Thursday, May 1, 2008

Uncle Charts Trail in 'Off Chance' that Nephew Proposes There 26 Years Later

My uncle, Brian Williams — source of my "Brian" middle name — called me last night after reading the Engagement page on our wedding web site.

Before becoming a CHP officer he worked as a land surveyor, first for a private company, then for the U.S. Forest Service. In 1981, he served on a crew assigned to chart a section of a new trail that would stretch from Mexico to Canada. Survey crews throughout California, Oregon, and Washington had begun piecing together this 2,650-mile trail comprised of new lengths connected with existing tracks. The trek became known as the Pacific Crest Trail, and the length my uncle helped chart runs through Warner Springs — a two-mile section of which Sarah and I hiked and got engaged on in February 2007.

As a surveyor, he planned the route, making sure the trail wasn't too steep and that the views were good, among many other responsibilities. The view was beautiful from the place we had a picnic and got engaged.

I thanked him for planning ahead.

Jason

2 comments:

Unknown said...

I didn't know that! Cool.

Unknown said...

Haha, that's bitchin'. Nice work Uncle Brian! That's a good bit of Williams family history trivia right there.