One Chicago man has achieved two big dreams.
Matt Dieschbourg left his girlfriend behind months ago when he went off on a 2,175-mile hike of the Appalachian Trail. But it took him only a few weeks to realize he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her.
"When I left to go on the trail, it was one of those things. She was hurt that I didn’t think to ask her to come with me. But it was my time to go out and find myself before I start my life," the 28-year-old Dieschbourg told the Bangor Daily News. "It was a lot of time for me to spend time with me, but it only took me not having her in my life for two weeks and I was like, ‘Wow. I don’t want to do this.’
His girlfriend, Sofie Grzenia, later joined him on the trail in northern Tennessee. There, she picked up and commented about a beautiful quartz rock.
Dieschbourg carried that rock for 1,200 miles before having it set in an 18-carat gold engagement ring.
Over the weekend, Dieschbourg completed the hike and proposed to Grzenia atop Maine's mile-high Mount Katahdin. A Korean film crew that happened to be at the summit on Baxter Peak recorded the event.
Grzenia said it was a scary hike because it was blowing and snowing on Saturday.
Dieschbourg said he didn't expect to be surrounded by a film crew and other hikers when he dropped to a knee on the summit and proposed. The small audience cheered when she accepted.