Couple Exchanges Wedding Vows at 6,000 Ft. After Training a Year for Hike (Exclusive)

Inspired by their shared love of nature and “cheaper, more personal” weddings, musicians Gabriela Gutierrez and Devin Weitz, both 27, knew they “wanted to get married in a magical, mountainous back country.” Despite having never been to Washington’s Mount Baker Wilderness, the couple “took a leap of faith” and decided it would be the perfect place to elope because the area looked “so beautiful” in photos.

There was just one problem — Gutierrez and Weitz “both have asthma and aren’t particularly athletic,” so they knew the hike would be arduous. Needing as much time as possible to ensure they could “comfortably pull this off,” hiking preparations began almost an entire year before their wedding day, Sept. 15, 2025.

“Training for backpacking felt like a Herculean effort,” the couple tells PEOPLE. “Neither of us had any backpacking experience at all prior to the start of this journey, and we had to start from the very basics. That meant hiring personal trainers, changing our diet, and planning progressively more difficult training hikes and backpacking trips every week leading up to our elopement.”

Gutierrez and Weitz admit “there was a lot of trial and error.”

“We did countless hours of research on backpacking gear, survivalist skills, and more trips to REI than you could possibly imagine,” the pair explains. “On top of the backpacking crash course we did in less than a year, we also had to practice backpacking with our suit and dress attached to our packs, as well as learning to cook fondue and lamb up at above 5,000 feet of elevation.”

After a few backpacking trips, Gutierrez and Weitz “finally felt ready enough to embark on [their] long-anticipated elopement day.”

“Even though it was grueling, by the end we genuinely felt like all the prep was worth it and needed,” they say.

The bride and groom describe their hiking experience as “something straight out of a fairy tale.” They departed through “a very thick fog” at 10 a.m. As their journey continued, the sun began to shine as the clouds dissipated, offering a glimpse of the snow-capped mountains in the distance.

“From eating fresh wild blueberries throughout the entire trail, to stumbling upon a small group of goats, to playing in scattered patches of alpine snow, the whole hike felt surreal and magical from start to finish,” Gutierrez and Weitz say. “Nearing the end of the trail, the fog had now almost completely dissipated and we could see absolutely stunning views of both Mount Shuksan and Mount Baker in the distance, as well as the breathtaking valley below.”

The “steep, rocky” trek to the ceremony spot — which was “along the Ptarmigan Ridge trail in the saddle of the Coleman Pinnacle, about a mile away from Camp Kaiser, which sits just below Sholes Glacier” — was a more than 4-mile hike deep into the backcountry, which still had some remaining winter snow. After about five hours, the couple was ready to set up their camp.

“When we arrived at our ceremony location smack dab in front of the peak of Mount Baker, we knew right then that this truly was the happiest moment of our lives, and that all the training and effort it took to get here was beyond worth it,” Gutierrez and Weitz say.

Because neither Gutierrez nor Weitz “dreamt of having a traditional wedding,” due to all the “dreaded” formalities and expectations associated, their attire was just as unique as their wedding spot. Gutierrez wore a striking red silk gown with a black cape and a spiky headpiece, a look inspired by past highlights in her metal harpist career. Meanwhile, Weitz opted for a dark suit, and sang a Stephen Sondheim song during the ceremony.

The couple exchanged vows at approximately “6,000 feet” elevation, per their photographer, Traci Edwards. Bill Young, another member of Adventure and Vow (an adventure elopement photography, videography and planning team), officiated the ceremony.

“It genuinely felt like the most surreal and moving experience in my life,” Weitz says. “So, so much work (literal blood, sweat and tears), went into this day, and getting to culminate our efforts by exchanging vows right in front of the indescribable beauty of Mount Baker filled me with a euphoric feeling I’ll truly never forget. The stillness of the air, the way the setting sun slanted golden rays on us as we spoke our hearts out to one another — these images will stay with me for a lifetime.”

Gutierrez adds, “It felt like a dream. It was hard to believe it was real, even as it was happening. I couldn’t believe a place so beautiful as that not just existed, but was our freaking wedding backdrop. Everything about the day went absolutely perfect, there was not a single thing that went wrong, and that was surreal too because in weddings usually something inevitably goes wrong. I felt like the main character of a fantasy open world game exploring a vast, beautiful, uncharted world with my husband at my side, ready for the adventure that is life.”

The couple celebrated their marriage by sharing their first dance in front of Mount Shuksaan, then cooked an elaborate backcountry dinner of rosemary-marinated lamb chops and cheese fondue by headlamp. The night ended with stargazing at the Milky Way for the first time, “adding to the magic of the elopement.”

“The next day, we soaked in the beauty of camp and then took our time hiking back, making sure to eat plenty of the fresh wild blueberries on our merry way,” Gutierrez and Weitz recall. “Back at the Airbnb, we celebrated with some champagne in the hot tub, reveling in everything that just occurred.”

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The adventure didn’t end there. Days later, the newlyweds traveled to four European countries for their honeymoon: Italy, Switzerland, France and the Netherlands.

“Our elopement and honeymoon celebration afterwards was truly everything we could have asked for and more,” Gutierrez and Weitz tell PEOPLE.