Surprisingly little of the route traversed by US-2 on its way between the flatlands and Stevens Pass high up in the Cascades is given over to ski shops, bike shops, and espresso stands—except for the section around Munroe, where a mile-long gauntlet of mega-malls and fast-food franchises catering to Seattleites racing to and from the slopes comes as a shock to the system. East of Munroe, the one-time mining, logging, and railroad camp of Gold Bar stretches along US-2, halfway between Stevens Pass and Puget Sound. Besides all the gas stations and cafés you could want, Gold Bar also holds the well-posted trailhead (follow First Street north from the center of town) for the 3.5-mile hike to 250-foot Wallace Falls, one of the tallest in the northern Cascades, tantalizingly visible from US-2.
Farther east, Index, on a side road a mile north of US-2, sits at the western foot of the Cascade Mountains at the point where the scenery changes suddenly from pastoral to alpine. Besides a riverfront tavern, a general store/post office, a neat little historical museum featuring Great Northern Railroad photographs, and constant trains rumbling over the swimmably deep (but often freezing cold) Skykomish River, Index offers good food and comfortable lodging at the 100-year-old Bush House Inn ($85 and up; 360/793-2312).
In a park at the center of Index, a giant saw blade is a reminder of the town’s early industry: a granite quarry that cut the steps used in the state capitol. High above here, another reminder of the town’s rocky past is the so-called “Index Town Wall,” a 400-foot sheer granite cliff that attracts Seattle rock climbers.
