It was 1989 when Arizona Highways published an article about the Arizona Trail. There was an amazing photo of the Crest Trail that just called my name! I was about to hang up my muleโs bridle after seven years of organizing the โFrontier Shady Ladies Bumblebee to Williams All-Woman Charity Trail Ride.โ Each year, during the last week of August […]
Read moreby Eric Smith I first heard about the Arizona Trail in 1987.ย In 1988, while attending a volunteer conference at Boyce Thompson Southwestern Arboretum, Dale Shewalter gave an enlightening presentation on the Arizona Trail.ย Progress was already underway on the four national forests.ย I was โhookedโ from the moment I learned of the project. In mid-1990, I called Dale to […]
Read moreCreation of the Arizona Trailย on the Tusayan Ranger District, Kaibab National Forest The Kaibab National Forest played an important role in the initial development of the Arizona Trail.ย Dennis Lund, the Kaibab National Forestโs Recreation Staff Officer, hired Dale Shewalter, the trailโs visionary and a local Flagstaff school teacher to start the coordination between the different agencies and entities […]
Read moreBy Merle Parmer Answers to โ10 Questionsโ 1. I have been involved with the Arizona Trail since February 1997, actively until January 2007, when I started having a sequence of bad luck with health problems.ย Since the beginning of 2007, I have been semi-retired as I have been physically unable to do the trail work.ย I have done a few […]
Read moreTom Coulson 2017 I did my first โbackpacking tripโ at age 16 with my Dad and Brother. We always loved the great outdoorsย so Dad got each of us a โCamp Trailsโ backpack and we started going. Now at age 65 and several packsย later, I still love it. The Arizona Trail had become an important part of my life because it […]
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