September 2026 – David Kotz

Hiking 52 weekends

Every weekend for a year.

Today marks the 52nd consecutive weekend I’ve been out hiking.

I never set out to hike every weekend for an entire year. It was perhaps mid-November when I noticed I had been out for a hike every weekend (and sometimes more) since mid-September, so I decided to keep it up. The resulting quest has been a remarkable forcing function – sometimes pushing me to get outdoors even when I felt too busy or too tired to identify, organize, and execute on a plan. In retrospect, it was always worth the effort. Always.

The trail on Anchor Island was muddy, slippery, and challenging; Dusky Sound, New Zealand.

Lyme hills

Two hikes today.

Today was a quintessentially gorgeous September day in New Hampshire – early morning valley fog, then cool air with warm sunshine and calm winds. My long to-do list precluded any serious hiking, so I headed out on two short hikes before and after breakfast.

Early morning fog between the Lyme Pinnacle and Smarts Mountain.

Svalbard landscapes

Spectacular scenery from the high arctic.

For my final installment in the Svalbard series, I share some of the incredible scenery we encountered on this arctic archipelago in late March. When I speak to others about this trip, they imagine a land covered in snow and ice would be monotonous. Far from it! The stark contrast between rock and snow, the ever-shifting sea ice, and hour after hour of low-angle sunlight led us to some spectacular photographic opportunities.

Svalbard wildlife

A belated post to share photos from my visit in March.

As regular readers know, I spent ten days on an incredible cruise around the arctic archipelago of Svalbard, latitude 77-80º north, in late March. I was there for a week-long photography workshop with Muench Workshops, aboard the MS Virgo, and captured over 12,000 raw images in ten days! It has taken me many months to winnow this collection down to just a precious few that I want to share with you. My earlier posts included photo/video galleries with an overview of the trip, the town of Longyearbyen, walking on ‘fast ice’, and landing on the windswept Moffen Island at 80º north during a snow squall. Today I’m going to highlight some of the wildlife we encountered, and share three new photo/video galleries.

Bearded seal on an ice floe – Forlandsundet, Svalbard.

Mount Mansfield

Above the clouds on Vermont’s highest peak.

We were in the area of Burlington, Vermont for the long weekend, so I was eager to take advantage of the amazing hiking opportunities in this beautiful corner of Vermont. Sunday morning’s weather looked good – few clouds and almost no chance of rain – so Andy and I headed for Mount Mansfield. As Vermont’s highest peak at 4,393′ (1339 meters), with open summits offering grand views, it is an extremely popular destination. With the Stowe ski area on its eastern slopes operating an easy gondola ride close to the summit, even in summer, and with the proximity of Vermont’s largest city, I knew the trails would be busy on this holiday weekend – so we were on the trail before 8 a.m.

A pretty stream on the Sunset Ridge trail of Mount Mansfield.

Lyme wildlife – August

My cameras are back in action!

After deploying my five wildlife cameras into a nearby forest, three weeks ago, I went back yesterday to check the cameras and collect the memory cards. Several cameras were askew, hinting that some critters were trying to interfere – and capturing a selfie in the process. You’ll see several of those in this month’s videos! You’ll see bears – lots of bears – deer, coyote, and a new animal I’ve never seen before. Up first: a doe and her fawn. Warning: don’t watch this video unless you can handle massive cuteness!