In the summer of 2020, Katey was living in New York City and decided to book a one way ticket home to Denver during the global pandemic to spend some time with family. During this time Katey was encouraged to join Hinge but was very hesitant to meet any new people given the current state of the world. But alas, the encouragement finally worked and shortly after she matched with Erik. After some friendly small talk the two decided to meet in-person at Denver Beer Co. for their first date and the rest was history. Erik was Katey's one and only Hinge date so they're pretty happy with the success rate 🥰

On August 1st of 2020, Erik drove out to Telluride, CO to do the Island & Ice Lake hike, one that was on his list since moving to Colorado. Awaking at 5am after sleeping in the back of his Honda CRV, Erik set out on the 9 mile adventure. A few hours later, Erik approached the first destination, Island Lake. Upon arrival, he noticed a rocky offshoot path that climbed high above Island Lake. Rather than continue on the path that was mapped out, Erik ventured off on the steep offshoot trail to get a better vantage point of Island Lake. After some near slips on the ascent, Erik arrived at the peak and sat there for the next hour, enamored by the stunning turquoise water of Island Lake. He knew that one day he would want to do this hike again with a special someone. Two weeks later, he met Katey. In the Summer of 2023, Erik began to map out how he was going to propose to Katey. He planned two trips - a casual weekend getaway to Telluride and a decoy longer vacation to Maine. He hoped Katey would expect the proposal to happen in Maine and Telluride would be a complete surprise. On the afternoon of August 3rd, Erik threw the engagement ring (which was just finished that day) into his backpack and they set off on the 6 hour trip to the Island & Ice Lake trailhead. Per tradition, Katey and Erik slept in the back of the car (how romantic) and they awoke at 5am to the sounds of pouring rain pattering down on the car roof. Katey exclaimed "oh well...guess we can't hike today," to which Erik adamantly assured her they will be hiking no matter what. Sure enough, the rain passed and blue skies opened up overhead. A few hours later, Katey and Erik reached Island Lake. However, Erik wanted complete solitude away from people to pop the question and pointed at the offshoot path leading to the peak above the lake as their next destination. Halfway through the difficult ascent, Katey half-jokingly said "I can see the lake just fine from here," but Erik urged her to push on. Katey noted, "I hope I get a snack at the top." Erik grinned to himself knowing what awaited. They eventually reached the peak and Erik asked Katey to turn around so he could get a picture of her looking out at the lake. Katey hesitantly turned around and Erik began fumbling in his backpack for the ring. When Katey finally turned back around, Erik was holding a ring box and got down on one knee and asked Katey to marry him. After celebrating at the top of the peak with just the two of them, they began their descent and drove to Telluride. When they arrived at the cabin they would be staying at for the weekend, Katey was again surprised by friends Rachel, Alec, Billi, Cody, and Erik's brother Greg, who also made the drive out to Telluride to celebrate with the newly engaged couple.