Natalie Moller, Bruce Ledbetter and a cool dog named Shadow

  Earlier this month, Natalie Moller, Bruce Ledbetter and a cool dog named Shadow got a dose of friendliness after visiting Kearny.

  Natalie and Bruce and first-time hiker Shadow walked from the Freeman Trailhead to the Florence-Kelvin Trailhead, from which they caught a ride into Kearny. Carol Hosler, who is an Arizona Trail Angel, offered them a ride back to their starting point and their vehicle.

  Natalie most recently came from California, where she hiked the Pacific Coast Trail. She is doing short hikes along the Arizona Trail over the next month to prepare for a longer trek this year. Bruce is a Tucson native and does volunteer work for the Arizona Trail Association, helping with maintenance.

  Sam Hosler, who took the photo of the three hikers, said the back of his truck wasn’t ideal for taking the photo, “but Bruce and Natalie were enamored of my license plate, and repeatedly told us that Kearny is, indeed, the friendliest town on the Arizona Trail.”