Long before I moved to Utah, I spent a ton of time driving around Washington State. Not only did I grow up there, but I also spent three summers living in my car, river guiding, and climbing as much as possible. However, despite the volume I put in, I wasn’t really that good. Which means that places like Index, with its steep cracks and sandbagged grades didn’t have much for me. By the time I was solid enough to enjoy this awesome crag, I lived in Utah and was road tripping right past it to places like Squamish.
But, since it’s 2020 and we can’t go to Canada anymore, Jen and I figured this was a perfect time to check out some places in Washington that I didn’t get to enjoy back in the day—starting with the Index Town Walls.
My favorite river to guide back then was the North Fork of the Skykomish. Unlike the pool-and-drop style of most rivers up there, this Class IV is extremely continuous, with barely a hint of flat water in the first several miles, making it extremely technical and challenging (not to mention super fun). The take-out happens to be under the bridge that crosses into the town of Index. Despite all that, I had only climbed one pitch there previously. This time, there was no rafting—especially since the road to the put-in washed out in 2006—but we sure got in plenty of climbing.
Much like its northern cousin, the scene at Index is super chill. Parking lot and river-side camping are both allowed, and there are plenty of visitors from around the world. Our neighbors for most nights were a couple from New Zealand, and we heard lots of different accents at the crag. Plus, there was a stoked crew of locals and semi-locals who spent every weekend there. After four days of climbing, we understood why people love the place.
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