Hiker Zach Cross started a new adventure Monday afternoon.
The 28-year-old Tucker resident set out on an estimated five-month hike of the entire Appalachian Trail starting at Springer Mountain after an exchange of teary goodbyes with his wife, parents and aunt.
The Southern Terminus of the trail starts on Springer Mountain and continues 2,198.4 miles across 14 states to Maine.
Monday marked the three-year anniversary of Cross taking daily hikes, which led him to shed 200 pounds of weight. He says trekking down the Appalachian Trail is a celebration of his self-determination and the joy that he gets from hiking and nature.
Armed with trekking poles and dressed in shorts and a lightweight insulated jacket, Cross spent the morning with his family at Amicalola Falls, where he registered for the journey. The windy mountain temperatures were ranging from 37 to 49 degrees.
“It hasn’t hit me yet,” Cross said of the magnitude of taking on the Appalachian Trail. “It won’t hit me until I’m walking out (from the start of the trail at Springer Mountain) and no one is with me.”
Credit: Ben Gray
Credit: Ben Gray
Sunday night, he and wife Grayson attended Taylor Swift’s concert at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, they said, before the hiker had a restful six hours of sleep.
His parents Tim and Jody Cross traveled from their home in Clemson, S.C., to join Grayson and his aunt, Meredith Hoban, in a show of love and support.
Cross had hiked the 8.5-mile approach that many hikers take to Springer Mountain from Amicalola Falls in the past and decided to drive with his family to the Southern Terminus instead. The family took the one-mile hike up Springer to the terminus and explored before returning home.
Grayson found a small rock on Springer for Cross to carry to the Northern Terminus in Maine.
Hoban, who lives in Roswell, says family and friends who live in states located along the trail and read last week’s Atlanta Journal-Constitution story about Cross online are offering to meet him along the path to provide food and supplies that he might need.
“It’s such a huge thing,” Grayson said. “We’re all just so proud of him.”
Credit: Ben Gray
Credit: Ben Gray
Credit: Ben Gray
Credit: Ben Gray
Credit: Ben Gray
Credit: Ben Gray
Credit: Ben Gray
Credit: Ben Gray
Credit: Ben Gray
Credit: Ben Gray
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