Mazatzal Peak is a well-known mountain landmark in Central Arizona, easily seen along the drive between the Phoenix area and Payson along AZ-87 (The Beeline Highway). Where the highway bottoms out about 12 miles south of Payson and just north of the turn-off to AZ-188/Roosevelt Lake, Mazatzal Peak looms high to the immediate west, a large blocky massif ringed by dramatic cliffs and covered in a thick carpet of forest. It's the centerpiece of the Mazatzal Wilderness, and numerous popular hiking trails cross the range, although there are no maintained trails to the summit. For years it was believed Mazatzal Peak was the highpoint of Gila County, but that honor goes to a couple of cliff-points along the Mogollon Rim which supercede Mazatzal Peak by no more than 20 feet. However, in the 'deserving' category, Mazatzal Peak far outweighs the Mogollon liners for this honor. The peak does have many superlatives to its credit: highest peak in the Mazatzal Mountains (the same range that includes Mount Ord and the Four Peaks), twelfth-highest prominence in the state, and the highest prominence for Yavapai County (courtesy of the Gila-Yavapai county boundary that runs along the ridge and the summit). It's also well-known for its incorrect pronunciation: over the years it has morphed into being known as "Matazall" Peak. Anyway, for the longest time this peak was on my want list, but the large amount of bushwhacking needed to gain the summit was not appealing, so I put it off indefinitely. An offer to join a small group heading up came my way and I accepted. My teammates were Bill Jacobs and Rick Hartman, with whom I've hiked before (most recently in June on Grafton Peak in Nevada), and Nick Scouras, who I met for the first time on this outing.

We set the hike up for the end of November mainly to coincide with everyone's schedules. Rick was guiding hunts up in Nevada and unavailable until now. Meanwhile, we hoped the weather would behave, and it did. Arizona was in the midst of a prolonged period of clear, dry, warm weather, with no recent storms having dumped any snow, and the really cold stuff still up to the north. We assembled at the Barnhardt Trailhead early on Saturday morning, me having left Chandler at 4:30 a.m. for the 75-mile drive. Bill and Rick rolled up about 20 minutes later, then Nick a few minutes after that. We made introductions and got our stuff in order, and within minutes were starting up the trail, start time at 6:45 a.m., starting elevation very nearly 4,200 feet. The sun was still behind the ranges to our east but lighting up the sky pretty good, while a waning gibbous moon still stood high in the sky. The nearest clouds were two states over, it seemed. The wind was light, and temperatures probably about 40 degrees F. Nice!

We followed the Barnhardt Trail (#43) from the north end of the parking lot. No more than 20 feet it in splits; we stayed right (going left would take us on the Y-Bar/Shake Tree routes). A few feet further we came to a fence and stile, which we passed through. The trail quickly enters into a high-walled canyon, contouring in and out with the various side-drainages; the Mazatzal Wilderness boundary is passed along the way, not much after the fence. For about a mile the trail gains at a moderate but consistent grade, steadily building vertical distance above the dry creekbed below us. Above us were sheer cliffs, full of wildly contorted folds of the various rock bands that composed it. Although the trail is very well-maintained and it fantastic shape, it can be narrow with no room for error; drops are sometimes sheer and a misstep could mean a long ride down to the rocks below. It begs the question of who put the trail in first and why - we figured it was probably an old miner's route later developed by the forest service. After a mile the trail starts a series of switchbacks that gain up a prominent nose coming off of Suicide Ridge. The grade is steep but not too bad; I was still able to maintain conversation with the others - in between huffs and puffs. We took water and 'take-off-jackets' breaks every half-hour or so. The sun was rising but we were shaded for most of the lower hike. Even so, it was getting warmer and more comfortable.

After the switchbacks the trail simply continues its way west, going in and out of the side canyons, again with often dramatic and beautiful views. We passed a waterfall along the way - in season the flow can be quite heavy, although all we had was a trickle. Finally, the trail emerges from the steep-walled canyons and onto some more gently-sloped hills and highlands, from which we could see the main Mazatzal Divide well off to the west, and some subsidiary peaks of the range as well, although our objective was still hidden from view, off to our southeast. We followed the trail a while more, finally coming to a level stretch roughly due north of ridgepoint 6935 and east of ridgepoint 6611, both useful waypoints along Mazatzal Peak's prominent northwest ridgeline, which would be our approach for the summit. We were roughly 6,000 feet elevation, having covered 1,800 feet of gain in about two hours. My instincts tell me this was about a 4-mile journey to this point from the cars. We took a break and decided on some options - whether to barrel up the slopes and meet the ridge between these ridgepoints or head west some more to the saddle and start from there. Gradient-wise it made more sense to stay on the trail, but time and distance-wise it was far quicker to just go cross-country. Besides, we could see our route and noted it didn't look that nasty. Who knows what awaited us from the saddle? Cross-country it was. We caught a break, so to speak. A large fire in the area in 2004 had burned off the forest cover and much of the undergrowth, allowing for reasonable line-of-sight navigation. The summit was still a good 2 miles away and 1,900 feet higher.

Our intent was to climb up the slopes up to the ridge roughly near point 6611, which we couldn't really identify from below. Hiking through the trees (the blackened husks thereof), we got a bit west of our intended slope and started up a steeper slope fronted by a small cliff that was easily bypassed, but not without encountering some steep, rubbly slopes and loose crud. I slipped once and got some cactus spines into my leg. This section went okay, all things considered, and the remaining bit to the ridge crest was easy enough. Along the way we had much brush, basically falling into two categories: dead yellowish grassy stuff, and thorns. The thorny brush was nasty, with 1/2-inch curved thorns that dug right into any exposed skin and caught up on the clothing. Once on the ridge we worked our way around two or three rocky humps in thick brush, going slow and carefully. A prominent cliff-face - which we took to be the summit (it actually wasn't) - was visible a mile off on a direct bearing. Rick had gone way ahead of us, in much better overall shape after leading the hunts up in Nevada over the previous few weeks. Nick, Bill and I hiked in a loose clump and went at a slow, moderate pace, stopping often to figure out our position and work our way around thorny sections. Finally, the ridge widened at a point about 1/2 mile northwest of the summit, and the gradient lessened, and, thankfully, the underbrush decreased considerably as well. The final half-mile and 700 feet of gain went very well. We came upon the big cliff promontory that we'd though all along was the summit, only to see the real thing not too far off to the southeast. The hiking was easy enough here, with lots of exposed rock and easy gradients. The three of us arrived at the top just before noon, Rick already relaxing and eating lunch. The weather had remained absolutely perfect, although the breeze had picked up.

We spent about 30 minutes on top, a jumble of rocks with the benchmark partially hidden beneath a small bush. To our west was a near-sheer cliff and a good 2,000 feet of air to wilderness below, while to the east the slope gave way gently at first then met with a band of cliffs. The clear air and breeze made for nearly perfect viewing conditions. We were able to positively identify at least a dozen ranges and peaks. To our north was the long Mogollon Rim cliff bands, and the vast flat Colorado Plateau on top. Two small brush fires were putting up some smoke up on the plateau. Humphreys Peak stood tall to our northwest, while the fault-peaks of Kendrick, Sitgreaves and Bill Williams formed a neat line west of Humphreys. The Bradshaws were to our immediate west, and the White Tanks and Sierra Estrellas to our southwest, with Phoenix underneath a low haze. Harquahala Mountain was visible, just barely, as a lone hump way off to the southwest. Peering south east along the main spine of the Mazatzal Range, we could see Mount Ord and behind it, the distinct Four Peaks and Browns Summit. Behind was the fortress-like silhouette of the Superstitions. Off to our east and southeast were Pinal Peak, Aztec Peak and the distant peaks on the San Carlos Reservation. The air was clear enough to see shadow detail on the ridges over 50 miles away! We ate lunch and were in no hurry to get moving, given the great weather and views.

Eventually we started the hike down. We all made it back about a mile to the lower ridgepoints where we'd come up, then took a different subridge emanating north off of point 6935. This was the one we'd intended to be on going up. The descent was not too bad. We hit more of those thorn thickets and I took a couple of spills when rocks would roll out from under me. The ground was very loose and the hillside was a scape of blackened dead trees. We split into two teams and egressed back onto the trail, where we met up again for the hike out. It was 2:30 and we took a break here to relax. The remaining hike back to our cars took right about 2 hours, and I enjoyed the amazing cliff views that I missed going up - now bathed in mid-afternoon light. Even if the summit was not on the agenda, the hike to the divide along the Barnhardt Trail is amazing and I highly recommend it. Back at the cars we changed into dry clothes, sat around a bit then got moving pretty quick, with sunset coming up on us pretty fast. I had a bunch of cactus thorns in my leg that I tried to pick out as best I could. The drive home went well and I was back by about 6 p.m.

Thanks again to my teammates, Rick, Bill and Nick for their fine company and skills on the routes. This was one peak I had always wanted, and one that I am happy to be done with. But it certainly was one of the nicer, more unique and rewarding peaks I've done in the state.