AZ Family (May 28, 2026) by Mason Carroll

An Arizona man is going to great lengths to honor the man who inspired the Arizona Trail. The Trail runs from the border with Mexico to the border with Utah, and completing it is a rite of passage for endurance hikers.

The Arizona Trail winds through 800 miles of desert, forest, and even the Grand Canyon. The idea for the trail came from a man named Dale Shewalter in 1985. It took decades to create the trail.

Art Huseonica, who goes by the trail name Karts, has been hiking the trail for years and was surprised by how few people knew about Shewalter’s impact.

“He passed away, unfortunately, in 2010, and the trail was officially completed in 2011,” Karts said.

So this year, he decided to turn his normal through-hike into a memorial.

“I got to thinking I’ve done this trail before,” Karts said. “Let me do something special this time, and I decided to do a tribute hike to Dale Shewalter.”

So he began his journey in February. His plan was to hike all the way from Mexico to Utah,

However, early heat in Southern Arizona and late snow in the High Country forced him to break up the hike.

“The rangers that I was in contact with said it’s too dangerous Karts,” he said. “Stay low. Stay at lower elevations. So I had to flip-flop ahead.”

He’s hiked more than 95 percent of the trail so far with just 30 more miles to go.

“In the land of Arizona, through desert heat and snow winds a trail for folks to follow from Utah to Old Mexico,” Karts said, reading a poem by Shewalter.

His hope is people will take a second to appreciate what Shewalter inspired for our state, whether they’re hiking one mile or 800.

“The importance of what he did to bring this trail to you, to each hiker, to each of us,” Karts said.

You can learn more about the Arizona Trail and Shewalter’s legacy here.

 

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