A week or so ago, when I was fiddling around with the latest meme, Why do I blog?, one of my fellow hiking bloggers, a decent chap named Rick McCharles, fired back his own query. Rick’s was a good question.

So why then, if I have wine, do I hike? In response, I must present a common mindset for me, the one I call the Wholly Imposed Self-Health Initiative (WISHI), which is:

I hike because I have wine.

I guess you could just attribute my WISHI mindset to my Protestant roots. If you’ve experienced much time at all with any Protestants (or, heaven forbid, Calvinists), you know all about their characteristically intractable ethic: work before play. True, Protestants are industrious and hardworking; I could wane philosophically all day about their puritan values.

(But for heaven’s sake, why??)

Of course, a discourse about Calvinist philosophy is not the point of this post. Suffice to say that I don’t believe much in Puritanism, but I’ll admit that I often operate on a principle of earning it before burning it. Quite simply, I get much more satisfaction out of rewarding my accomplishments – say, as opposed to rewarding myself when I don’t accomplish anything. Heck, if I reward myself too often without having earned it, I feel as if I’m just backslidin’. Why, it’s enough to make me pull myself up out of my latent torpidity, strap on my boots, and go hit the trail. Or tackle the dishes….

You Protestant-types (you know who you are!) know what I mean: When you haven’t earned that glass of wine, it just doesn’t taste nearly as fine.

Now tell me you don’t agree.

Gee, now that I’ve said all that, I’m suddenly rather thirsty. And yet just as suddenly, I see a hike looming on the next horizon. That, and the much more embraceable and Lavishly Acronymic Liquid Anesthesia (LALA) ethic:

I have wine because I hike.

But really, why hike at all? Isn’t wine enough? A loaded question, to be sure. Someday, after I’ve got a good hike in and there’s no question that I’m loaded, I’ll attempt to answer it. But I think you know the answer already.

~winehiker

Every day is Earth Day, so don’t forget the basics. Here are five simple things you can do to save energy – and money – right now.

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From Science Daily: Red wine is being widely touted for its health benefits, but not all red wines are the same according to researchers at the University of Hertfordshire.

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Tired of seeing his Brunello di Montalcino counterfeited, a Tuscan producer strikes back with a little help from technology.

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• The Cost of Waiting
  Too large to ignore: species may need more protected areas to survive climate change. From Conservation International.
  (tags: science nature species global warming conservation earth protection survival)
• A Natural History Magazine book review of The Grid: A Journey Through the Heart of our Electrified World
  Benjamin Franklin, for all his scientific acumen, never dreamed that the electricity he tinkered with would someday join food, water, shelter, and clothing on the list of bare necessities.
  (tags: book review grid electricity natural history magazine)
• Why bother with nature?
  The Winehiker is living proof that getting into Nature means never being bored. Naturalist Jim Conrad offers six reasons why that’s true – and important – for many of us.
  (tags: nature naturalist science knowledge responsiblity ecosystems Earth)
• Farmers markets, family farms & organic food near you
  The best organic food is what’s grown closest to you. Use Local Harvest’s website to find farmers’ markets, family farms, and other sources of sustainably grown food in your area, where you can buy produce, grass-fed meats, and many other goodies.
  (tags: farmers markets farms food organic shopping)
• North American Bird Sounds
  Birds you might hear as you walk with The Winehiker. Digitally recorded.
  (tags: sounds calls birding download free music reference)
• Are mobile phones wiping out our bees?
  Bitter honey: scientists claim that radiation from mobile phones are to blame for mysterious ‘colony collapse’ of bees.
  (tags: bees environment endangered economics global habitat insects nature news phone sustainability technology)
• A blustery night’s Mission
  On any given day, the trail to the 2,517-foot summit of Mission Peak, which dominates the southeast San Francisco Bay town of Fremont, can be a tough, steep slog. At night, however, climbing this striking mountain can take on added, and foreboding dimensi
  (tags: hike mission peak climb night winehiker http://www.californiawinehikes.com)

Last night was exciting, almost intoxicating. I got together about 7 p.m. with 17 other outdoorsy folks and proceeded to climb the daunting and darkening slopes of a Bay Area beacon.

To hustle up the slopes of Mission Peak is to forsake much. To simply put one’s foot in front of the other is mission enough.

On any given day, the trail to the 2,517-foot summit of Mission Peak, which dominates the southeast San Francisco Bay town of Fremont, can be a tough, steep slog. When too-cool Spring winds are whipping your ears red, the clouds are low and brooding, and the dusk is rapidly descending, climbing this striking mountain can take on added, and foreboding, dimensions. Especially on the way back down. Most especially in the dark.

As I mentioned, the night was exciting. In the quickly waning light of the climb, huffing and puffing and not capable of ascending the mountain’s steep flanks very quickly, we chanced to turn a blind corner only to face a small herd of wide-eyed steers on the trail, right there before us. After a moment of bovine disbelief, the herd’s alpha male grudgingly allowed us to pass, face quizzical, as if we two-legged varmints were truly the stupid mammals in the area. Perhaps we were. After all, we were the ones climbing this notorious mountain; we understand the concept of because it’s there. Unlike these steers, of course – critters who have the more singular purpose of chewing, always chewing, to effectually maintain the contours of these nicely-carpeted East Bay hillsides – but don’t walk inside your mother’s house with those cattle-country boots. Little did these burly bovines understand, nor care, that we hoomin’ bein’s would never be so patient as to try to attain the summit walking as they do – always a kind of sideways.

(However, this particular winehikin’ varmint always saves the sideways stuff for after the hike, as per usual. Gotta earn it! Heck, it’s just good winehiking ethics.)

It had been many months since I had experienced a night hike. Even then, that last one, above the ‘burbs of Redwood City, wasn’t strictly a wilderness hike, but rather an urban one. Or sub-urban. Suffice to say that a Mission Peak night hike, with the sun first setting on its grassy Spring-green slopes and later with its commanding view of the bay and surrounding communities shimmering below, is truly an experience to behold.

Every local hiker must make it a mission to climb Mission Peak at least once, even at night.

I wanted to stay atop the peak awhile and drink in the night-time view, my first from this perch. But keeping your footing on jumbled outcrop in the face of knife-wielding 60-mph winds does not make drinking anything easy, except for traildust. Besides, it was too chilly to stop for long; keeping our momentum was what would keep us warm.

And so, after only a moment at the summit, our intrepid group descended the Horse Heaven Trail, headlamps glowing, to complete the return leg of our loop. And soon, as is the natural way of things that might occur when it’s dark, the group became separated!

A few of the speedier folks had vanished off the front while the rest of us were carefully picking our way along the dim narrow trail. I had been aware of a fork in the trail that we would approach somewhere ahead, and I was becoming pretty sure that the lead group had missed it. Periodically I could see their headlamps bobbing along the slope ahead, at a level about even with us. And yet they should have been heading downslope by now. All the while I had this insidious fractured Hollywood tune, by way of Kansas, playing in my head:

Follow the narrow dim trail!
Follow the narrow dim trail!
Follow, follow, follow, follow, follow the narrow dim trail!

It truly was a dim and narrow trail, and not one this particular scarecrow would be skipping merrily upon, legs akimbo, heart at ease. And yet there were two people in our follow group walking a short way ahead of me when I spied a defile below us that represented what must be the right fork we were searching for. We had all passed it, but not by much. I couldn’t see this other trail, particularly, but over the years I’ve gained a sort of sixth sense about these things, and even at night, reading trail is something I find I do subconsciously. It was my guess that we had ventured about 20 feet beyond the narrow, unseen fork. I called attention to the trail’s probable presence, and we stopped as a group, turned around and, pacing back a few steps, found the fork, off to the right, and pointing slightly downhill. It was a narrow cow trail, but judging from its seasoned human use, it was the trail we wanted.

“Wow, Russ, good eye!” remarked one hiker.

“Ho-ho! We’re gonna beat those other guys back to the trailhead!” mused another.

Ah, sweet alacrity! And so we tromped the remainder of our way down the mountain, serenaded by twinkling bay views, whistling grasses, and tree frogs in the swales. By the time our narrow trail reached a junction with the main jeep road, well below, we were only minutes ahead of the former lead group. We stopped and waited, now in the trees and well-sheltered from the night’s winds. After regrouping, we found ourselves on relatively wide and flat terrain, only a short distance from where we had begun our night’s whimsy.

Ours was a strong and spirited group of hikers, many of whom had never climbed Mission Peak, much less experienced a night hike. Yet it seemed rather evident that everyone really enjoyed themselves despite threatening weather, darkness, and unseen trails. Upon arriving home, I saluted them all, silently, with an earthy, full-bodied ’03 Hall Ranch Meritage, a Bordeaux-style blend from Robert Hall Winery, which carried the evening to a proper close. The night’s mission was a memorable one, and many of us, not the least of whom is this winehiker, are set to do it again soon.

~winehiker

After much arduous and exhaustive research, fellow blogger Dorian at Budget Vino describes a simple process to keep an open bottle of red wine stay fresh for nearly a week.

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• Sales of red wine surge on reports of health benefits at Wine Industry Report
  The Nielsen Company finds that red wine sales grew 40% faster than total table wine sales between November 2006 and March 2007.
  (tags: red table wine news health)
• Giants crush A’s in wine pairing
  Though Napa Valley is just 50 miles away from the best seats in McAfee Coliseum’s lower deck, you’d think you were in Cleveland from the wine choices. In contrast, decent wine can be found throughout AT&T Park, often in the same booths as food that pairs
  (tags: wine food pairing baseball comparison san francisco giants oakland a’s)
• Natural Agents Of Change « A Step Apart
  If it’s good for the earth, should we eliminate humans? If it’s good for humans does that mean we have to change the earth? Skyblu over at A Step Apart examines these questions in a very thoughtful post.
  (tags: environment nature natural change earth good bad skyblu)
• Love wine, food, and good causes? Here’s a midsummer dream weekend for you
  The Sonoma County Showcase Weekend of Wine & Food is an annual midsummer event that benefits a number of worthwhile causes, while allowing for a lot of indulgence.
  (tags: wine food weekend benefit vacation sonoma)

I just heard from Meghan Smith at Sonoma County Vintners, an association of over 145 Sonoma County winemakers. Meghan alerted me to this year’s Sonoma County Showcase Weekend of Wine & Food, an annual event that benefits the Redwood Empire Food Bank, the Boys & Girls Clubs of Cloverdale, Healdsburg, Petaluma, and Windsor, and the Santa Rosa Junior College Foundation.

There are a lot of fine experiences awaiting those who would take pleasure in a wine country escape and in helping others. Says Meghan:

Don’t miss the 28th annual Sonoma County Showcase Weekend of Wine & Food, the ultimate Wine Country experience, held July 12-15. This gala event features four days of fantastic wine and food presented by world-renowned winemakers and Sonoma’s top chefs. Indulge in exclusive all-access luxury packages of spa, golf, and wine safari experiences, or enjoy events a la carte, including private winery lunches and dinners, an extraordinary Sonoma Family Style gala dinner, and Taste of Sonoma, a two-day grand tasting with over 100 wineries, 50 chefs, wine seminars, chef competitions, and more.

For more information, or to make reservations for the weekend indulgence(s) of your choice, visit http://www.sonomawine.com/showcase or call 800-939-7666.

~winehiker

San Francisco startup SustainLane has created a Yelp-like Web 2.0 web directory to spur user-generated reviews of green products and services that tap the growing interest in sustainable living.

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