Mick Dodge

Mick Dodge, also known as "The Barefoot Sensei", "the Barefoot Nomad" and "Walking Mountain"[1] is a television personality and rainforest-dweller in Washington.

Early life

He is a native of the Olympic Peninsula. His great-grandparents settled in the region and Dodge grew up there as a child. He loved the outdoors. Dodge also lived in many other places around the country and the world as the son of a career Marine,[2][3] Ronald L. Dodge.[1] The younger Dodge graduated from high school in Okinawa, Japan.[1]

Prior to venturing into the Hoh Rain Forest in western Washington State, Dodge spent six years in the Marines before working as a mechanic at Fort Lewis.

In the forest

Mick decided to leave the modern world and retreat to the forest due to foot complications and the stress of modern living.[4] He was nicknamed "The Barefoot Sensei" due to his preference to not wear shoes or sandals when walking in the forest. Since 1991, he has been living barefoot, a decision that he believed helped cure him of plantar fasciitis, back pain and hammer toes. He also felt that it helped him connect more intuitively with the natural world.[2]Despite these claims, Mick can often be seen wearing boots in "The Legend of Mick Dodge", a National Geographic television program detailing his life.

EarthGym program

Despite the preference to be separated from modern civilization, Mick is still involved with the community. In 1994, Mick and Jacquie Chandler created an earth-based fitness program they called The EarthGym, fitness program in the forest where nature provides most of the equipment for physical training.[5]

Media

Dodge is the subject of the National Geographic Channel reality TV series The Legend of Mick Dodge, about his unusual life dwelling in a forest.[6]

References

  1. 1 2 3 Smilie, Joe (19 February 2014). "Mountain man Mick Dodge loves the wild but isn't a 'wild man' (CORRECTED)". Peninsula Daily News. Retrieved 21 October 2014.
  2. 1 2 "The Barefoot Sensei – Former Marine Left Everything Behind to Live in the Forest", Oddity Central, January 30th, 2014.
  3. ↑ "Mick Dodge, rain forest dweller" The News Tribune, January 7, 2014.
  4. ↑ "He lives in a tree, doesn't wear shoes, and brushes his teeth with a pinecone, MNN.com January 07, 2014.
  5. ↑ "Mick Dodge bio, the Barefoot Sensei - The EarthGym", Retrieved on 16 September 2014.
  6. ↑ "The Legend of Mick Dodge | National Geographic Channel", National Geographic Channel
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