[whitebark]

I saw the recent WTA report on the Index Town Wall trail, and decided to give it a try. After a few snafus trying to find the trailhead, I found the mysterious doorway in the cliff ("Speak, Friend, and Enter!", it seemed to say) and started up the relentlessly steep path, constructed by some heroic volunteer(s). The quality of the trail varied from well-constructed, could-be-in-a-national-park quality to a class II rock climb. Bright sun and a springlike temperature had me soon sweating. After 400' of climbing, I arrived at a unsigned fork in the path. Warned by the WTA report, I headed right, not left. Soon I hit another fork. There's trails going everywhere up here! No WTA mention of this junction, but a metal diamond in a tree suggested a left turn. The path climbed deviously up through ledges and boulders, always rough and steep but never dangerous. Nearing the top of the cliff, the grade eased off and a set of mellow switchbacks took me up to a forested plateau and junction with a rocky road with an ATV blocking fence. From there, it was a short walk up the road to the brink of the cliff. Wow, what a view! The town of Index was a 1000 foot swan dive below the cliff. If this trail were ever improved, it would become a popular classic hike like the Rattlesnake Lake ledges, for sure. For now, the climb to the Index Town Wall is a short, strenuous adventure. See the well-made "Hiking With My Brother" website or WTA for more info.

Index Town Wall vista

[zephyr]

Great photo. There's no date on your hike and your report makes is sound like it was very recent. If so, I am surprised at the snow levels. I would have thought to see more snow up that way. I haven't been out in a few weeks, so maybe it's all melted. ~z

[whitebark]

The hike was today (1/26) and indeed, there is no snow anywhere on the trail.

[Scrooge]

Good rediscovery, WB. I post this every once in awhile, but it never seems to get picked up on.

Index Town Wall - hiking route

While it's not exactly straight forward, it's the main route, most of the way up, because it's the standard climbers' route up to the upper section of cliffs (and if you get to the base of that cliff, you'll know you should have turned left at the last intersection).

View from the top of the Index Town Wall - 02-09-2003

As it turns out, this is also often a pretty good time of year to do it, because the low elevation means it's usually snow free. ..... It's also good when you're short on time, because the whole thing can be done in a couple of hours. ........ What I remember is something like 2 miles and 1200 feet. That may not be right, but it's not off too much. Be careful if it's wet, though. A lot of the path is steep clay. EDIT - whitebark, I just noticed; looks like we have a Twin pics candidate here. We must have been standing on practically the same spot (only clouds filled the valley, when I was there).

[whitebark]

Scrooge, that's a great map...it shows all of the numerous paths on the Town Wall.