Last summer, Sara and I had planned a lengthy trip through the West starting in Utah and ending in Northern California. There were multiple stops along the way but the two most anticipated stops were Yosemite and Sequoia National Parks. I knew Sara would want to be proposed to in the outdoors and the opportunity to do it in one of these epic parks with amazing scenery all-around was too perfect. With the help of Sara's mom and sisters, I found a ring that I knew Sara would love. Given that Sara is nosy, I had to hide it in one of my socks for a good part of our journey. Now my only concern was where exactly to drop the question. After forest fires disrupted travel into Yosemite, I settled on proposing in Sequoia NP. One of our days there, we had planned a backcountry hike up to a gorgeous alpine lake, named Pear Lake. I thought this would be the perfect spot with few people around and with great scenery...if only the weather would cooperate. The day we planned to ascend everything was perfect. No gear or permit issues and perfect weather. We had a wonderful hike and even saw some of Sara's favorite wild flowers in full bloom along the trail. When we reached our destination, we were blown away by the beauty of the lake surrounded by tall imposing granite cliffs. We went swimming in the lake and laid out on the warm rocks nearby. The entire time my eyes were tracking the sun's downward movement...since I wanted to propose while the sun was setting. As we set up our campsite and prepared to cook some food, I broke out a bottle of wine. I also retrieved the ring from my sock. As Sara sat there on a perfectly placed log unsuspicious of my movements, I asked her if she would become my adventure partner. After a memorable moment of her being too surprised to respond, she said yes. As she put the ring on, her favorite animal, the pika which we had been trying to spot all day made a surprise appearance capping what had been an amazing day!