I headed out early Saturday morning for Redmond. I'm one of those lucky gals to have friends with vacation homes. My friend Linda has a place in Redmond, smack dab in the heart of gorgeous central Oregon with access to all things trails and boots.

We got on the Tam McArthur Rim trail at 2pm. Linda's car thermometer read 88 degrees. The lupine carpeted the forest floor with purple. We ascended slowly in the heat, taking in the view below and ahead. Only a few bugs, though not menacing. I felt fatigued and sluggish. I drank water and plodded on assuming it was the heat and the elevation. My lungs were uncooperative. My asthma can frustrate me on the uphill. I raised my water bottle to drink and my hand quivered. I lumbered on and felt like I wanted to lie at the side of the trail and take a nap. We stopped at the first lookout and I ate a sizable handful of the chocolate cookies Linda's husband sent along. I also had a Luna bar, more water, and some Recharge. We relaxed and took in the view with few bugs to prompt our departure. I reapplied my sunscreen and drank more water.

We continued our path and I felt like a completely different person. I realized I had needed to eat! I NEVER forget to eat, believe me. The heat tricked me into thinking I wasn't hungry. Linda and I have the best conversations on the trail and we did just that as we descended back to the trailhead.

We had dinner in Sisters. A gorgeous sunset splashed the sky behind Linda's house.

I tucked in and had a mostly restful night's sleep. The sky was orange when I woke up to the bird's having their morning song. We headed out at 8:30am, stopped in Sisters for coffee and the bakery and were at our trailhead, Crescent Mountain, at 10am.

It was cooler, just a little, and the path was flat for the first 1.5 miles or so. Then the ascent began and my lungs once again dictated my pace. Periodically we were battered by pesty mosquitoes. The wildflowers were a diversion from the uphill and the occasional bugs. Scarlet gilia speckled the hillside meadows with reddish orange. Linda is the only friend I have that gets more excited than I do about the wildflowers. Most of my friends will say, "Oh, that's pretty". Linda knows details about the flowers and enjoys their finest aspects, just as I do.

We scored some huge Cascade lily. I was glad to have my good camera with me. I could have stayed in that spot for hours trying to capture the essence of that plant. Yet, the summit beckoned and we were hungry. The hummingbirds whooshed around us and at one point as I was squatted down to shoot a photo a hummer whizzed past me and I said to Linda, "Did you hear that?" She said, "Yep, I thought it was your stomach growling". I had just fussed about being hungry and we still had more uphill ahead.

The summit was worth all the walking to get there. We had clear skies with views from Mt Adams to the north and Diamond Peak to the south. Mt Jefferson peered across the valley at us as we enjoyed our lunch in a small patch of shade.

We retraced our steps to return to the trailhead. I peeled off my sweaty and dusty clothes and slipped into some cotton for my long drive back to Portland.