9.0 miles, 2800' gain, 3300' descent

This was one of our harder days, featuring two big climbs and matching descents. First up to Emerald Ridge, then down to Tahoma Creek which is crossed on a suspension bridge, then up to Satulick's Hunting Grounds, then down again to camp.

The climb to Emerald Ridge runs up a sometimes narrow and exposed ridgeline with loose rocks underfoot. It demands concentration and made me nervous in places. Call me a wuss if you will, but this section makes my butt clench.

Descending from Emerald Ridge toward the suspension bridge, we enter a hot, dry, desolate landscape. Piles of rock and a few struggling plants below the slumped and broken side of Tahoma. It makes me want to ask: you poor mountain, what happened to you here? And then I see the high headwalls with all that obviously missing rock, and remember how countless lahars have pummeled this area over the centuries. We're looking at a combination of their damage plus the moraines left after recent glacial retreat.

To anyone thinking back on my first paragraph and wondering isn't that place actually called Indian Henry's Hunting Grounds, I say that his name wasn't Henry. We know full well that he was called Satulick, so I'm attempting to be the change I want to see in the world and start using a more appropriate name for his beautiful namesake meadows.