Change may be the essence of life but it can be a headache for trip leader. A weekend car camp became a Saturday day hike when all the reserved sites were full. And stormy weather altered that plan, shifting it to a Sunday.

6:39 AM, wheels were rolling with a 30-60% chance of rain in the high country. Interstate 17 had wet spots from showers that had preceded us. Rain free, with heavy clouds but broken until we hit Munds Park. Foggy, misty and light rain looks like the misery index will hit ten and most likely we will have to shorten the hike. Canceling was no longer an option.

Five valley hikers met Rudy at exit 185. We drove the frontage road west to FR171. Then we took it north for about five miles where we parked the vehicles.

It was windy. Spotting patches of blue and an occasional peek of sunshine lifted our spirits. Bill had loaded his GPS with waypoints for historical monuments placed by Jack Smith based on Beal’s exact compass readings “BM”. He also added waypoints while trying to match the track as shown on Kaibab National Forest Williams Ranger District Map “S”.

Wait. This camel dung has not been authenticated.

Chuck unsuccessfully tried his pogo stick maneuver to cross the fence. It was the first of many fences we had to cross. We did not find any trail or markers when we arrived at “S2”. We did find some camel dung. However, we could not find any volunteer to pack it out so we could authenticate it.

After another fence crossing and we were ready to take on the secondary objective, Wild Bill Hill. I have not researched the name, but I am sure it is a great story. The winds picked up and party sunny became partly cloudy. At “8164” we posed for group picture, hoping the wind would not blow the camera off its perch.

Tree cover gave us a break from the wind as reached the second peak, “8185”. Heading down toward “S4” we spotted an outcrop where they may have buried some of the camels. None. However, Rudy found a rock that resembled a camel head. Our imagination was on steroids.

We headed toward “BM3”, where we found first indication of the historic wagon trail. Two Monuments. Excitement reigned. As we broke for lunch we looked for sunny spots out of the wind.

On our way to “S5” we took a side trip to “X” to check out some signage on the road. No Beal information. “S5” is a fence crossing with a gate, yippy, no crawling.

Walking a real road, no bushwhacking. Neat. We found two wooden monuments. We must be on the Beal Wagon Trail. At “BMZ” we were surprised to find another brass monument.

On our way to “BM5” we followed a fence line and stopped to chat with a cowboy who was driving cattle. We scoured the area but could not find a monument.

Upon reaching FR793 we decided to head back. After reaching Horseshoe Tank, Bill, Rudy, and Scott opted to summit Government Hill as Chuck, Sana and Michael choose to stay low.

The group reconnected at “RX1” and walked a very old road to “RX2”. We entered the forest and headed toward “N8N”. Bushwhacking ended as we intersected a road, which we later discovered to be FR156. It was still windy (never quit) and colder as we walked on FR 171 back to the vehicles.

There Rudy spotted a second surprise monument “BM6” that we overlooked at the hike start.

We stopped at Exit 185 Subway for a quick bite before heading home.

For more reading on the historic Beal Wagon Trail see Arizona Highways, June, 2014, and Kaibab National Forest Trail #61.