Mount Index Road Opens to Local Traffic

The American Alpine Institute just received the following message from Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest:

EVERETT, WA—Forest Service crews will open Mount Index Road (Forest Service Road 6020) to local residents 6 p.m. this evening. A landslide into the South Fork Skykomish River undermined the road and closed access to a neighborhood of about 200 people Saturday night. The road is in eastern Snohomish County about a quarter of a mile west of Index, and connects the residents with Highway 2. The temporary access will be open 6 p.m. to 7 a.m. daily while crews work on the road. No commercial or heavy vehicles will be allowed.

Workers are building a new roadway into the hillside adjacent to the old road, which Project Leader Jim Mitchell estimates will be done Friday. “The site can change instantly, but if all goes well, we expect to finish on time.” Mitchell is the roads manager for the Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest.

Mount Index Road
Photo by Jim Mitchell

Our guess is that nobody has been climbing in Index lately anyway...

--Jason D. Martin