A TALE OF TWO MOUNTAINS

Ah yes.. The story of Amy and Ryan.

How is it that two young Googlers find themselves creating such a site as this? Is this a scandal???

It all began in 2021. Amy was a Software Engineer for Chrome Browser when Ryan joined Google to work on ChromeOS. They were each working on the compilers used in their respective product areas and so their desks were in the same corner of Google's Sunnyvale office.

This was back when working from the office was an optional behavior due to covid measures and not very many people were coming in on any given day. Amy and Ryan came in nearly every day though, and would often get lunch together with a handful of other teammates. Though they didn't tell each other this at the time, they would someday both admit that one of the biggest reasons they would go in to the office so consistently was out of hope that the other would be there too. You see, Amy and Ryan very much enjoy each other's company.

Soon, in addition to lunch in the office, their friendship expanded to include climbing at the local climbing gym.

Ryan pretty much had a crush on Amy from day one, but he didn't know if he should say it. Over time, however, their friendship developed further and they began going on hikes together and climbing outdoors.

Finally, in February 2022, Ryan decided to test his luck and invited Amy to join him on a snowshoe backpacking trip up El Capitan in Yosemite. She was excited to join and they had a great time hiking through the snow and setting up camp.

Though that weekend they were still just friends, they would begin dating just a few days later, and more adventures were soon to follow...

In the time that's elapsed since that first trip, Amy and Ryan have been very happy together and their love for each other has continued to grow.

In the summer of 2024, Ryan began to plan a proposal. Several options were considered, but always Ryan was drawn to the idea of bringing things back to Yosemite where in some ways it all began.

On August 10th, Amy and Ryan hiked from Tenaya Lake to Clouds Rest. Ryan was unusually nervous.

The top of Clouds Rest has the most perfect 360-panoramic view Ryan knows of. You can look down from its vantage and see almost all of Yosemite Valley below. From there, the (in)famous peak of Half Dome, where Amy and Ryan have enjoyed several hard earned meals, can be seen some 1000 feet below for an unusual change of perspective. To the northeast you can see Cathedral Peaks and others landmarks where Ryan and Amy have gone hiking or backpacking. And on the edge of the horizon, just barely in sight, you can faintly identify the unmistakable surface of El Capitan itself.

At the top of Clouds Rest, Ryan pointed out El Capitan to Amy. He told her that at the time when they had there together, two and a half years ago, fumbling through the snow and laughing.. that being there with her had been by far the best thing he had ever done. And that's because while they were out there on El Cap, backpacking together for the first time, Ryan realized without a doubt both that 1) he was hopelessly in love with her and 2) he would never be ready for his adventure with her to end. That he wanted more than anything for it to only just barely be beginning. And that although years had gone by in between, those two facts remained unchanged.

So Ryan asked Amy to marry him, and Amy said "Yes" and now they're planning an awesome wedding. They are hard at work on little tasks (like building out a website) to prepare for the big day because they want their friends and family to help them celebrate. And speaking of friends and helping celebrate, Ryan recruited a whole pile of them to surprise Amy on their way down from Clouds Rest. The proposal.. well she saw that coming.. but the ambush was a surprise!!

The rest of their story is still to be decided. Expect no end to more mountains, more laughing and more love. Beyond that though, well.. no one can say for sure what happens next... but this author for one is quite content to be optimistic.