Wild Love Stories: Backpacker Editors Share Their Most Memorable Backcountry Romances Gone Wrong (and Occasionally Right)

Updated February 13, 2026 03:54 PM

The wilderness, a place of breathtaking beauty and unparalleled adventure, has also served as the unexpected backdrop for some of life’s most poignant and often hilariously disastrous romantic escapades. As Valentine’s Day approaches, the editors of Backpacker magazine, joined by a special guest, delve into their personal archives to recount tales of love that faltered, flourished, and ultimately found their footing amidst the rugged terrain and unpredictable elements of the great outdoors.

Adam Roy, Backpacker‘s editor-in-chief, set the scene with a playful observation about the subtle scent of romance in the air, acknowledging the unique role trails have played in the emotional lives of hikers. "You smell that? That vaguely floral scent? I think there’s romance in the air," Roy began, his voice tinged with anticipation. "It is February, we are about a week away from Valentine’s Day and here at Backpacker we are getting together to share our best and sometimes worst outdoor romance stories." He introduced his colleagues, Senior Editor Zoe Gates and Associate Editor Emma Veidt, along with his wife, Natalie Roy, affectionately dubbed "Mrs. Backpacker," who would add her own unique perspective to the evening’s confessions.

The conversation kicked off with a story that perfectly encapsulated the adventurous spirit of their relationship, though with a significant detour from the intended romantic script. Adam Roy recounted the story of his proposal to Natalie, which took place on Mayflower Gulch in Colorado during late spring. The setting was picturesque, but the execution was anything but smooth. "So, the outdoors has played a pretty big part in Nat and my story," Adam explained. "We got, among other things, engaged out on a trail, and it didn’t go exactly like I had planned."

Natalie Roy provided crucial context, revealing her initial reluctance. "A little bit of context: I had no idea that we were going to be going in the middle of the night out to Mayflower Gulch to go snowshoeing, so it was not something that he had asked me in advance to do. I didn’t want to snowshoe that night." Adam playfully admitted to a bit of gentle coercion, "She tried to get out of it. I kind of bullied her into it a little bit because I had the snowshoes and I had everything packed already."

As they ventured onto the snow-covered trail under the moonlight, Natalie’s initial apprehension began to fade. "Very much. So, we get going and it’s actually really nice. So about a mile in, I’m kind of like, okay, this is not bad, this is beautiful. There’s no one out here, it’s, you know, 10:00 p.m. and the moon was out," she recalled. Their destination was an old, abandoned mining cabin. It was upon reaching this rustic structure that the proposal took an unexpected turn. "So we get all the way out to the—it’s kind of like an old abandoned cabin from the mining area—and we go all the way into the cabin. Before he proposed, he kind of nudges me, and my leg completely, like, plummets down into a hole," Natalie described, her voice filled with a mixture of amusement and lingering shock. "And you know, I look down as I start to kind of pull myself and my body out of this hole and I’m less than an inch away from the rusted-out steel post that was, you know, holding this cabin together."

The near-disaster added a layer of unexpected drama to the moment. "So in my head, I’m like, okay, I almost just, you know, nailed my leg, and he does not help me get up. Instead, he just decides that’s the moment to kneel down on a knee. He doesn’t say anything," Natalie continued, highlighting the lack of a preamble. Adam chimed in, defending his actions with a practical, albeit humorous, rationale: "You were on the ground already! I had to get down there with you."

Natalie elaborated on the unconventional proposal: "No nice speech, no ‘Hey, you’re a wonderful person,’ just right away, you know, proposes with the question. And you know, I was just in shock of the moment, but it was beautiful in hindsight. In the moment it was kind of like I had almost just massively hurt myself and then this guy just whiplashes me the other way. But it all worked out, and I do remember that we busted out the Jetboil and I got to have a raspberry truffle dessert that night." Adam, ever the pragmatist, offered a lighthearted defense: "So I may not have had a speech, but I did have a dessert, and I feel like that’s a fair trade."

Emma Veidt humorously interjected, suggesting the dessert might have been the true highlight, a sentiment Natalie playfully conceded: "I shouldn’t say it was, but I mean in that moment, yes, the dessert was great." Adam concluded this anecdote with a pithy observation on priorities: "Diamonds are great, but you can’t eat them. That’s the problem." Zoe Gates, ever the keen observer, questioned the timeline of events, asking, "So Adam, at what point did you help her out of the hole? Was the ring on her finger already? Like, did you just start making the dessert right away and leave her down there?" Adam clarified, "No, I got her out before I made the dessert. I did put the ring on her finger once, though. She went down in the hole a single woman and came up engaged. Could have been worse; I could have proposed to you on, like, a Jumbotron or something."

Despite the near-calamity, Natalie expressed the enduring sentimentality of the moment: "I think that it was on a trail, it was out in nature. We weren’t around a lot of people, so it felt very special in that moment. I wouldn’t change it; it is just kind of comical in hindsight."

Transitioning from a rocky proposal to a potentially perilous first date, Emma Veidt shared her experience of trying to orchestrate a romantic rendezvous. "So we’re making fun of a lot of the mishaps of this proposal, but what was your favorite part of it?" Adam prompted Emma. "So, there was one time I was planning a first date with a very lucky suitor and I wanted to go on a hike with him, but I didn’t quite know how to describe where I wanted to meet. So I decided to send him the coordinates to where we were. And in hindsight, I think that was a little bit murdery," Emma confessed, eliciting chuckles from the group. "And I thought the date went pretty well, but I don’t think he did because there was not a second date."

The editors playfully grilled Emma about the specifics of her "murdery" meeting point. Adam inquired, "Where was this trail you were on, Emma? What was this? Like far from civilization? Was this well-trodden? Were there a lot of, like, bushy areas that you could potentially hide a large person-sized object?" Natalie added, "Was it daylight? Was it night time?" Adam followed up with, "Did you tell him to bring his wallet and not tell anyone where he was going?"

Emma defended her intentions, explaining, "I think I was a very normal person during this whole interaction! But no, it was middle of the day. There were a lot of bushes, but that’s just normal. Um, it was well-trodden, but it was kind of off the beaten path in terms of there wasn’t an official trailhead. It was more like a side trail that goes into the normal trail. And so I wanted to meet at that specific spot because that’s just the entrance that I like—I had done that trail before. But maybe I should have stuck to something a little less creepy." Zoe Gates offered a pragmatic take, suggesting, "Yeah, Emma, you don’t want to date somebody with subpar map and compass skills anyway, so…" Emma, with a wink, retorted, "It was a test for him."

Adam then turned to Zoe, seeking her expert opinion on the most "sketch-free" way to convey directions for an outdoor rendezvous. "So now that we’ve shared my shortcomings for the entire world to hear, Emma, why don’t you share your story with us?" Adam shifted focus to Zoe. "So Zoe, since this isn’t your story here, I want to use you as the expert. If you were invited on a date and someone needed to tell you how to get to the trailhead or how to get to the trail where you were having this date, how would you want that information conveyed for least sketchiness?"

Zoe provided practical advice: "Least sketchy? I’d say maybe a link to the Gaia map is a pretty fair way to go. Um, Google Maps pin, really you can’t go wrong. That one’s pretty socially acceptable." Adam playfully proposed an alternative: "How do you feel about going pirate mode and sending them a screenshot of a map with a big red X drawn on it? Is that better or worse than coordinates?" Zoe, embracing the fun, responded, "I’ll say I’d be intrigued, you know? That’s the way to catch my attention if you send me a pirate map."

With the stage set, Zoe Gates then unveiled her own tale of romantic woe, a story that involved the dramatic conclusion of a significant college relationship amidst a grand cross-country adventure. "So Zoe, we understand you have a story about a romantic mishap that happened in the outdoors as well. Are you ready to share that with us?" Adam asked. "I’m ready to share this one. I think, yes. Um, this is the story of the end of my college relationship, which occurred halfway through a cross-country road trip to visit as many national parks as possible. And I, in fact, was dumped in the middle of that road trip just outside of Yellowstone National Park—my very first time there," Zoe revealed, setting a somber tone.

The revelation prompted immediate curiosity from Natalie. "Wait, wait, wait. In the middle of the road trip? So, repeat again, where was this at?" Zoe clarified, "So this was on a road trip from Boston out to Santa Barbara, and the dumping occurred in Cody, Wyoming, just outside of Yellowstone National Park. But we did, in fact, finish the road trip." Emma, captivated, declared, "I’m just dying to know so many details."

The editors probed for more information. Emma asked, "Was it just you two, or was it a part of a larger trip?" Zoe confirmed, "Nope, it was just us two. This was our big post-college graduation national park extravaganza, but did not end the way I thought it would." Adam inquired about their progress in visiting national parks, "So I gotta ask you, how many parks had you been to before you got to Yellowstone?" Zoe explained, "You know, I think actually we had just finished the boring part of the drive to actually get out West to get to the parks, and we were about to hit our very first national park when the dump occurred." Adam expressed his sympathy, "Oh no, so this was at the beginning of the national park—" Zoe completed his thought, "This was the beginning of the fun part, yeah."

Emma then asked about the logistics of continuing the trip post-breakup: "Did you have to, like, finish the cross-country road trip together broken up, or did you just peace out and—" Zoe explained their decision to persevere, "We finished the road trip. I’ll say the dumping occurred because my then-boyfriend was moving to Africa in a couple of months following. So we decided to make the best of the rest of the trip and finish it out and say goodbye once we reached our final destination." Adam expressed his incredulity at the situation, "I’m sorry to your boyfriend—I hope Africa was worth it—but also this is an unhinged thing to do." Zoe, with a touch of resignation, stated, "I think I need a redemption tour of some of those national parks."

The conversation then turned to the palpable awkwardness of sharing the remaining miles of the road trip. "What was the conversation like in the car for the remainder of the road trip? Like, was that just so awkward?" Emma inquired. Zoe described the atmosphere: "Yeah, a lot of awkward silence. But you know, beautiful vistas of the mountains—that’s always helpful. Nothing comforts a broken heart like some beautiful snow-capped peaks."

Adam, drawing on Zoe’s experience as the "expert" on navigating sadness in scenic locales, posed a unique question: "So let me ask you Zoe, as the expert—my wife is glaring at me already—what is the best national park to be sad in?" Zoe reflected, "Wow. Well, okay, so I was sad in Yellowstone, the Tetons, and Zion. And I would say my biggest memory of the Tetons is just being scared of grizzly bears, so that was a pretty good distraction. That was a pretty good one."

Natalie, still trying to pinpoint the exact moment of the breakup, asked, "Did this happen looking at a geyser? Like what was the setting that he chose to dump you?" Zoe clarified the less-than-romantic setting: "This happened at a dingy motel in Cody, Wyoming, just outside the national park, and then the next day we went into the park." Natalie reacted with an audible "Oh my god." Zoe concluded her story on a hopeful note: "It was all for the best. A few years later I met my current partner, and we’ve visited many national parks together and made many happy memories on the trail."

To round off the discussion, Adam posed a question about the most romantic sentiment one could utter on a hiking trail. "I do have a question for everyone on the call. What is the most romantic thing someone can say to you on the hiking trail?" Emma’s immediate and practical response was, "’Can I carry the tent?’"

Adam then turned to his wife, "What do you think, darling? What’s the most romantic thing I could say to you on a hiking trail?" Zoe, with a knowing smile at Adam’s expense, offered, "’Here, let me help you out of that hole.’" Natalie, about to offer her own heartfelt suggestion, was cut off by Adam, who humorously declared, "Well, if you have any proposal stories you’d like to share or ignorant fiancés you’d like to tear apart, you can go to backpacker.com. We now have comments where you can weigh in on our stories and connect with us directly. We’ll be back next month with more great stories straight from the trail. Until then, I’m Adam Roy and Happy Valentine’s Day from the Backpacker crew." The editors then engaged in a lighthearted, and somewhat unsuccessful, attempt to perform a "Gen Z heart" gesture, concluding their candid and entertaining exchange.