Robert and I have been trying to do this traverse from Mt. Persis to Mt Index for a couple of years, and now with gate open again we finally got our chance. We left the car at 2:30 Saturday afternoon and headed up through the timber on Mt Persis. The route description is sketchy but we did find the one spot through a band of cliffs that would have prevented forward progress and by 5:30 stood on the summit. After a quick bite to eat and some pics we headed down onto the ridge connecting Persis and Index - the ridge is 5 miles of up and down and around cornices as big as a house - and always the stark beauty of the mountains. We stopped at a flat spot about half way and set up camp, watched the sunset, watched the stars and the lights of the town of Index grow brighter, listened to music and let the mountains seep in. Sunday dawned cloudless and hot. We got a late start but quickly worked through the rest of the ridge and gained the summit of Index about 11:30 - now the hard part, descending. Descending the way you came is one thing, descending where you've never been is a bit more daunting. After long study of the topos we selected a path. As we descended, Robert found a closer couloir and we started down. This route ended up being the steepest snow of the trip but afforded snow all the way down below the cliffs of the upper mountain. Another slight detour and then onto the lower rib of the standard Mt. Index route featuring long sections of near vertical rock with cedar bows and huckleberries for climbing aid. With one rappel we finally had no more vertical between us and lake Serene. The final 4.5 miles out the Lake Serene trail were, in fact, serene compared to the terrain of the last two days. In all, definitely a trip to remember.