Man finds perfect proposal spot on mountain — until he and fiance get stranded
A newly engaged couple was rescued from a United Kingdom mountain after they took a wrong turn following their romantic moment, rescue officials said.
Police in Seathwaite, England, received a call from a public phone box on May 28 from someone who said they saw a flashlight distress signal and heard a whistle on the Hind Gill mountain, according to a news release from the Keswick Mountain Rescue Team.
The caller said they recognized six quick flashes from a flashlight repeated each minute, an international sign of distress, according to the rescue team.
A small group went to investigate the signal, sending a dog and handler up ahead to walk up the side of Hind Gill, the team said.
Soon, the search dog found a couple in “the deep steep-sided gully” of the mountain, and the rescue team said they were “unable to get out.”
The team went down into the gully, attached harnesses and helmets to the trapped couple, and helped them climb out of the ravine.
When asked how they got stuck in the first place, the pair told rescuers this was meant to be a romantic hike, but they took a wrong turn.
The couple said they had climbed up to the peak of the mountain, and on the way back down, they asked for directions from another hiker on how to get back to town.
As the couple worked their way down the peaks, the man stopped at a heart-shaped rock.
“The man proposed to his partner who happily accepted,” the rescue team said.
The now engaged couple kept working their way down, but “perhaps with their minds elsewhere they took a wrong turn,” according to the release.
The rescue team said there was another twist to the story — they had heard from the emergency caller before.
“The holidaying informant who called this in from the Seathwaite phone box, was also the informant on (another call) back in April on his previous holiday visit!” the team said. “Now that is something to be proud of.”
In just under three hours, the couple was safely back in town, thanks to the work of the seven rescue team members, and ready to start their wedding planning.
Seathwaite is on the western coast of England, about 315 miles northwest of London.
This story was originally published June 1, 2023 at 5:14 PM with the headline "Man finds perfect proposal spot on mountain — until he and fiance get stranded."
