It was a cold day in February, with temperatures hovering around freezing in the lowlands and tumbling into the single digits higher among New Hampshire’s mountains. Thick, gray clouds hung heavy, congesting the wintry sky and tracing the faint outlines of a fragile sun. Andrew rummaged through the hatch for a pair of gloves, unwilling to leave the car’s warmth and surrender to the waiting cold. The morning was quickly fading, and it was past time for departing. Gloves in hand and packs shouldered, Andrew and friends set off for a short hike up Mount Passaconaway in New Hampshire’s White Mountain National Forest. But unbeknownst to Andrew (and in sharp contrast to his late start), Megan was already well on her way scrambling up the neighboring Mount Whiteface and looping towards the very same Mount Passaconaway. One waiting coincidence among many, Megan and Andrew’s overlapping journeys were on a collision course. Andrew’s boots crunched in the snow as he and his friends crested the last climb and neared the top of Passaconaway. Suddenly, there was the sun, shining defiantly through the overcast, and there was Megan, cropped against the white backdrop of the snowy valley below. The two struck up a conversation, and soon realized how unnervingly parallel their lives had been up until their serendipitous meeting. They had attended the same college and had studied the same subjects. They had graduated the same year. They lived in Somerville, within a mile of one another. They had hiked the Appalachian Trail. They were both planning to hike the Pacific Crest Trail that year. Andrew grew more nervous with similarity, fearing that Megan would suspect he was just making it all up for a chance to meet a pretty girl on a mountain. The rest of Andrew’s friends arrived at the overlook, interrupting Andrew and Megan’s conversation and (momentarily) separating the two. Megan, withdrawing to the trail, called out, “It was nice meeting you! Maybe we will see each other on the Pacific Crest Trail!” Andrew and company lingered at the summit for a few minutes and then took their leave to head down. Andrew’s friend Ben asked Andrew a question, but Andrew wasn’t listening. Ben repeated the question, but was again met with silence. Sensing that Andrew’s thoughts were elsewhere, Ben laughed and theatrically stated, “Go to her.” Andrew left Ben in the dust and tried not to feel like a creep as he chased Megan down the mountain. In his haste, Andrew passed a few other hikers as he continued downwards, none of whom Andrew had met and all of whom seemed to sense Andrew’s intentions. Excusing himself as he squeezed by on the narrow trail, Andrew was horrified as one particularly perceptive (and nosy) woman exclaimed, “She’s just up ahead, you’ll catch her in no time!” The sun gleamed more brightly now, and as Andrew descended in fast pursuit, he began to warm up and, then, to sweat. But, afraid to pause even to take off his jacket lest Megan get too far ahead (sounding pretty creepy now), Andrew continued without stopping. Rounding a stand of trees, Andrew finally caught sight of Megan casually strolling down the trail a few hundred yards ahead. Unfortunately, Andrew had been so preoccupied with catching up to Megan that he hadn’t worked out what to say. He found himself embarrassingly tongue-tied and almost walked on by. Eventually (and painfully), he mustered, “Any chance you want some company the rest of the way?” Back in the parking lot, Megan and Andrew chatted while they waited for Andrew’s friends to catch up. The nosy woman happened by and, delighted that Andrew had caught Megan, insisted on giving the two $20 for a date night and made both Andrew and Megan extremely uncomfortable. Just a few months later (and having only been dating for a few weeks), Megan and Andrew hiked more than two-thousand miles of the Pacific Crest Trail together, and have been a happy couple ever since!