WELCOME, STRANGER!

AFTER YEARS in a demanding state government job and a lifetime of frigid Minnesota winters, Mary Jo Kvidera was ready to move someplace warm and peaceful when she retired. In February 2018, she bought a home in Superior, having been drawn by the town’s mild climate and scenic location at the foot of the Superstition Mountains. The modest three-bedroom house was the perfect retirement sanctuary, with a front porch where Kvidera could sit in a chair swing and relish desert sunsets.

But there was one problem: She was lonely. All her children and grandchildren were back in Minnesota. “I came from a family of nine kids,” she says. “A house full of people was normal for me.”

The solution came walking down Kvidera’s street one afternoon in March of that year, when she was sitting on the porch. A man carrying a large backpack explained he was in the middle of “thru-hiking” the Arizona Trail, trekking 800 miles from the Utah state line to the border with Mexico. The hiker asked Kvidera for directions to a store in Superior, and she invited him to take a break on the porch so she could learn more about his adventure.

Kvidera was surprised to find out that a trailhead for the Arizona Trail was just 4.5 miles from her house. And through a bit more research, she also discovered a legion of volunteers across the state, colloquially called “angels,” who swoop in to offer Arizona Trail hikers help and provide them a place to sleep and home-cooked meals.

Kvidera rarely has an empty house today. As an Arizona Trail angel for more than eight years, she estimates she’s hosted some 1,000 people from all over the world, free of charge. And Kvidera is not alone in her hospitality. Dozens of angels, living in communities from Fredonia to Patagonia, play a critical role in making the trail one of the most popular long-distance hiking destinations in the United States. Many of the volunteers are so devoted to feeding and housing their guests that they’ve redesigned their homes to create comfortable hiker hostels.

The angels are heaven-sent for hikers who find themselves needing a ride on the side of a highway or desperate for a warm bed during a surprise snowstorm. But in today’s world, where strangers — especially those who appear different from what’s familiar — are often viewed with suspicion, taking in hikers with dirty clothes and unknown histories might seem strange, or even dangerous.

Kvidera sometimes gets raised eyebrows and concerned comments from her neighbors when they learn she’s involved in what hikers call “angeling.” The neighbors wonder: Why would anyone do that?

While no money is made from volunteering to support hikers, there is a different payoff. And it’s turned out to be life-changing for dedicated angels such as Kvidera.
 

CREATING A TRAIL that stretched the length of the Grand Canyon State was the brainchild of Flagstaff math teacher Dale Shewalter. With so many existing trails on public lands, he figured there must be a way to link Arizona’s crown jewels and other scenic spots with one epic path that would rival other long trails in the U.S., such as the Appalachian and Pacific Crest trails. Shewalter scouted a possible route in 1985, as he trekked from Nogales, at the Mexican border, all the way to the Utah state line. He championed the Arizona Trail idea to federal and state land managers, as well as to outdoor recreation groups, and a coalition was formed to make the dream a reality.

In 2009, Congress designated the 800-mile Arizona Trail a National Scenic Trail, one of only 11 in the U.S. The unbroken official path was formally completed in 2011 with the construction of a trail segment along the Gila River. The trail is rocky, remote and waterless in many places, but it also showcases the state’s best: Southeastern Arizona’s “sky islands,” Saguaro National Park, the Superstitions and Mazatzal Mountains, Mogollon Rim Country, the San Francisco Peaks and the Grand Canyon.

“The trail is harder than most people think,” says Matthew Nelson, executive director of the Arizona Trail Association. “Many start a thru-hike, but they don’t finish.” He adds that in recent years, 300 to 400 thru-hikers have completed the 800-mile trek annually. That’s up dramatically from when the trail was officially christened; back then, just a handful of people successfully made the trek, which generally takes six to eight weeks if attempted in one fell swoop.

While most hikers are from the United States, an ATA survey found that in 2024, people came from 21 different countries to attempt the trek — proving that the long-distance trail is on the bucket list of hikers from all over the world.

“The Arizona Trail may be the most solitary long trail in the United States,” says author Tom Zoellner, who thru-hiked it by himself in 2019 and wrote a book about his experience titled Rim to River: Looking Into the Heart of Arizona. He adds, “You can go for days without seeing another person.”

As a result, gateway communities along the route play a critical role in giving thru-hikers a reprieve from the relentless wilderness, along with a chance to resupply on food and small-town hospitality. These enclaves are where the angels live.

“The angels offer a wonderful human component to the experience after the periods of solitude,” Zoellner says. “The kindness they exhibit toward hikers, and the pride they take in their communities, is really something to witness.”

Nelson says the angel network for the Arizona Trail started about 10 years ago, when volunteers who’d been caching water for hikers along dry stretches wanted to do more. “They never got to see the hikers when they were just leaving water in the backcountry,” he says. “So, the volunteers began offering hikers a ride to town or their spare bedroom for the night.”

The trail angel program is not officially affiliated with the ATA, but the organization maintains a database of angels and their contact information on its website. Hikers usually reach out via text message or through a dedicated Facebook page during their trip.

“It is one of the most beautiful parts of the Arizona Trail experience: the way hikers and angels pass through each other’s lives,” Nelson says. “There is this instant friendship and cultural exchange that is so rare in today’s world.”
 

TIM AND MELODY VARNER, a longtime angel couple in Flagstaff, received a text message in October 2025 from a German woman named Melina Keil. The Arizona Trail’s fall southbound season was in full swing as thru-hikers who’d started at the Utah state line made their way into Flagstaff. (The northbound season, for hikers who start at the Mexican border, begins in the spring.)

“Can I stay with you?” Keil asked. The 30-year-old photographer from Frankfurt, Germany, was attempting a solo thru-hike; she planned to reach the Sandy Seep Trailhead, just outside Flagstaff, the next day.

The Varners leapt into action. Melody arranged to pick up Keil at the trailhead, and Tim went to the grocery store so they’d have the ingredients to cook plenty of comfort food for their guest. (Other thru-hikers have jokingly called Tim and Melody’s house the “Varner Vortex,” because visitors feel so pampered, they don’t want to leave.)

Retired and in their mid-70s, the Varners have lived in their bright, spacious home for 30 years. “We don’t spend our money going out to restaurants,” Tim said before Keil arrived. “We like to take care of people. We even compete on who gets to cook for them.” He’s especially fond of making fresh-baked sourdough bread and pies for his guests.

“Everybody who comes here is on some kind of personal journey,” he added. “People from other places are so excited to see the Grand Canyon and the desert. You get caught up in that energy. And even though they just stay for a few days, I feel like I know them forever.”

A guest book on the Varners’ coffee table attests to the hundreds of hikers who’ve visited their home over the past decade. The first was a Japanese blueberry farmer who went by the trail name “Courage.” Others came from Canada, South Africa, Poland, the Netherlands and the Czech Republic. And some ended up moving to Flagstaff and becoming trail angels themselves.

When Keil walked through the front door with Melody, her face was red from hiking in unseasonable heat, and her water bottles were empty. Tim took her pack, put a cold drink in her hand and led her upstairs, where the Varners’ second floor has been converted into a hiker Hilton with two bedrooms, a bathroom with a walk-in shower, and white terry cloth robes sporting an embroidered “AZT Guest.” The Varners have also built a tiny house in their backyard for hikers who want more privacy.
 

“You can just throw your dirty clothes down this laundry chute,” Tim said as he leaned over a hamper in the corner of the bathroom. “We will wash them for you.”

“Oh, that would be amazing!” Keil exclaimed. She seemed stunned by the posh accommodations after having slept on the ground for more than a week.

But there wasn’t much time for lounging around — Keil had an ambitious hiking schedule to keep. After a pancake breakfast the next morning, Melody took Keil to a trailhead in Flagstaff so she could resume her trek. Two weeks later, after hiking across Mogollon Rim Country and the Mazatzals, Keil surfaced in Superior, where she’d arranged to stay at Kvidera’s house. Several other hikers were bunking there as well.

Since becoming a trail angel in 2018, Kvidera has transformed her home to comfortably accommodate as many guests as possible. Two sets of bunk beds are in one bedroom, and a second bedroom is outfitted with a double bed for couples. Her kitchen table seats five, and a vintage camper sits in the driveway for additional visitors. Bookshelves in the living room are lined with Arizona guidebooks, and baskets loaded with foot care balm are scattered throughout the house. Every morning, Kvidera bakes blueberry muffins for her guests.

“I know how much of a struggle it is out there, hiking in the desert,” she says of her visitors. “So, I try to provide for whatever their needs are.” That devotion to taking care of exhausted strangers earned Kvidera the 2024 “Trail Angel of the Year” award from the American Long-Distance Hiking Association-West.

Keil had limped into Superior with a painful foot she sprained while crossing rocky terrain. Kvidera took her to an urgent care clinic and persuaded her to kick back while the swelling went down. Determined to make it all the way to Mexico, Keil resumed her solo trek a few days later, knowing she wasn’t truly alone — she could call on the angel network if she needed additional help.
 

JEFF AND JACQUETTA “Que” Hough bought their three-bedroom home in Kearny in 2021, and after learning how close they were to the Arizona Trail, they became angels soon after moving in. The Houghs estimate they’ve hosted between 800 and 900 hikers in five years. That number includes Keil, who arrived in November, still nursing her sprained foot.

“We’ve had everyone from doctors and lawyers … to kids in their 20s who were trying to figure out their purpose in life,” Jeff says.

“We enjoy sitting on the back patio with our guests and sharing stories,” Que adds. “I believe all our visitors can make our lives better — and we can make their lives better.” The Houghs’ philosophy about being trail angels is summed up by a sign on their patio: “We host the world from our backyard.”

With the help of several more angels in Southern Arizona, Keil made it to the Mexican border on November 22, 2025. She recorded the moment when she touched the Arizona Trail’s southern terminus marker with her trekking pole, then shared the video on social media. The angels rejoiced at the news of her accomplishment.

“I’ve had many young people tell me that they learned a lot about the importance of giving back during the two or three days they stayed with us,” Tim Varner says. “They are always so grateful. But we get much more out of being angels than we give. It makes me feel good, and it restores my faith in humanity.”

As far as Kvidera is concerned, the motivation for being an angel is simple: For her, a full house equals a full heart.

ARIZONA TRAIL ASSOCIATION
The Arizona Trail runs for approximately 800 miles, from the U.S.-Mexico border to Utah. But it’s more than just a trail — it’s a journey through some of the most awe-inspiring landscapes in the West. The trail is the brainchild of the late Dale Shewalter, a Flagstaff school teacher. He first considered the idea of an “Arizona Trail” in the 1970s. Then, in 1985, he made a trek from one end of the state to the other to assess the possibilities. A “thru-hike” was doable, he figured, and the work began. A decade later, in 1995, the Arizona Trail Association was incorporated as a nonprofit to be an organized voice for the trail. Its mission is to protect, maintain, enhance, promote and sustain the Arizona Trail as a unique encounter with the natural environment.

For more information, call the Arizona Trail Association at 602-252-4794 or visit aztrail.org.