The hikers on top of Bald Mountain preparing to observe 21 different fireworks displays around the Bay. Photo by Tim Omarzu.
Every Fourth of July, Bill Myers leads a group of 40 hikers on a roughly one-hour-long trek to the top of Bald Mountain at Sugarloaf Ridge State Park.
From the mountaintop, hikers can see at least 21 Bay Area fireworks displays ranging from nearby St. Helena to far-off San Francisco.
“It’s become quite an event. This year, all 40 spaces were gone within 24 hours,” said Myers.
He had 212 people show up for the first-ever Fourth of July hike about five years ago, after a Santa Rosa newspaper encouraged people to participate and coined a catchy name for the event: “Hike to the top of the park in the dark.”
Myers said, “I was inundated with 212 people. But hikers are a hardy lot. There was no (trouble).”
State park officials were less than enthused about the liability of having 212 people hike down the Bald Mountain trail in the dark. So following the first hike, they limited the number of hikers to 40.
The Fourth of July hike is just one example of how Myers, who took up hiking for health reasons, helps introduce others to Sonoma Valley’s natural beauty.
In May, he started leading four-hour-long Saturday hikes on the grounds of the 1,850-acre Kunde Estate Winery and Vineyards in Kenwood.
Highlights of the Kunde hike include a stop at the ruins of an old stone winery that was the first in California to mention the varietal cabernet sauvignon on its bottles. Actress Geena Davis picked the winery ruins as the site for her marriage ceremony several years ago.
Myers’ next Kunde Hike takes place this Saturday. (Please see sidebar.)
And every month, there are “Dave and Bill Hikes” – Myers and his friend Dave Chalk lead hikes at Annadel, Jack London and Sugarloaf State Parks. Each May, they throw in a road trip to Yosemite. There’s no charge for the “Dave and Bill Hikes.”
Myers, a native of the “flatlands of Ohio” and a semi-retired salesman of electrical utility equipment, got into hiking after undergoing an angioplasty procedure that cleared two arteries to his heart that were 98 percent blocked.
To improve his health, he tried running, but it was too hard on his knees. He tried mountain biking, but he broke his elbow in a fall.
Then Myers settled on hiking, which cured his heart problems.
“I highly recommend hiking to take care of what ails (you),” he said.
“I’m just a semi-retired old fart who loves to hike and loves to introduce as many people as possible to the beauty of this part of the world.”
• For more information about the Dave and Bill Hikes, or to be notified of future Fourth of July treks on Bald Mountain, check the hiking duo’s Web site at www.sonic.net/~fmi/daveandbill.html
No reservations are needed for Saturday’s hike at Kunde, which runs from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Please wear appropriate footwear for the moderately strenuous hike. For more information, contact Leyla at 707.833.5501 ext. 334.
In addition to Bill Myers’ Sustainable Winegrowing hikes at Kunde Estate Winery & Vineyards, vintner Jeff Kunde leads a tour of his own.
“Bill and I take different routes, both with breathtaking views of the valley and across the vineyards,” said Kunde, a fourth-generation winemaker whose family has been in the valley for 103 years. “We start at 8:30 a.m. and hike four and a half or five miles, have lunch and of course taste wines, and end around 1 or 1:30.”
Kunde’s “Green Eco-Tour” is moderately strenuous, he said, going up as high as 1,500 feet. “We show people our watershed and different ecosystems – grasslands, chaparral and oak woodlands – and visit an old Indian hunting ground. We also tell about the history of the Sonoma Valley.”
The Kunde estate consists of 1,850 acres, but Kunde sticks to the higher elevations on the Kinneybrook section, while Myers takes to a different area of the ranch, the Wildwood section.
“My hike is higher,” Kunde said, “but Bill’s is longer” and includes more information on habitat.
Kunde started his tours in 2006 and said he wanted to offer something new this year by bringing in Myers.
“The goal is to educate people,” he said. “It’s all very low-key, informative and enjoyable.”
• Unlike Myers’ hike, reservations are required for Kunde’s, which includes a picnic lunch and wine tasting and costs $75. The next Eco-Tours are Aug. 25 and Oct. 20. For reservations, call the winery’s hospitality department at 707.282.1534 or visit www.kunde.com.
