Day 1: Best Day of My Life (So Far…)
Journey to the Great Smoky Mountains
Fast-forward to June of 2022. I’d purchased the engagement ring – a beautiful one that Hannah and I found at a store near Purdue. I’d received Maria’s parents’ blessing to propose and informed my own family of the plan. Hannah and I had planned the trip. We’d mapped out our route and chosen a spot (Charlies Bunion, a scenic rocky outcropping on the Appalachian Trail) for the proposal. I’d reserved the backpacking sites. Sam had arrived in the country. Everyone had requested days off as appropriate. The forecast was looking solid.
In short, everything looked perfect. I was excited, nervous, ecstatic, and panicked all at the same time. At this point, I was assuming that Maria suspected that I might propose that weekend. However, I – along with Hannah and Sam – had given little indication to confirm this suspicion.
Early in the morning on Friday, June 10th, Maria and I departed Indianapolis for Great Smoky Mountains National Park. During a stop at a gas station, I texted Maria’s and my family to give them a heads up. I told them that – if all goes well – Maria and I will be an engaged couple the next time we talk.
Our quartet rendezvoused at a Tennessee Welcome Center on I-75 in the early afternoon. There, Maria and I excitedly introduced ourselves to Sam: while we’d met him virtually many times, it had been years since he had been in the United States thanks to the pandemic. It was great to see him in person.
From there, we continued to the Smokies, specifically to Newfound Gap: our parking spot for the weekend. On the way down, Maria called her parents while I napped in the car. I was petrified that they might accidentally give away my plan to propose to her that evening, but – to my relief – they acted mostly normal on the phone.
After passing through Pigeon Forge – a resort town outside the park – we crossed into the park. The park’s windy road guided us past scenic views, gorgeous pull-offs, and miles of lush forest. We finally arrived at Newfound Gap at around 3:15 PM, discovering a large crowd of tourists taking photos of the views.
Over the years, several people that I know have quoted the following statistic to me:
Fewer than 1% of visitors to Great Smoky Mountains National Park venture more than 1 mile beyond any of the trailheads.
Unverified Statistic
While I have not confirmed this statistic with any reputable sources, it feels about right. As the most-visited national park, it is easy to encounter large crowds at the park’s popular and easy-to-access stops. However, it doesn’t take much effort to escape those crowds. Once you begin exploring the park’s trail system, the volume of tourists thin out quickly. Maria and I discovered this when we visited the previous year. If you venture into the park’s backcountry, you will find few – potentially zero – people. This was something I was banking on, because I wanted Charlies Bunion all to ourselves. I couldn’t imagine anything other than a private proposal with Maria, so I prayed that we would find the location void of other travelers.
After a few minutes, Maria and I located Hannah and Sam in the parking lot. We grouped up at our cars and prepared our backpacking packs for our 3-day, 2-night adventure. We grabbed our trekking poles, stopped at the trailhead’s bathrooms, and began our escape from the crowd.
Four Miles That Changed My Life
As expected, we began encountering fewer people as we distanced ourselves from the parking lot. Occasional hikers and backpackers replaced the large numbers of tourists.
The Appalachian Trail guided us on our journey. I’d only ever set foot on part of the trail when visiting Clingman’s Dome in 2021, and – while hiking on it properly – it was easy to see why so many people savored their journeys on the trail. Beautiful views of the Great Smoky Mountains complimented the trail’s moderate ruggedness. Even without the excitement of a fast-approaching proposal, the hike would have been quite enjoyable.
Sam led our quartet, followed by Hannah, then Maria, then me at the back. We talked about a huge range of topics then and throughout the long weekend, all growing closer to one another with each passing moment. During this start to the weekend, however, I was relatively silent: I couldn’t stop thinking about the proposal. What if it started raining? How would we handle an unexpected crowd at Charlies Bunion? What if I messed up or chickened out? What if Maria figured out what we were doing?
Until starting the hike, I had been pretending the day was simply another trip to a national park. Once we started hiking, however, the magnitude of what I was about to do started to hit me. Thoughts of the proposal sent spikes of adrenaline through my body. The adrenaline made the hike far easier than it should have been, but my heart would not stop pounding.
After three miles, we reached Icewater Spring shelter, the host of our first night’s sleep. There, we set up our tents and thereby lightened our packs. At one point during the stop, I managed to talk to Hannah and Sam separately from Maria. We reviewed our loosely-structured proposal plan one last time, and Hannah calmed my nerves.
“I’m – like – really nervous for some reason!” I told her before returning to Maria.
“You’re going to be fine, you’re doing great!” Hannah told me in response.
We reequipped our lightened packs and began the final trek – about 1 more mile – to Charlies Bunion. Once again, I tried my best to act like everything was perfectly normal. However, my heart continued to pound recklessly. I can’t believe I’m about to do this! I thought to myself.
We reached Charlies Bunion within 30 minutes of departing the shelter. Once we arrived at the split in the trail that takes hikers to the rock, my heart skipped several beats. This is it…
I led the four of us to the Bunion. We stopped to take a few photos, at which point I was starting to find difficulty in concealing my uneven breathing and shaky hands. Excitement mixed with nervousness mixed with exhilaration, making it hard to act normally.
Improvising
We arrived at the Bunion at 6:45 PM and found exactly zero people around. The view of the Great Smoky Mountains from the rocky outcropping was absolutely gorgeous. Clouds overhead managed to keep the temperature cool. I breathed a sigh of relief as I set my pack and gear down, and another wave of adrenaline hit me. I wasn’t sure if I should propose immediately or wait, unsure how likely it was that a stray hiker would interrupt the proposal. Also, I hoped that the sun would peak through the clouds, creating some more romantic lighting. I decided to wait some time and scope out the area before making my move. We began to talk about cooking dinner as Sam and I explored the rocks that comprised Charlies Bunion.
Before long, I heard voices coming from the nearby Appalachian Trail. Damn it… I thought. There goes our privacy. The voices grew louder, and eventually a family of backpackers arrived at the Bunion. They unloaded their gear and started taking photos. DAMN IT.
We didn’t know how long the backpackers would stay, so Sam and I scrambled up a steep rock face directly behind the Bunion. The rock face provided a nice bird’s eye view of the Bunion, which made me think of a plan. Once we reached the top – out of earshot from Maria – I suggested the plan to Sam: after the backpackers left, him and Hannah would stay on top of this rock face. From there, they could silently film and photograph the proposal while I met Maria back down at the Bunion. That way, I could have the private proposal that I knew Maria wanted, but they could still watch from a distance and capture the moment digitally. Perfect, I told myself.
After Sam agreed to the plan, Hannah and Maria began climbing up the same rock face. Once they got to the top, I waited patiently for the backpackers down below to leave. After a few minutes, I spotted them donning their packs once more and grabbing their hiking poles. At this point, I suggested to Maria that we head back down to Charlies Bunion and start making dinner. She agreed, and we began descending as Hannah and Sam sneakily prepared their cameras up above.
It’s showtime…
The Proposal
Once Maria and I reached Charlies Bunion again, I glanced up to look for Hannah and Sam atop the rock face. I found them with their cameras out, blending in with the bushes around them and with huge smiles on their faces. My heart began to pound with excitement. Everything was lining up as I’d hoped, and pure exhilaration overrode any of my remaining nerves. It was nearly impossible to keep my hands steady and breathing normal.
“I have a gift for you,” I told Maria when we reached my pack. “Is it food?” she asked with a big smile on her face. “No, it’s not food,” I responded.
I pulled out a photo album that I had made for the occasion. It contained a photo of us from every month that we had dated since 2017. I guided her up onto the Bunion and we began perusing its contents. At this point, Maria deduced what was happening, but she played along with my ruse. Halfway through the photo album, I excused myself to grab a sip of water. While the photo album continued to distract Maria, I jumped down from the Bunion and grabbed the ring out of my pack. I shoved the ring in my pocket, took a drink from my water bottle, and returned to Maria’s side.
After Maria finished looking through the photos, I told her that we could keep filling the album as we embarked on more adventures and made more memories together. Then, I said: “I have an idea what the next photo could be.”
I got down on one knee.
My decision not to prepare a speech for Maria turned out to be a wise one, because I immediately broke down with happy and overwhelming tears. Maria followed suit. The next minute was a blur of tears, huge smiles, excited laughs, and attempts to tell each other how much we loved each other. Eventually, I managed to say the words “Will you marry me?” and Maria of course said “YES!”
We embraced as Hannah and Sam started cheering from their perch up above. We continued hugging each other and crying profusely as they clambered down the rock. Once they reached us, we all started hugging each other and – before long – the four of us were in tears. Hannah repeatedly stated how happy she was for us, while Sam said: “That may have been the most moving thing I have ever seen.”
Celebration at Sunset
Once our emotions leveled out to a normal-ish level, we sat down on the Bunion to make dinner. The sun had begun peaking through the clouds, creating a beautiful golden light all around us. I excitedly told Maria about all the shenanigans that Hannah and I had done leading up to this moment. Our faces began hurting from smiling, but we didn’t care.
We spent an hour making and eating dinner and sharing in joyful conversation. Once the sun began to set and the horizon started to turn reddish orange, we decided it was time for photos. Hannah and Sam snapped many photos of us as the sun descended from the sky. The evening light bathed our stunning surroundings, creating a beautiful setting for the pictures.
The longer we stayed at Charlies Bunion, the more beautiful the sunset colors became. While we couldn’t see the sun directly – a mountain obscured it – it still created a breathtaking sight. Eventually, the nearby peaks looked like they were on fire. A beautiful red-orange glow illuminated the ridges and the skies around it. It was hard to remember a more stunning sunset.
After nearly two and a half hours at Charlies Bunion, we decided it was time to return to camp. The sun had set and darkness was rapidly engulfing the mountains. We donned our packs once more, equipped our headlamps, and returned to the Appalachian Trail at 9 PM. Maria and I continued to look at each other with excitement, still in disbelief that we had just gotten engaged.
Salamanders in the Dark
On our way back, Sam – an avid wildlife enthusiast and photographer – began to notice salamanders appearing on and around the trail. While the daytime required him to search for them under logs and rocks, the nighttime brough them directly to us. He led our quartet to spotting and photographing many salamanders, most of them red-cheeked. The cute little amphibians delighted Maria and I, who had never seen them in such high numbers. Sam was even more excited, since New Zealand possesses zero native salamander species. He was like a kid in a candy store.
We returned to the Icewater Spring shelter around 10 PM. While Hannah and Sam ventured back onto the trail to photograph more salamanders, Maria and I prepared for bed. After hanging our packs on the nearby bear cables, we laid awake in our tent for 15 minutes. Neither of us could believe what had just happened. We were both in shock and excited beyond measure.
I told Maria more about the planning that went into the proposal, and reaffirmed to her how happy I was with how it went. She lauded everything about it, and we agreed that there was nothing either of us would have changed. We knew we would never forget the perfect, intimate moment.
We fell asleep to the sounds of nature. The best day of our lives had worn us out, and we were ready to sleep.