Barefoot AT Hiker Zaleski

The online Hamptons.com from the far eastern end of Long Island, NY yields up a report by R. B. Stuart titled "A Former Vietnam Marine Takes the Long Walk Home." In a kind of parallel to the well-known story of the first AT thru-hiker, this man was changed by a war in Asia and friends who did not return.

Ronald C. J. Zaleski has been walking barefoot as a kind of self-imposed penance for being assigned to a state-side post while 5 buddies went to Viet Nam in 1970-72. Three of his friends were maimed for life. Two died there. And Zaleski stopped wearing shoes in 1972.

He sees a clear parallel situation in the war in Iraq, and vowed to raise awareness of the post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) suffered by so many who have been in combat. "Part of the vow by this 56 year-old born on Veteran's Day is to walk the 2,174 mile Appalachian Trail across 14 states barefoot, in an attempt to bring attention to veterans past and present with PTSD, and to offer those soldiers free doctors visits to help them cope with this disorder."

"[Z]aleski began his walk at Mt. Katahdin, Maine. All of his gear was strapped to him and made out of a lightweight and durable white plastic Tyvek (the material used in express mail bags by the US Post Office, DHL, etc.). He would walk 10 - 20 miles each day, and sleep in a Tyvek tent and sleeping bag. By the end of the first portion of the walk, over four and half months he trekked almost 1,400 miles. He suspended his journey in Monto Bello, Virginia due to weather. In April, Zaleski will pick up where he left off completing his vision quest by July in Georgia."

I saw another article about him some months back when he was in Pennsylvania. This guy is the real deal.