It happened on top of a misty mountain...
It was after 5:30pm Thursday, October 1st when I arrived home late from work after a parent-teacher meeting. Mike already had a bag packed, the truck ready and my hiking boots sitting by the door. He’d come up with the idea to 4X4 up Grey Mountain to the radio and TV towers, and then hike through the season’s first freshly fallen snow to the top. Fabulous plan! Of course, Déjà came along with us.
It was a beautiful drive up the steep, bumpy Grey Mountain road, especially when we could see the hidden lakes. We drove into the clouds just after spotting snow. Once parked at the towers, we climbed out of the truck and realized the air was cold and crisp. It had definitely been
a little warmer in front of our house. I pulled both hoods over my head and tucked my sleeves into my gloves. Mike reminded me that he stuffed an extra windproof, rain jacket in the backpack, just in case I needed it. (He’s always thinking ahead!) Once we started hiking, we began to warm up.
The mountain trail surroundings looked mystical. I began to express my thoughts. “This reminds me of...” and Mike finished them by saying, “...Lord of the Rings.” The mist and clouds hung around the stunted trees, shrubs and lichen-covered rock. Déjà bounded through the vegetation and ran up the mountain’s rocky slopes. We crunched the first footprints into the new snow. At one point, Déjà slowed and her posture changed as she approached a camouflaged grouse that flew away at the last second. There was some brief hail and light snow on our way to an open viewpoint on the face of the mountain. We chatted casually, simply enjoying time together in the fresh air, away from responsibility.
Mike found the perfect area. Once we were there, he spotted another. We climbed a little higher. Again, he noticed a better location. Once we reached the bare, grey rock, we turned and looked out at our surroundings. The view was continuously changing with the shifting clouds. Mike took off his pack. I zipped the camera out of its case, which hung around my neck, and took a picture of some of the forest and hidden lakes existing beneath the blanket of clouds. Mike grabbed the camera and held it out in front of us before snapping a shot. By the time we turned around, the lakes and forest had disappeared. We couldn’t even see the flashing lights on the towers next to which our truck was parked. In silence, we watched our world evolve again, this time before our eyes. Little did I know, Mike was searching for the right words to say at the right time. The haze suddenly surfed passed us leaving the view so clear that we could see the emerald green streaks streaming through the royal blue water of one of the lakes below. The scenery continually changed. One moment we were in a veil of fog and the next all was clear again.
I suggested we head back since we only had a little day light left. If the thick clouds decided to take a seat in front of the towers, we’d only have our footprints (and Déjà) to help us find our way back. Mike expressed that we should stay a little longer. Mike wrapped his arms around me and we continued to enjoy the moment. My eyes searched for the trail we had walked along, and I looked around for Déjà. Mike said, “I just wanted this to be a day we would always remember and for us to go to a place that we would never forget.” Then I said something oblivious and cheesy like, “How could we forget walking through Grey Mountains’ first snowfall. Plus, everything I do with you is memorable.” Then I gave Mike a kiss and continued to look around at the ever-changing view. By the time I turned back to Mike, he was down on one knee. My jaw dropped and my eyes flooded with tears. He pulled a small wooden box out of his pocket, opened it and said...
“Chelsea, will you marry me?”
This is one of those surreal moments that doesn’t really fit inside of time. But I do think I let a few too many seconds go by while thinking thoughts such as “Oh my God! Is this really happening? This isn’t really happening. Where the hell did my stomach just go?” I looked at the most wonderful, beautiful man kneeling in front of me. My heart fluttered and, although we were standing in a winter wind on an exposed rock on top of a mountain, I was filled with warmth.
Say something.I urged myself. How baffling to feel so startled and overwhelmed by a person I have become so utterly comfortable with. Apparently, Mike’s heart was beating as fast as it could possibly beat before actually exploding, but he appeared perfectly calm to me.
Say something.“Yes, of course! I love you!” I leaned over and kissed Mike. He smiled and pulled the ring out of its box. The sparkles danced as he placed the ring on my finger.
Déjà vu. Is this a movie? Oh yeah, right, I’m in the middle of a fairytale.
Mike led me to a flat spot on the rock, opened up his backpack and pulled out a fleece blanket that he wrapped around me. Then he presented a thermos of hot raspberry tea. He added Wiser’s from a flask I’d given him years ago and we cheersed to the rest of our lives together. He had an entire picnic prepared, but we only ate a little before packing up and heading back to the truck. We hadn’t been moving for awhile and were feeling a bit chilled. We also had to make it back to our vehicle before the sun set. Our feet seemed to retrace the steps on their own as Mike and I dreamed together aloud.
Once in our truck, we decided to drive half way down the mountain to a pull off overlooking the lights of the city. This is where we ate our dinner together, shared with Déjà, kissed, and talked, while realizing that we were actually engaged. What a beautiful evening spent after walking through the freshly fallen snow on top of a misty mountain.
Not long ago the four of us went on a 4x4 drive up Grey Mountain in our little Bronco II. We were trying to get up to where our proposal happened, but the road was a bit more than we could handle. Since the mountain is quite a bit higher in elevation there was a lot of snow up top. We more or less were following some previous 4x4 tracks up the road. At one point these tracks led off the road into a big mess of snow, ruts, trees and footprints. Needless to say, our truck tried to follow the tracks off the road...we stopped there and started walking. It was a nice day, but a cool stiff breeze really bit into the skin. The wind chill made it pretty cold and our watering eyes froze our teardrops to our cheeks. 
Our original plan to drive to the top of the mountain and hike to the spot where I proposed to Chelsea never happened. We couldn't get to the top of the mountain with the truck and the weather was too cold for us to hike comfortably. We just decided to simply find a nice place on the mountain with a good view of the valley and the proposal location. Chelsea and I pointed out the spot and walked the kids through how it all went down pointing at little bumps on the mountain while we all shivered in the biting wind.
Deja was having the time of her life out there. I don't think the weather bothered her one bit. She was up one side of the mountain and to the other in a flash. Every once in a while Chelsea reminds me that it was us and Deja on the mountain the day of the proposal and I think that having Deja there with us made it even more special. Deja is actually quite a good 4x4er. Normally she is packed in the back of the truck with all the random equipment we bring. Today she had a lot of space because we didn't bring much of anything.
It is pretty amazing that we can get to our special place so quickly. Just a hop in our truck and a beautiful hike!
