Hikes – Page 7 – David Kotz

Moosilauke

Revisiting old friends at our beloved lodge.

It’s always a pleasure to return to Mount Moosilauke, and especially to Moosilauke Ravine Lodge. One of my best friends – from our student days in the Dartmouth Outing Club – was visiting from Australia. I joined a group of common friends at the Lodge on Friday evening for dinner and conversation. The evening was cool and the skies were clear as we watched the first stars appear in the late twilight of summer solstice. This morning, we stoked up on a hearty Lodge breakfast before striking out on the Gorge Brook trail for our ascent to the summit. The skies were sunny, with a light breeze and mild temperatures, a perfect day for a hike. Read on!

A stream on Snapper Trail, Mount Moosilauke.

Aspen

A return visit to a beautiful place!

I was delighted to again have the opportunity to spend a week in Aspen, Colorado, at a small workshop hosted by the American Academy of Arts & Sciences (AAA&S) for leaders in higher education. It was a fascinating workshop, this year – as you might imagine, given the impact of federal actions may have on the future of higher education in this country – but in this blog I will focus on my outdoor activities while in Aspen. Read on!

Lupine, decorated with raindrops – Aspen Colorado.

Wandering the spring forest

When you really pay attention, you notice the small beauties of the forest.

I try to get out at least once a week into the forests of Lyme, NH, where I live. Regular readers see my videos from wildlife cameras placed at undisclosed locations in the woods. Although I enjoy witnessing the secret life of Lyme wildlife, and sharing it with you all, I mostly enjoy the opportunity to wander, off trail, with no particular destination in mind. The month of May adds the opportunity to enjoy small wonders along the way.

Trillium blooming in the forests of Lyme, NH.

Lyme wildlife – February

Deep snowfall – and a new location!

Winter truly arrived in February, with deep cold and deep snow throughout most of the month. I had nine cameras out the field – but decided, mid-month, to relocate half of them to a new area of Lyme (New Hampshire). Although the terrain is similar – rolling hills, mixed forests, rocky slopes, low elevation – I was looking for new opportunities. That day (February 16) was an incredible winter’s day: a light snow was falling as a large winter storm was winding down, so I snowshoed through deep, soft powder around my usual loop, picking up cameras. The next day, I skied a loop in a different part of town, setting up cameras in promising new locations. What did the cameras find? Check out these four short videos (all less than three minutes)… read on!

Moosilauke in deep snow

In 42 years on Moosilauke I have *never* seen this much snow.

*my 135cm pole disappears in the powder – in places, it went deeper!*

I have never seen this much snow on Mount Moosilauke, in 42 years of hiking this mountain. Especially not in February. Well, maybe just once – in late March 2017, the first time I had to actually crawl a section of trail because the snow was so deep it nearly reached the branches of trees overhanging the trail. Today, the snow may have been slightly less deep – but with vastly more snow pillowed on the trees, causing them to bend over the trail. Today’s hike involved a lot more crouching and crawling. On the way up, I met hikers who had turned around, claiming the trail ahead was “impassable.” Read on!

Backside of Holts

Snowshoeing in fresh powder.

We’ve had cold weather and several beautiful snowfalls, in the past two weeks, so it was time to get outside. Tim and I headed up the Appalachian Trail, northbound from Goose Pond Road here in Lyme. Our target was a viewpoint on Holts Ledge, just past the top of the hill and just before reaching the top of Dartmouth Skiway.

Hiking the Appalachian Trail to Holts Ledge;
there is a faint sign of prior hikers’ tracks under the newest snowfall.

2024 favorites

Favorite photos and videos.

Wow, 2024 was quite the year. With a dozen or more hikes in New Hampshire, and travels to Finland, Estonia, Iceland, Switzerland, Japan, Korea, California, South Carolina, and India, I had many opportunities for photography. Check out some of my favorite photos!

Aurora borealis seen over the Northern Lights Village in Saariselkä, Finland.

Moosilauke New Years

A somewhat-annual tradition.

I’ve been hiking to the summit of Mount Moosilauke on (or about) New Year’s Day since at least 1984… and, for many of those years, camping in one of the rustic cabins on the side of the mountain: John Rand cabin on the east side, or Great Bear cabin on the southwest side. To retreat for two or three nights to a remote cabin, totally off the grid, where it may be 10ºF (or even –10ºF) outside while it is warm and snug (60º or 70ºF) inside, surrounded by friends. We spend hours cooking delicious meals, telling old stories, and playing board games while the snow falls outside. Read on…

California

Happy Thanksgiving!

I spent Thanksgiving week in San Francisco and San Jose – the first half working remotely from a hotel; the second half with family for the holiday. I had a few opportunities to get out and make some photographs, and share a gallery with photos from four experiences: a south-Indian restaurant in San Francisco; planes and shorebirds (and the people who watch them!) at SFO airport; fall foliage in suburban San Jose; and the massive, ancient trees of Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park, over in the Santa Cruz Mountains. Enjoy!

Giant redwood trees – Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park, in the Santa Cruz Mountains.

Autumn 2024

It was a beautiful fall season.

Autumn has ended, and we are now well into what locals call “stick season.” After summer comes the fall, when the hardwood trees turn various shades of yellow, orange, red, and brown, bringing new color to the hilly New Hampshire landscape just before it tucks in for a long winter’s nap. This year we have had a beautiful fall season, with sunny/warm weather and brilliant fall colors. In this quick blog post I want to share a few photos from three of my favorite aspects of autumn at Dartmouth and in New Hampshire: fall foliage, the homecoming bonfire, and Diwali. Read on!