Man loses 200 lbs, overcomes depression after hiking Stone Mountain every day for 3 years

A Stone Mountain hike may be robust for any hiker however not for Georgian man Zach Cross.

Day by day for the previous three years, he has been climbing Stone Mountain in DeKalb County. His every day hike made him lose 200 kilos and turned him into a powerful and completely satisfied hiker.  

Cross’s journey started in Might 2020. Like every other newbie, his first hike was actually troublesome. At 400 kilos, he struggled to go up and down the mountain.

The primary mile took him about 80 minutes to finish due to his heavy weight. He was huffing and puffing and tripping over the roots and rocks.

Cross acknowledged that this was one of many hardest issues he had ever completed in his life.

Stone Mountain is a phenomenal attraction in Georgia and despite the fact that Cross was conscious of the mountain’s magnificence, it took him some time to totally respect it. “It’s simply such a gem by way of the wonder, the wildlife right here, the flowers,” stated Cross. After he fell in love with its pure sights, he determined to hike each single day.

At first, Cross considered climbing each day to have some peace of thoughts and revel in the fantastic thing about nature. The start of the pandemic was demanding and it didn’t do any good for his psychological well being.  Cross shared that he simply graduated a number of years earlier than the pandemic and hated his job. He additionally had a binge consuming dysfunction that made him acquire a variety of weight.

Since he began climbing; nevertheless, his temper improved quite a bit and he realized the right way to let go of his destructive ideas. The recent air and the spectacular views of Stone Mountain did a variety of good issues for his psychological well being.

Cross’s every day Stone Mountain hike helped him enhance his total well being. He misplaced 200 kilos inside three years of constant onerous work.

He efficiently turned his life round and now, he feels quite a bit stronger and extra assured on the path. When he began shifting with ease, he found his ardour for climbing and his love for nature.

“On Might 1st, 2020, I made a decision that sufficient was sufficient, I needed to take my life again into my very own arms. I went for a brief stroll within the woods (I’m speaking perhaps a mile). I ended it being winded however completely satisfied. So the following day I did it once more. After which I went on an extended one, and an extended one. Earlier than I knew it, I used to be climbing up a close-by mountain a number of miles each day. Earlier than I knew it, I used to be down 50 lbs, then 100 lbs, then 150 lbs,” Cross wrote in his on-line path journal.

Cross’s three-year climbing journey in Stone Mountain made him need to tackle extra climbing adventures. He determined he would strive backpacking and proceed his journey on the most well-known climbing path on the planet, the Appalachian Path.

Whereas getting ready for this large journey, he hiked in Southern Terminus in Atlanta to strive backpacking. “Just a few mates and I went as much as Standing Indian and did the loop there. It was 20 miles over a weekend. I used to be woefully overpacked (most likely 45 lbs with meals and water). We accomplished it, although, and I actually loved it, it was really magical,” wrote Cross.

Cross additionally shared that he was coaching for his AT hike in 2022 when he broke his ankle on the Artwork Loeb path in North Carolina. He introduced that on Might 3, precisely three years after his first Stone Mountain hike, he’s setting out on his final stroll within the woods on Appalachian Path.

“I view this as the final word cap to my weight reduction journey. That I might go from being winded by a leisurely 1-mile stroll, to dropping near 200 lbs, and thru climbing the AT, I might accomplish one thing big, and that’s what I’m on the lookout for in my life proper now. I would like some kind of signature second that I can look again on and say “Man, I’m happy with that.” 

Watch his inspiring journey within the video under: