Father and Son Hike

He’s an accountant from Indianapolis who decided to go a little out of his comfort zone and write a book.

Mike Bowman grew up in Zanesville and used to hike through the Appalachian Mountains with his father. Their trips lasted about 10 years, spanned 11 hundred miles, and took the two men through parts of North Carolina, Virginia, and New Hampshire.

Bowman kept small journals of their trips and used those as a framework for the book, titled "Meeting Mr. Ed."

"I wrote a lot of that stuff and had no anticipation that it was ever going to be read by anyone. So, I was kind of bearing my soul out there, " says Bowman.

Yet, Bowman says hiking these trails with his father meant the world to him. He says it brought them closer together.

"The challenge of being out there, the reliance on one another is something-as adults-you don’t really run into, especially with a father and son, that kind of relationship. I think the biggest thing is there’s not much out there but each other to keep yourselves company, " says Bowman.

Bowman was at Sanachie Books in Zanesville this afternoon for a book signing. This is his first novel, which he says he enjoyed writing, and might take a shot at writing another book some day.

If you would like to read more about Bowman’s hikes with his father, visit meetingmred.com.