. i unzipped the tent and surely enough, the air was thick with yellow hazed smoke as the sun barely shone through. we decided to head out towards moraine lake and make the best of it, after all, sometimes great things don’t work out to make way for greater things.

as we were driving i got a text message from kaitlyn that said, “hey! we saw a turn off for johnston canyon, we’ve never been there before but wanted to go check it out and it looks so magical with the smoke!” one of my favorite things about this girl is she is able to turn any situation into an adventure. “the only difference between an ordeal and an adventure is your attitude”

we took the random turn off the highway and she was right, it really was incredible. the smoke settling in on the green of the trees with the early morning glow was nothing short of mystic. we got to the parking lot and i looked up where we were on my phone and it said it was a 5km hike. i had seen photographs of johnston canyon on instagram and always wanted to go, and kaitlyn and neil were stoked on the last minute change of plans. they changed into their wedding clothes and we walked all the way to the end (yes, kaitlyn was in her wedding dress, a jean jacket and sneakers and neil even hiked in his dress shoes ha! :))

once we got there we could see the most incredible waterfall and river down below, so we took a little side path off the main trail and found our way down there where there was NO PEOPLE. it was seriously such a surreal feeling being in this place with the smoke and the sun and the sound of the waterfall. it literally felt like we were walking around in the most epic fairytale scene. kaitlyn floated around in her beautiful gown and neil held her hand and kissed her forhead more times than i could count. we stayed down there for a while just taking it all in. kaitlyn and neil stood alone and took time to talk and be together standing infront of the falls, and pete and i just stood  back and watched. i am so so grateful to get to be a part of these moments <3

**if you enjoyed these photographs be sure to click the “like” button below and feel free to leave kaitlyn and neil some love in the comments section!

to follow more adventures and enchanted elopements, head over to my instagram by clicking here! thanks so much for being here and i hope you have a beautiful day!
xoxo ~ meg.