Woman loses 200 pounds to hike the Smoky Mountains

GATLINBURG, T The pandemic is keeping a lot of us at home and spending more time sitting on the sofa. April Cook is hoping to inspire more people to take their extra time to go after something they have always wanted to accomplish.

April says two years ago she was dreaming of going on long hikes in the Smoky Mountains, but her weight was holding her back.

She's now celebrating losing 200 pounds by hiking Ramsey's Cascade. It's a difficult 8 mile hike with a spectacular waterfall at the top.

The hike, much like her journey, was an uphill battle. April said at one point she almost gave up, but she was so glad she kept going.

"We went across the crossing and a few steps after that I could see the cascade in the background and I said you know, you're not who you were a year and a half ago. You are not who you were 200 pounds ago. You’re a different person," said April.

She says when she sees old pictures she doesn’t even recognize herself. Her motivation for losing the weight was to be able to enjoy the mountain views and time with her first grandchild, who will be born in a few months.

"I realized that if I didn’t do something I wasn’t going to be around for my own grandchildren to be born and it kind of spurred me on that and wanting to hike just gave me a want to in life," said April.

She posted about her hiking challenge on a popular Facebook group for hikers. Complete strangers are reaching out to her on social media to say that her story brought them to tears. She’s hoping that this will encourage others to try to do things they have always wanted, but never thought they could do.

She said the first step is always the hardest.