John & Cate’s Joffre Lakes Surprise Proposal in Glacial Waters

800 miles flown, 200 kilometers driven, 7.9 kilometers hiked, and one bucket list item checked off! Joffre Lakes is ingrained deeply in our memories as one of the most beautiful hikes we ever went on 12 years ago, and we were so excited to be there again earlier this month when John & Cate got engaged. They last visited two years ago and had taken a few photos on these very same rocks, and this time, they did it again to recreate this memory — and unbeknownst to Cate, to make a new one.

Being a rather adventurous couple, neither of them hesitated for even a second to take a dip in the numbingly-cold glacial water (probably only a couple of degrees above freezing!) and hop onto the rock to do their “Titanic” pose from two years ago. You can tell Cate was absolutely not expecting John to pop out a ring at that moment, and she warmed up pretty quickly from the excitement!

As a side note, this was logistically the most difficult proposal we’ve ever photographed. Entry to Joffre Lakes requires a day pass, which (as of this writing) opens for reservations at 7 AM two days in advance and sells out in less than 20 seconds (i.e. by 7:00:20 AM). Then once you’re on the road, cell service cuts out long before reaching the park, and the hike is approx 3 hours each way — so coordination while keeping a lid on the surprise is a challenge, to say the least.

Congratulations John & Cate. We wish you a lifetime of recreating old memories and making new ones together on your many adventures to come!