Persis Ridge Bushwhack

Dan and I had wanted to drive FS62 from US-2, south along a route that would lead to an easier bushwhack up the Southwest Route of Mount Index. We were able to get through the gate at the start of FS62, but we hit a large private gate mid-way to our planned start point (I believe this was at a large property that is privately owned by Skykomish Resources LLC).

So we were not going to be trying our planned approach and route. Instead, we drove to the washed-out end of the spur road, FS 6220. From here we attempted to bushwhack up to the ridge between Mt Persis and Mt Index, hoping to join the Persis-Index traverse route.

We bushwhacked up the small creeks that lead to the ridge, initially following too far south (climber's right). We traversed through thick brush to the next creek drainage to the north and were eventually able to gain the ridge. We found we initially went too high on the ridge and had to move down again before traversing south. Dan's legs were bothering him so I went on to see how much further the route went and possibly complete the quest to get to the summit of Mt. Index. I again travelled too high, leading me to a high-point on the ridge at about 5,300ft. Here I realized I was done for the day, not in a good position to keep going and still much farther from the Index summit than I would be willing to travel while separated from my climbing partner. I took in the wonderful views before returning to Dan and heading back down to the car. This is a feasible connection point to the traverse route, coming out on the ridge just a bit south and below the summit of Persis. However, it is a complete bushwhack with somewhat difficult terrain and route finding on the steep slopes.