A veteran outdoorsman's "happiest day" also turned out to be his worst one as he fell to his death on a solo climb at Yosemite National Park in California the same day he proposed to his girlfriend, a newspaper reported.

Brad Parker, 36, of Sebastopol, Calif., decided to climb Matthes Crest just a few hours after proposing to his girlfriend, Jainee Dial on top of Cathedral Peak on Saturday, the Santa Rosa Press Democrat reported.  It was on that trip that she accepted his marriage proposal.

Parker's drastic fall was witnessed by other climbers on Saturday evening from the Matthes Crest traverse, which is a jagged rock ridge hundreds of feet in elevation, Kari Cobb, Yosemite National Park spokeswoman, said.

Park rangers found his body that night and removed it by helicopter on Sunday, said Cobb, who added that she had no information on whether Parker got engaged before he died, according to Reuters.

Parker's father, Bill Parker, recalled to the Press Democrat that his son called him after his girlfriend accepted his proposal and told him it was the "happiest day of his life." He believes fatigue may have played a role in the death of his son, an experienced climber, after he climbed to Cathedral Peak and went on a run to Matthes Crest a few miles away.

On Sunday morning, an 8-year-old girl died after falling some 550 feet (168 meters) into a canyon at Yellowstone National Park. She had stepped off a trail overlooking a 1,200-foot (366-m) canyon and lost her footing, a park official said on Monday.

"It was the second such recovery in two days after tourists suffered fatal accidents at Yellowstone," according to Reuters. "A swift water rescue team on Saturday extracted the body of a seasonal hotel worker who was swept away one week ago while tubing the powerful Yellowstone River, where rafting is banned because of safety concerns, Yellowstone spokesman Al Nash said."