Long Journey for Barefoot Teen Nears Completion

Dashiel Alsup can't help but look back on the seven months since he stepped away from the cold waters of the Pacific Ocean and started walking toward Florida. The first week was brutal: his feet were coated with blisters, he was consumed with loneliness and plagued with doubts about ever reaching the East Coast. 

"Florida felt like a fairly impossible goal," he says. 

But Dash kept walking, mile after mile.

The 19-year-old encountered wild animals in the cold Oregon mountains and suffered through 100+ degree heat walking through the Flaming Gorge in Utah during a scorching week. 

"Yeah, those were hot days, and 60 miles between stops," he said. "But coming into Vernal, Utah and getting to the 7-11 to pick up an ice cold 44 ounce Big Gulp was joyous," he says, laughing.

Dash kept walking, steadily achieving 20-25 miles per day, mostly barefoot, through Colorado, Kansas and Missouri. 

"There were a few times that I had to put on sandals, when the road conditions were just too hot or the debris was so bad," he says.

He lost count of the number of people who gave him food or gave him a place to stay for the night, insisting on feeding him dinner, or sharing their faith. 

"America is full of incredibly gracious people," he says. "I can't tell you how many times someone went out of their way to help me. They had no idea what I was up to, they were just doing it from their heart."

There were also times his safety was in doubt. Occasionally, locals would confront him about his intentions before they realized he was supporting charity. Dash spent one day working for a man who had spent 11 years in prison for drug smuggling. 

"Here we are alone, deep in the woods, and I'm hauling brush while he's getting sauced and revving up his chainsaw," Dash says. "Turns out he was a good guy; he just wanted someone to confide in, not chop into pieces."

Dash started appearing in newspaper stories and being featured on television, especially in Nashville, where Soles4Souls is based. He walked together with charity Founder, Wayne Elsey, to a local shelter to distribute shoes to the homeless.

"He is a special kid, and there's no doubt his commitment to helping people is authentic," says Elsey. "Just look at all the fans he has who are following his epic journey. We're proud to be associated with him."

He walked southeast through Georgia, sensing the end of the journey and counting down the number of miles to Jacksonville. Today, he's less than 100 miles from the end of his journey, and hundreds of supporters and Soles4Souls staff will be on hand to walk with him to the Atlantic. Even several NFL players from the Jacksonville Jaguars will be in attendance and participate in another shoe distribution for homeless in their city.

"I'm happy that I can bring some attention to Soles4Souls," he says. "It's a simple thing, you know, putting shoes on people's feet. For people without shoes, it can mean the world."

Dash Arrives in Nashville

Dashiel Alsup, has reached Nashville in his barefoot quest to walk coast-to-coast to gain support for Soles4Souls. Wayne Elsey, founder of Soles4Souls, joined the 19 year-old and walked barefoot to the Nashville Rescue Mission to donate shoes to homeless men.

"Walking barefoot from Washington to Tennessee is already an incredible achievement, and we're honored that he's been undertaking this barefoot journey on our behalf," said Wayne Elsey.

It has been 2,840 miles since Dash turned his back on a cold and lonely beach in Washington state and started walking across America. Today, he reached Nashville where Soles4Souls staff members, volunteers and members of the media finally had their chance to meet the Colorado native who took it upon himself to raise awareness and funds for Soles4Souls.

Dash and Elsey were accompanied by about 30 students from a local school, as well as other volunteers. They began at The Parthenon, walked down Broadway toward 8th Avenue and turned south until they arrived at the Nashville Rescue Mission (about 2 1/2 miles). Many of the volunteers and students also walked barefoot in support of Dash and Soles4Souls. About 500 pairs of shoes were distributed at the Rescue Mission.

After visiting Nashville for a few days, Alsup plans on continuing toward his final goal in Jacksonville, Florida, where he will have walked over 3,000 miles for Soles4Souls.

"I'm really excited to be in Nashville and spend some time with the team at Soles4Souls," he said. "I'm just happy that I can make a difference in people's lives and am looking forward to the final leg of this trip," he said.

Alsup keeps a blog of his journey at http//asinglepebble.blogspot.com.

Barefoot Walker reaches Missouri

Dashiel Alsup, 19, of Coaldale, Colo., recently took a short break from walking across the country barefoot to spend some time with his grandparents in Kennett, Missouri.


Alsup is making the trek in an effort to raise awareness for Soles4Souls. Alsup left Ocean Shores, Wash., on May 2. About 2,600 miles later, he stopped by the house of Orville and Sybil Alsup for a week-long break. He is traveling to Jacksonville, Fla.

Alsup said he is averaging 20 to 25 miles per day. He uses mile markers to keep track of his progress.


"I stick to the main highways," Alsup said. "A lot of people try to give me rides."

Alsup also keeps a blog of his journey at asinglepebble.blogspot.com and updates it every five to seven days.


"I had some time and wasn’t sure if I was ready to go to college, so I decided to make the trip," he said. "Then I started looking for a cause to help and I ran across Soles4Souls. It just made sense."

While Alsup isn’t making the entire trip barefoot, he did say about 70 percent of the trip has been barefoot. He rubs Vaseline on his feet to keep them from taking too much damage.


"There are places I simply can’t go barefoot, like construction zones, really rough patches and such, so I’ve been using flip-flops for those places," Alsup said. "As long as I can make the majority of the trip barefoot I’ll be satisfied."

When Alsup leaves Kennett, his next stop will be in Nashville, Tenn. He will be visiting a friend of his father, as well as the Soles4Souls headquarters.

Dash in Dodge City

Our good friend Dash Alsup was recently in the Dodge Globe in Dodge City, KS:

Earlier this year, Dashiel Alsup decided to step away from everyday life for a while.

The 19-year-old man from Coaldale, Colo., decided he was getting bogged down in his daily routine and needed a change. He later decided that the best way to do that was to embark on a cross-country tour of the United States — on foot.

"It's the kind of thing where you can think about it for years and not do it," he said. "I just was at a point where I just had to say, 'Yes, I'm going to do it, that's all it's going to take,' and get myself out the door."

Alsup has been on the road since early May, and his journey brought him to Dodge City on Thursday. He planned to spend the night in this area, then take off again today.

Alsup's journey began in late April, when he took an Amtrak train from Colorado to Tacoma, Wash., where he has relatives. His journey officially began May 2 in Ocean Shores, Wash., about 100 miles from Tacoma, and he hopes to reach Florida by late November or early December.

He spent the first two weeks of his trip walking across Washington state before crossing into Oregon, and he has since passed through Idaho, corners of Utah, Wyoming and Colorado. He took a three-week break when he reached Coaldale — partly to relax before hitting the road again, and partly because his best friend was getting married.

He said it was a relief to get back to his hometown for a short time.

"I was to the point where I was feeling pretty drained, both physically and emotionally," he said. "Just to get home and be able to rest up — right away, I felt like everything was back to normal."

Alsup has been on foot for nearly the entire time, except for the rare occasions when bad weather forces him to accept a ride from someone. When that happens, he retraces that portion of his route on foot the next day if possible.

He said he is traveling barefoot as much as possible — partly to make the trip more interesting, and partly to avoid wearing out several pairs of shoes. He estimated that he walked barefoot about 60 percent of the time.

He pitches his small tent at night wherever he decides to sleep, and he carries Ramen noodles and granola bars for snacks in his backpack. He supplements those items with muffins, other easy-to-eat foods and occasional restaurant meals.

About once a week, he visits a library or an Internet cafe to update his blog, asinglepebble.blogspot.com, which mixes a journal of his travels with philosophical reflections.

But Alsup is doing more than just breaking away from his everyday life. He's also promoting Soles4Souls, a charity that donates shoes to needy people around the world.

Alsup said he chose Soles4Soules as his charity because it was based entirely on helping people who need shoes.

"It's such a simple thing, shoes, but it's a great help," he said.

He said he originally considered raising money for the charity but decided to promote it instead.

Alsup has traveled about 1,900 miles so far, and he expects to cover between 3,500 and 3,600 miles by the time he arrives in Florida. He chose Florida in part because he wanted to cross the United States diagonally, and partly because he wanted to avoid harsh winter weather.

"Part of it is because I started late spring-ish, so it's going to be winter by the time I end it," he said. "If I stayed north, I would have been going through Chicago and stuff, and that didn't sound very good."

He had not yet decided where he will end his travels in Florida.

Alsup said he was enjoying his trek across the United States, but he acknowledged that sometimes he feels discouraged and lonely. But that's when the romance of the road comes to his rescue.

"That definitely keeps me going," he said. "When I feel really down and lonely, I say, 'Wait a minute. I'm going to walk across America. I'm going to meet people, and I'm doing that. And this is the start of the rest of my life.'"

The Adventures of Dash

With 1,600 miles and 11 weeks of barefoot walking behind, Dashiel Alsup is not quite halfway to his goal but at least his feet have developed calluses offering him some protection.


Dash is walking across the U.S. for Soles4Souls, to collect pledges and inspire people to donate shoes to the cause.


He is currently taking a short break in his home town of Cotopaxi, Colorado where local reporters and news outlets were waiting to hear is story.

He began his trip in April bringing minimal food, mostly Ramen noodles and peanut butter. On longer stretches he would buy a loaf of bread and make sandwiches.

Occasionally he treated himself to meal in a restaurant and on a few occasions, was invited to share a meal with friendly locals. One of those was in Spray, Ore., where locals were preparing for the annual rodeo, the highlight of the year there.

Someone showed him a spot he could sleep for the night and in the morning he was invited in for a feast of pancakes, eggs, donuts and coffee.

Near Antelope, Ore., a motorist warned him to watch for cougars. As it turned out, the weather was more problem than cougars. Rain turned to snow and in the headlights of each passing car he watched for eyes in the dark, hoping if there were any cougars they wouldn't want to tangle with a barefoot walker. That day and night was one of his longest walks, logging 34 miles.

He wasn't always barefoot. On the first part of the trip, when weather was sometimes cold, he learned after he started walking and blood began flowing in his feet, being barefoot wasn't a problem.

On a few occasions when asphalt was unbearably hot and scorched his feet, he wore a pair of sandals he had in his backpack."The first week I had blisters and then shin splints," he said. "Rain puckered my feet and later heat dried them out. It was harder walking in the heat than anything."

He wrapped his feet a couple of times, but never had a problem serious enough to require stitches.

He carries a small tent and sometimes he will pitch it beside the road. Most of the time he just rolled out his sleeping bag.

"At first I was anxious to get farther away from the road, but after awhile I realized no one was going to bother me," he said.

Along the way he stopped at libraries and places where public computers were available to post messages to his blog. Pay phones kept him in touch with his family every three or four days.

Occasionally he was joined by friends who walked with him, although they chose to wear shoes. The route took him through Oregon into Idaho and part of Utah, into Wyoming and back through Utah and finally across Colorado.

"One of the most memorable times was walking in Flaming Gorge, above Vernal, Utah," he said. "The first day I got there at sunset. A four mile stretch had a 6-percent grade.

"I was warm and sweating and anxious to get to the top where there was a beautiful sunset. You stay on top for about 20 miles, like a mesa, and start down again."

In Colorado, he was joined by a friend from Cañon City who walked 30 miles with him over Monarch Pass to Salida.

"I stayed the night in Salida, and my dad walked with me that morning on the 17 miles home. We stopped at my mom's veterinary clinic in Howard and the three of us walked the last four miles together," he said."I broke down as I reached the newspaper box at our driveway. The driveway was hung with summer green, elm trees blowing. All the time I was walking, this sight was in my mind."

Now enjoying a couple of weeks respite, and attending the wedding of a friend, he's ready for the road heading toward Florida to complete his barefoot journey designed to put shoes on other people's feet.

To read more about his trip, visit Dash Alsup's blog at asinglepebble.blogspot.com.

Man Walking across America barefoot for Soles4Souls

There have been all kinds of treks across the United States. Many people have driven or biked it. Some have walked it. One man even went coast to coast on his lawnmower.

But walking 3,400 miles from the Pacific to the Atlantic barefoot?

Meet 19-year old Dash Alsup.

Alsup, a Washington native, began training about a year ago. Since he decided to make this trip, he has been walking around town with his pack — 45 pounds — to train. He will carry a small tent and sleeping bag along with other supplies.

Along the way, he hopes to collect pledges for Soles4Souls.

"It kind of made sense to do it without shoes," Alsup said. "It’s something I hadn’t heard of anyone doing.”

On April 30th, Dash started his journey in Canon City, Washington. It is reported that he is now somewhere near Denver, Colorado. He plans to reach Daytona Beach in Florida by late October or early November.

Check out Dash's blog about his trip: http://www.asinglepebble.blogspot.com/.