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 2.5 hours, including stops to get some gas and grub along the way. I made may 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). Five miles on this road, I came to a junction, and went west (left) for another 3 miles to an arroyo crossing the road; just past this was a metallic sign pointing to "Smith Pk".

The final road was a bit bumpy and rough in spots but not too bad. The first 2.5 miles (roughly) is within a creekbed and is very gravelly, but also washboarded. It's a winning combination. Finally it rises out of the creekbed and shortly comes to a Y-junction and a BLM kiosk. I stayed left, and left again at another Y-junction, then in and out of two washes. After the second wash the road came to yet another Y-junction and some old ruins. Going by instinct I stayed right and proceeded toward the mountains. At about the 5.1-mile mark (by my odometer) I came to a large clearing with old fire-rings. The road continues, but here I needed to go into 4-wheel drive due to one nasty section to get in and out of an arroyo. I managed to get another mile up this road, but it grew very steep and exposed and I decided to park at the first decent pullout I came to. My GPS put my elevation at 3,120 feet, give or take a few feet. After changing into boots and getting my pack in order I started up the remainder of the road. It was about 8:20 a.m. and the weather was very nice. Cool, but not cold, still, and very dry. The sun was still low in the southeast.

The road actually goes all the way to the summit, and even past it a little. The summit is home to numerous communications towers, and as a result the road is in generally good condition, as mountain roads go. But I wasn't interested in driving all the way up. As I hiked up from my truck, the road steepened even a little more to some sharp switchbacks before coming to a saddle (here). From here it went left and up another short stretch of moderate steepness before coming out to a small saddle just north of the hill marked by benchmark "Bullard" (not to be confused with Bullard Mountain, which is southeast of the range). At this point I had covered a bit over a mile, about 900 feet of gain, and had my first views of the rest of the road, the range and the summit, which stood about 3 miles distant. I took a break here before starting again.

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. This was approximately at this location. 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 bit. 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. Talk about a small world! 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! 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 sammy in Wickenburg. The teenaged 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.