Featured Image Credit: wheresthenextshelter.com/Gary Sizer
Callum Jones
A man who hiked a whopping 2,000 miles over a five-month period left people shocked after revealing what he looked like before and after.
Gary Sizer has always been a lover the of the outdoors, so when he decided to take on the mammoth hike back in 2014, his nearest and dearest were hardly surprised.
In his younger days, Gary decided to join the Marines - which was incidentally the first time he embarked on a backpacking trip.
And he has continued to do so ever since, with his biggest challenge commencing on May 10, 2014.
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Gary decided to backpack the entire length of the Appalachian Trail, a mission that spans a whopping 2,000 miles from Georgia to Maine.
He completed the backpacking adventure 153 days later on October 9.
After returning to normal civilisation where Wi-Fi is not at a premium, Gary was able to post to Reddit before and after pictures - which subsequently left much of the internet shocked.
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But first, speaking of why he wanted to embark on the hike, Gary previously said: "I've wanted to do this for a very long time. Once I realized that the desire wasn't going to go away, I saved up for a few years and quit my job."
Speaking to Sunny Skyz, Gary added: "Most people do this at a transitional period in their life: just after graduation, between jobs, after retirement and so on. In my case, I've had the unshakable desire to hike the AT and write a book about it for about ten years now.
"About five years ago, I started to take the idea seriously, so I saved up enough to take off a year and do just that.
"Phase One is now complete. As for the family aspect, my wife and I don't have any kids. Instead we have a lifetime of shared memories and experiences like this."
For food, Gary lived on pop tarts and an instant coffee for breakfast, while he snacked on sweet treats throughout the day for energy.
The likes of pasta, tuna and potatoes were served up for dinner, all of which was acquired in the small towns Gary would discover every three to five days on the trail.
But it is the before and after photos of Gary that has since had a lot of people talking online.
Taking to Reddit, he posted photos of his face and body before and after the hike.
All clean-shaven and looking fresh for the selfie beforehand, Gary rocked a massive beard after the hike, and to say his hair had seen better days is an understatement.
As for the body snaps, Gary lost an awful lot of weight from the hike, looking a lot slimmer in the after photo.
Gary has since gone on to write a book about his trip, titled Where's the Next Shelter?.