First a little about me. I’m 40 years old, turning 41 halfway through my hike. I was born in Monroe, NC, but grew up in the Northern Virginia area. After graduating college from James Madision University in Harrisonburg, VA, I started working as a computer programmer. For the past 19 years, I have worked for Ross Perot’s companies, first EDS, and now Perot Systems. I am taking a 5 month leave of absence from Perot Systems to do this hike. I’d specifically like to thank the following Perot Systems Leaders for being so supportive and agreeing to my taking this leave of absence: Roger Taylor, Bill Forsberg, Don Drobny, and Joe Bengfort.
Now, why am I doing this? When I was in college in Virginia, I did a lot of hiking and backpacking in the Blue Ridge mountains, and most of the Applachian Trail from Central VA up to Harper’s Ferry. But that was 20 years ago. I get many different reactions from friends, family, and work when I tell them I am going to do this hike. Some tell me this must be my mid-life crisis and others say I must just want to drop out of society for a while. Some say I’m on a quest to try and find myself, while others think it is just the attraction and the challenge of such an ambitious adventure. To be honest, my reasons are a little bit of all those things, but the main reason is simply that this thru-hike is something I really want to do.
I have always had a love for the outdoors, but my professional career has always been very demanding of my time and I just haven’t made spending time in the outdoors a priority in my life. Last Easter, my wife, son and I spent a week up in the mountains around Grandfather Mountain, NC, hiking every day and loving every minute of it. That got me thinking about thru-hiking again. When I got home from that trip, I started to really research what a thru-hike was all about. Shortly after that, I found Trailplace and after reading all the journals of previous hikers, I was then sure I wanted to do a thru-hike. The next challenge was getting physically in shape for the hike. I have been training for several months now and plan to continue right up until my start date. I have done several tune-up hikes with full pack loads (45 to 50 lbs, I don’t plan on being an ultralighter!) and think I am ready, but will keep on training. I hope to get in a few winter hiking trips prior to starting to get used to hiking in cold weather. Since I’m starting the first of April, I’m sure it will be quite cold at times and I’ll probably see some snow.
At first, my wife Linda was less than enthusiastic about the idea of me being gone for 5 months since I travel so much for my work, but as she has seen how much this hike means to me, she has embraced the idea (or at least tolerates it!). She will be my transcriber, my life-line, and my support for this trip. Since we live in Charlotte NC, during the first half of my trip I’ll never be much more than a 3-4 hour car ride from Charlotte. She will be meeting me several times the first few weeks of my hike.
As for how I plan to "hike my hike", I plan to tent camp the majority of the time, minimize "town time", and basically live outdoors as much as possible. Since I am taking a leave of absence from work, I am on a time schedule, but will not let that dictate my hiking speed or enjoyment of the trail. If I can’t keep the pace I’ve planned for, then I’ll just get as much done as I can and section hike the remaining part(s) some other time.. If that happens, when I get to Harper’s Ferry, I will flip flop up to Katahdin and hike south as far as my time permits.
I’m not a poet or an accomplished writer, but I look forward to capturing my thoughts and experiences in my journal and being able to share them with anyone that may be interested. I am leaving all my electronic gadgets at home, so I’ll have to use paper and pen for my journal entries, mailing updates to my wife once a week or so. (I wonder if I still remember how to write without a keyboard!)
I want to thank Wingfoot for the opportunity to participate in the Trailplace Class of 2000 journals and for all he has, and continues to do, for the AT hiking community. He is a constant voice of reason and resolve to preserve the wilderness aspect of the trail. Through sharing of his hiking experiences, as well as others who participate on Trailplace, they greatly help all the "greenhorns" like myself have a real chance at achieving our dreams and goals of thru-hiking.
So, enough talking about this hike. I’m ready to get going. April 1st can’t get here soon enough for me. For now, my trailname is Greybear. That is the name my son gave me when we were in YMCA Indian Guides. It’s pretty appropriate since my hair is 90% grey and I’m as big as a bear (6’3" and 250 lbs). I’ll have to see if a more appropriate name comes up on the trail and if so, I’ll adopt that name.
See ya on the trail.
Bob Cashion – "Greybear"
GA-ME 2000
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last updated 2/6/00 11:18:53 AM
