Index Town Wall
Jan 21, 2013
by
Medusa La Stone
—
last modified
Jan 22, 2013 11:17 AM
- Type of Outing
- Day hike
- Read More in our Hiking Guide
- Hike: Index Town Wall
- Region: Central Cascades -- Stevens Pass - West
- Avg Rating: 3.33
- Be Aware Of
- Blowdowns
- Water on trail
- Snow on trail
Ta-Da! Gunn Peak, Merchant Peak and Baring Mountain with the moon!
This little gem of a trail is STEEP but the rewarding view makes it worth the trek! As many other hiker's have been reporting, if you gain elevation you will escape the fog. This was true for me today!
The parking lot to the actual trailhead was icy, but hiking poles helped.
At the trailhead I noticed the "Mystery Door" at the base of wall had been sealed off in concrete, thus hindering anymore break-ins. At least I was lucky enough back in May, 2012 to see what was behind this door after vandals had broken in... and no, I won't tell you; Use your imagination! ^_^
Trail is in okay shape, there was moments where I had to really find it, but the blue and silver diamonds mounted on the trees helped. So did previous foot and animal tracks.
The first mile had some eroding tread that needs to be reworked. LOTS of fallen branches all the way to the top. Snow on the trail is sporadic along the flat areas and then starts to the be norm around 1600 ft.
The last incline you ascend before reaching the top has a few downed trees covering the trail. I had to look closely at previous tracks to help me stay on track. The snow is pretty compact but if you go off trail, you will be postholing about 2 feet deep. I would have liked to use snowshoes at this point, but the trail was so narrow that it would have made walking difficult.
At the top where you see the cabled fence, I HIGHLY SUGGEST walking up the flowing creek. The snow around it is DEEP. I was postholing 4 feet and got irritated before following my own advice of navigating the creek. **So wear waterproof boots and gaiters**
The viewpoint was snow free and not icy, beautiful views of Gunn Peak, Merchant Peak, Baring Mountain, Bridal Veil Falls, Mt. Index, Mt. Persis and of course the town of Index. Couldn't have been a better day! ^_^
The parking lot to the actual trailhead was icy, but hiking poles helped.
At the trailhead I noticed the "Mystery Door" at the base of wall had been sealed off in concrete, thus hindering anymore break-ins. At least I was lucky enough back in May, 2012 to see what was behind this door after vandals had broken in... and no, I won't tell you; Use your imagination! ^_^
Trail is in okay shape, there was moments where I had to really find it, but the blue and silver diamonds mounted on the trees helped. So did previous foot and animal tracks.
The first mile had some eroding tread that needs to be reworked. LOTS of fallen branches all the way to the top. Snow on the trail is sporadic along the flat areas and then starts to the be norm around 1600 ft.
The last incline you ascend before reaching the top has a few downed trees covering the trail. I had to look closely at previous tracks to help me stay on track. The snow is pretty compact but if you go off trail, you will be postholing about 2 feet deep. I would have liked to use snowshoes at this point, but the trail was so narrow that it would have made walking difficult.
At the top where you see the cabled fence, I HIGHLY SUGGEST walking up the flowing creek. The snow around it is DEEP. I was postholing 4 feet and got irritated before following my own advice of navigating the creek. **So wear waterproof boots and gaiters**
The viewpoint was snow free and not icy, beautiful views of Gunn Peak, Merchant Peak, Baring Mountain, Bridal Veil Falls, Mt. Index, Mt. Persis and of course the town of Index. Couldn't have been a better day! ^_^
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Mt. Index, Mt. Persis through the trees.
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Find me if you can. I'm in mining territory!
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"Mystery Door" is no more.
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Behind door number 1