Two years after his formal engagement to local best friend since childhood, Kate Mulligan, British-Canadian career officer Terence Hudson returns to the valley. He wants to marry Kate quickly before taking up his new post, commanding a colonial regiment in India. His friend and prospected wedding witness Ken Kaloon visits, unexpectedly accompanied by his sister Cindy, Terence's lover. On a last long trek trough her beloved Rocky Mountains, Kate has a fall and is saved from a bear by farmer-park ranger Matt Stevens, and falls in love with him.