Arizona Highways Leads to SaddleBrooke

VIA SBINSIDER REPORTER| Holly G. Lightly

Bruce Landeck, President of the SaddleBrooke Hiking Club scored a coup by getting Robert Stieve to present at the last meeting. Stieve is Editor in Chief of Arizona Highways magazine and presented to a nearly packed crowd at Desert View Theater on February 16, 2023. Many enthusiasts of Arizona Highways magazine were in the audience including at least three who had subscribed for more than 25 years. That is dedication to the beautiful state of Arizona.

For more information about the SaddleBrooke Hiking club, click this link:
http://saddlebrookehikingclub.com/

Stieves provided a history of the magazine with its mission “to get people off the couch.” Do you need that kind of activity? The SaddleBrooke Hiking Club is a good place to start as it is aligned with that same mission. Arizona Highways magazine started out as a trade journal for road engineers. Today, it brings in tourists from all over the world to hike and explore picturesque Arizona.

The first issue of the magazine was published in April 1925. In September 1935 the magazine started mixing in some travel journalism. July 1937 saw the first color cover and in December 1946, the entire issue was in color.

Famous photographers for the magazine included Barry Goldwater, Ansel Adams, and Esther Henderson. The first photograph the magazine purchased was taken by Henderson. The magazine also helped put local Tucson artist Ted DeGrazia on the map.

Stieves does every hike and then writes the Hike of the Month column in the magazine. During his talk, Stieves displayed beautiful photos of many hikes from the Angel Trail to White Mountains Baldy Crossover Trail. From around the Grand Canyon to the Mogollon Rim, Humphrey’s Peak, and Sedona, there are a myriad of hikes for every level of hiker.

Stieves two favorites are the Bear Wallow trail, at least before the Bear Wallow fire, and Widforss Trail on the north rim. Named after Gunnar Widforss, the Swedish artist, known as the painter of national parks.

Check out the Arizona Highways web site to see the many ways you can enjoy Arizona.

https://www.arizonahighways.com/

The Arizona Highways site also includes fun facts like this one:

“On this date in 1930, Eva Dugan was hanged for killing Tucson rancher A.J. Mathis. It was the first time in Arizona history that a woman had been hanged for murder.”

Ok, maybe that wasn’t a “fun” fact, but a fact nonetheless.