On Thanksgiving in Oregon, a man out hiking stumbled upon a man proposing to a woman. He photographed the intimate moment, then successfully used the internet to find the unknowing subjects. The whole process took five hours.

Reddit user needsmorewolves, also known as Paul Wolfe, took the photo then posted it on the image-sharing site imgur. He wrote: “I have no idea who these folks are, but would like them to have this photograph.”

Wolfe then posted the link on multiple Reddit threads. Within hours, the couple’s best man contacted him and confirmed that the woman in the photo had said yes.

“It blew my mind – I seriously could not think straight, I was so shocked,” said Wolfe in an email. “It was Reddit at its best.”

The best man will give a copy of the photo to the couple. He initially planned for it to be a surprise, but because of the attention the photograph generated online, he will likely give it to them earlier.

Wolfe took the photo on Munra Point in Mount Hood National Forest, just outside Portland. He had greeted the couple briefly when they passed each other on the trail. A few minutes later, he looked back and saw the man getting on his knee. He decided to start taking photos.

“There was nobody else up there to do so and I felt that, as an artist and as a human being, it was important for me to bear witness,” said Wolfe.

Wolfe is a photographer and painter who directs an art program for people living with cognitive disabilities and brain injuries. He first posted the photo on Facebook as part of a photography challenge – users encouraged him to use Reddit to find the couple. He had been thinking of doing so, because of the site’s crowdsourcing power, but was concerned because the website “can also be a fairly intimidating and off-putting site”.

He said he was overwhelmed by the immediate and positive response.

“Everything about the situation surprised me,” said Wolfe. “All of a sudden there are half a million people looking at and responding to my photography?

“It’s nothing short of incredible.”