Break in the weather about a week ago allowed a trip up to the Index-Galena road that reopened last year. It's been closed since 2006 due to the Skykomish river's wandering ways eating a mile of road.
Took forever to re-engineer and procure the land needed to reroute the road up the hillside and avoid a repeat performance.
The area beyond the closure used to be a favorite weekend destination, the most salmon (Pink AKA Humpies) I've ever seen were up along that section of river, so thick it looked like you could walk across their backs during peak migrations.
With little human activity that area it is exactly as I remember from the mid 70s to mid 1980's- a truly wild, clean, clear mountain river now protected to some extent and referred to as "the Wild Sky Wilderness"
Lots of gold claims along there now, the area is rich in silver and a good bit of gold, used to be 100's of miners all over the area back in the late 1800's early 1900's.
I took my longtime buddy back up there with me, we spent many happy carefree hours along those banks when we were in our teens and twenty's.
I stopped going up that way after moving north and discovering the Mt. Loop highway and its hikes and lakes and of course the North Cascades highway with my favorite get away options.
OK, pics
Also drove a bit more east to Eagle Creek Falls, we spent lots of time there as well, it's unfortunately been discovered by the masses and is packed in the summer time.
We had it to ourselves for 20 minutes or so until the rain started up so back home we went
