ANSEL ADAMS WILDERNESS • 1997

I took my wife on a backpacking trip just after we decided that there may be something serious here. I was thinking of asking her to marry me. I remembered my dad telling me that if I ever thought about going into business with someone, take them on a week long camping trip. He said I'd find out all I needed to know about that person and could make a good decision about whether to partner with them. So I did. She passed every test and there were many. She had not been backpacking like this before. We were out about 10 days and hiking above 10,000 ft the whole time. She had blisters (see sandal photo) on her feet right from the get-go and never, I repeat, never complained once. She proved she was "the one". Rightly so 16 years later.