Dale Shewalter Remembered

by John Nelson, May 2020 The other day was Dale’s birthday. I can’t believe he’d be seventy now. He’ll always be about thirty for us. This morning we listened to Irish music and had sourdough pancakes in his honor. Lisa and I met Dale in about 1978 when we lived next to each other in the two second-story apartments above an […]

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Dave Hicks’ Picks

Dave Hicks, Arizona Trail Association Executive Director from 2006 to 2012, submitted these names as folks he recognized as providing critical help to the completion of the Trail. There are many more, he says, and all part of his adventure.  Zay Hartigan Zay has been a leading trail builder, caretaker and advocate in southern Arizona area since the early 2000’s.  […]

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Involvement with the Arizona Trail

by Eric Smith I first heard about the Arizona Trail in 1987.  In 1988, while attending a volunteer conference at Boyce Thompson Southwestern Arboretum, Dale Shewalter gave an enlightening presentation on the Arizona Trail.  Progress was already underway on the four national forests.  I was “hooked” from the moment I learned of the project. In mid-1990, I called Dale to […]

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Joel McCurry

Creation of the Arizona Trail  on the Tusayan Ranger District, Kaibab National Forest The Kaibab National Forest played an important role in the initial development of the Arizona Trail.  Dennis Lund, the Kaibab National Forest’s Recreation Staff Officer, hired Dale Shewalter, the trail’s visionary and a local Flagstaff school teacher to start the coordination between the different agencies and entities […]

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A Charmed Life

Remembered by Phyllis Ralley, Photo by Larry Snead Dale Shewalter once told me a story about how he was backpacking in Ponderosa pine country and hiked past a spot, under a beautiful Ponderosa, that was a perfect place to place his tent. It was still a bit early so he decided to keep hiking to another spot. That night there […]

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