This Valentine’s Day, we point our compass to tales of love, connection and shared adventures. At the Mazamas, we believe the great outdoors not only supplies stunning landscapes and heart-thumping adventures but also serves as the backdrop for some of life’s beautiful love stories.
In celebration of this international day of love, we’re delighted to share stories of couples who’ve found love amidst the rugged allure of nature and strengthened their bond through the Mazamas.
Merche & Chelsea
They met online at the height of the pandemic in 2020 and married in a small ceremony at Crater Lake the following year. How did they get to know each other? They hiked. The first trail the pair walked together was Tom, Dick and Harry Mountain. At the top, they gazed at Mt. Hood, never dreaming they would soon stand at its summit together.
Chelsea, a high school Spanish teacher and initially the more outdoorsy of the pair, applied to the Mazama Basic Climbing Education Program in 2022. Hearing Chelsea and another friend talk nonstop about BCEP on a hike, Merche applied too. “I thought, ‘what am I going to do on all the weekends you’re with the Mazamas,’” Merche, who teaches fifth grade in Hillsboro, recalled. “I can’t miss out.”
They both were accepted to the BCEP LGBTQ+ team, which they credited with enhancing their overall experience. “Representation matters,” Chelsea said. “That was the first time either of us had been part of an affinity group, and it was very welcoming. There even were others who did not speak English as their first language (members of the all-Latino BCEP team) BCEP was such a great introduction to the organization.”
But the couple wanted more, so they climbed mountains together that summer – Mt. Hood, Unicorn Peak, Mt. Washington and South Sister, to boost their applications to the Mazama Intermediate Climbing School (ICS). There were a couple of climbs where they said they were feeling a bit unwell, and if they hadn’t been together, they might have bailed.
“But we helped and inspired each other, and it was so amazing to be on top of Mt. Hood together,” Chelsea said. “It’s so wonderful to have a hobby like climbing that we share.”
Chelsea and Merche are in the midst of ICS and have signed up to assist with the LGBTQ+ BCEP team again this year.
Kirk & Debbie
Debbie and Kirk met on the ICS committee in 2018, but it would take a few out-of-character, post-committee group pub gatherings, texts and a spare ticket to a soccer game before they truly clicked.
“Kirk is a major introvert,” said Debbie, who also noted she’s very shy. “I learned later he never went for beers after committee meetings.”
“Yeah, there was no way I was just going to ask her out,” Kirk said, recalling the group email he sent inquiring if anyone wanted to go to a Timbers game. He wasn’t looking for just anyone though, and lucky for him, Debbie was the only taker.
But even during the soccer match, Debbie didn’t think it was a real date. That didn’t happen until they had been texting a lot, they had a free weekend from ICS, and they went to the beach and went for a hike.
“The rest, as they say, is history,” they both joked. That summer, the pair began climbing a fair bit together, and they backpacked around Mt. Adams. Then Debbie had a bad fall.
“It was really bad,” Kirk said. “She fell like 30 feet.” She suffered a concussion, broke her heel. As a result, the couple spent a lot of time indoors, getting to know each other.
“I couldn’t do anything, and I really appreciated how supportive he was,” Debbie said. “I just wasn’t myself, and he was just wicked patient through all that.”
Fast forward to July 2019. Kirk proposed on the day off, between climbing South Early Winter Spire and Liberty Bell in the North Cascades. Their first wedding date, in 2020, was delayed due to COVID. In 2021, they opted for a small backyard ceremony at Kirk’s parents’ house in West Linn. Both had been married before and have kids ranging in age from 24 to 33.
Kirk and Debbie assisted with BCEP, with Debbie in Leadership Development and Kirk a longtime climb leader. Together, they have run the LGBTQ+ BCEP team the past few years as allies, and have been so happy to meet the demand for that affinity space.
Jeff & Freda
Jeff and Freda, who have run and continue to help with our Nordic and Backcountry Ski programs, met in November 1999. They both attended the Mazamas Annual Banquet at the Oregon Zoo. They met in the beverage line, and later, by coincidence, they wound up seated across from each other at dinner.
A few weeks later, Jefff got Freda’s number from a friend. They had dinner once, and shortly thereafter, Jeff took on a huge work project, and over the next year, he put in 60- to 100-hour weeks and had no time for a social life.
But he emerged that following spring, when the project was over. He helped out with a BCEP class, and in another coincidence, Freda was assisting the same class. Late on the Ruckel Ridge conditioning hike, while descending from Benson Plateau, Freda and Jeff happened to be together in the back. They chatted, and Jeff asked if she would be interested in picking up where they left off 16 months prior.
“Maybe” she said. “I have two questions…My dad was a school teacher, and in the summer he framed houses. Any man in my life needs to be handy. Do you know which end of a hammer to hold onto?”
Jeff replied: “Yeah. What’s your second question?”
Freda: “I intend to be married by the time I’m 50, and right now I’m 48. Are you still interested?”
Three-and-a-half years later they married at an outdoor wedding with a cloudburst rainstorm interruption between their vows. And they’re still going strong, living a life of adventure and volunteerism, with the Mazamas and beyond.
Cute!