After the Hurricane: Lauren and Rob's Proposal at Mouse Creek Falls

Nov 2

They say when a butterfly flaps its wings in the Amazon, the results are felt on the other side of the world. It is funny how we see something happening elsewhere and figure, oh no, we’re far enough away, that won’t effect us.

Except hurricanes.

2020 has seen such an active hurricane season that the folks at NOAA ran out of traditional names and had to resort to the Greek alphabet. And so it was that Rob planned his proposal to the lovely Lauren - except Hurricane Zeta that had come ashore in Louisiana just a day before and worked its way up the South and into the Tennessee Valley, and was now dumping rain - a lot of rain - onto the Smoky Mountains.

I have to do this often with would-be grooms: warn them that weather in the mountains can change within hours. And so the Thursday morning proposal got moved. With some trepidation, knowing how mountains like to hold onto rain clouds, I advised Rob to delay until later Thursday afternoon. The planned spot was Mouse Creek Falls, a serene and private waterfall found along the Big Creek trail, on the North Carolina side of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

And the reward was great. The sun shone, the temps were comfortable and pleasant, and Big Creek? Big Creek was roaring with its high flow which meant that the planned spot for the proposal would see an impressive amount of water coming over it.

So this happened . . .

How Lauren managed to hear the question over the sound of Mouse Creek Falls is beyond me, but hear it she did and yes she said!

Afterwards, the three of us hiked a little further up the Big Creek trail to a great bridge that crosses the creek. There is an easy access down to the river’s edge there - in fact, it is the type of spot that invites a person to stay a while and relax.

Phew! Rob and Lauren had driven all the way to the GSMNP from Dallas, Texas and there was some legitimate worry that Hurricane Zeta would ruin their plans. But hey, have you heard me say the mountains have their magic? When it comes to romance, our Smokies favors the lovers and the spirits that roam these slopes were not about to let some upstart upset Rob’s plans for Lauren.