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Panoramic view of Rocky Mountain National Park and Lilly Lake from the fire mitigation clearing
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Estes Park Wedding Weekend

A wedding under Lumpy Ridge, a rain-shortened festival, two hundred elk, and a brand-new view of Rocky Mountain National Park that did not exist last year.

Friday we pointed the truck at Estes Park for Sara and Kolton’s wedding, with the Dao House as home base for the weekend. Three days, one wedding, one festival, and a view none of us had ever seen before.

The Wedding

The venue was amazing, with Lumpy Ridge standing close over everything. Good weddings have good views and good people, and this one had both: we got to see old friends and make new ones, all wrapped around the love of two wonderful people. That is the whole formula, and it worked.

The View After the Saws

The best moment of the weekend happened away from town, at Aunt JoAnne’s place. Fire mitigation crews have taken thousands of trees off the hillside up there, and the result is a view that simply did not exist before. You can stand in one spot and see almost the entire Rocky Mountain National Park area laid out in front of you. It is amazing.

Shawna and Aunt JoAnne looking out over Rocky Mountain National Park
The new view from JoAnne’s. Worth every stump.
Matt and Shawna with the Rocky Mountain National Park vista behind them
Thousands of trees gone, one heck of a view gained.

Up close, the mitigation zone looks like what it is: stumps, slash piles, and open ground. The scar will show in photos for a while. But the grass is already growing back through it, and given time the land will reclaim the whole thing. The forest needed the work, and the view is the bonus nobody planned.

The truck parked in the fire mitigation clearing with Longs Peak behind
The mitigation zone, up close.
View of the mountains from the cabin porch with the truck parked nearby
Porch sitting at JoAnne’s.

The wildlife has opinions about the new openness. We counted something like two hundred elk over the weekend and did not take a single photo of one, which tells you how routine elk have become for this family. This mule deer buck, bedded down and watching us watch him, did earn a picture.

A mule deer buck bedded down among the trees
Bedded down and unbothered.

Saturday in Town

Saturday was supposed to be Pumpkins & Pilsners. Estes Park had other ideas. The town was as busy as I have ever seen it, honestly insane, and then the rain showed up and cut the festival short. So we made other plans: back to the Dao House, which is basically built for exactly that kind of afternoon, and out to dinner at a new spot called The Bullpin with JoAnne.

Rebekah riding a dragon on the carousel
Carousel negotiations: successful.

The Bullpin has bowling, which we skipped this time, but it also has an arcade area that Rebekah declared a nice bonus. Good food, good vibes, no regrets about the rain.

Starlink dish suction-mounted to the truck's sunroof
Wi-Fi wherever the sky is.

Heading Home

Sunday we packed up and pointed the truck home, with one last wildlife cameo: a moose in Allenspark on the way out of the hills. Then the final stop that every good mountain weekend deserves, dinner at Smokin’ Dave’s in Lyons for the three of us, and the rest is home.

The truck with Longs Peak rising behind it
Longs Peak over the hood.
Rebekah sitting on the rocks taking in the mountain view
Taking it all in.

A wonderful trip seeing family, mountains, and a wedding.

Photo: Near Estes Park, CO · October 2026