Smith Peak is the summit of the Harcuvar Mountains in northeastern La Paz County, where Maricopa and Yavapai Counties come together. It's a lengthy desert range, with no forest to speak of, but featuring classic lower-Sonoran desert flora, including a beautiful cactus garden on the approach road up. I had some free time, and with the weather holding steady, decided to spend a day visiting the range and its highpoint. I left Chandler at 5:30 a.m. and covered the 120 miles to the base of the range in about two and a half hours, including stops to get some gas and victuals along the way. I made my way to Wickenburg, then west on US-60 to the little town of Aguila, in Maricopa County's extreme northwest corner. From there I followed a "major" road north (the road opposite Eagle Eye Road to the south, but I did not check its name heading north). Four miles on this road, I came to a junction, and went west (left) along a county-line road for another 3 miles to an arroyo crossing the road; just past this was a metallic sign pointing to "Smith Pk". I was in the right area.

The next 2.5 miles of road can be daunting: a long gravelly and sometimes sandy track directly within a creekbed. If it's wet, forget it. If it's dry, like today, I'd have to maintain fast forward motion so as not to get stuck. This I did, and overall it wasn't too bad, but there were spots where I sensed if I stopped, I'd get mired in the soft gravel and sand. This was the crux right here. Once out of this road, I was home free.

The road rises out the creekbed and meets a BLM kiosk. I went left at a Y-junction, then left again at another Y, then in and out of two washes. Then another Y-junction, with some interesting ruins nearby. I went right and followed the track into the mountains. I had to go into and out of one bigger arroyo, then the road started to seriously ascend into the mountains. I decided to park not much farther up, in a wide spot where I could be off the main road slightly. It was 8:20 a.m. in pleasant conditions, and bright blue skies. So far, the roads had been the biggest hurdle, but not too bad. The last arroyo crossing required 4-wheel drive. There is room to park nearby it if crossing it is not desireable.

The road actually goes all the way to the summit. It gets steep in spots but a carefully-driven Jeep would be okay. I didn't want to drive the whole thing and was eager for a good workout. From my truck I ambled up the steepening road, as it switchbacked twice, gaining a small saddle. Next, it gained another short steep section and worked its way up to another saddle, near a hill with Benchmark "Bullard", not to be confused with Bullard Peak, which is southeast of the range a bit. I had hiked a mile to this saddle, gaining about 900 feet. I could see the rest of the route from here, with the towers atop Smith Peak visible about 3 miles west. I took a lengthy break here.

The next couple of miles went quick as the road gained and dropped gently. In about another 40 minutes I came to some power lines and the junction of a very old road that is still shown on the Smith Peak map (the road I was on is not shown and is obviously newer). I stopped to look down and wondered how anyone could get up this older road: it easily had gradients of at least 40 degrees-plus. From here on to the top, the new road and this old road braided in and out with one another. In one section I opted to follow the old road as a short cut. It was considerably steeper but still walkable. Otherwise I stayed on the newer road. The route eventually drops about 200 feet to a sharp pass at 4,700 feet, then starts a steep slog up the remaining segment.

I could see the buildings up top and figured I was basically there, but to my mild chagrin, when I passed a bend I saw I still had about another half-mile to go, as the towers were strung out over a wide segment of the summit. Even so this was managed easily enough, and I arrived at the summit at 10:45 a.m. I found the sign-in register and noted I was the second person to visit in two days! I had seen some fresh prints coming up ... and then I was amused to see that yesterday's visitor was Nick Scouras, one of my teammates on the Mazatzal Peak climb from November. I signed in and had a small lunch in the lee of a building. The views of the deserts and nearby ranges were amazing in this clear weather. The big Harquahala Mountains were immediately south. A dust cloud was kicking up near Salome to the west. The endless ranges and plateaus of western Yavapai and southern Mohave Counties were to my north. Way off on the northern horizon stood Humphreys Peak, in its snowy glory I didn't spend too long up top, though, and got moving within 15 minutes.

The hike down went real fast. The gradients were very easy, but there were some uphill parts to contend with as well. In many places I jog-walked, and I was back to my truck within 90 minutes, coming back at 12:30 sharp. I took the downhill drive slowly, worried a bit about a tire that has a very slow (and frustrating) leak. But everything went fine. I had a Subway sandwich in Wickenburg. The teenager worker said I looked like I'd been working all day. When I said I'd been hiking, he asked, honestly, if I did this "on purpose". He then got into a discussion with a co-worker about Dungeons and Dragons. I felt out of my element. I was home by 4-ish battling some traffic along the way.