David Kotz

Back to Bangalore

A return to Bangalore and my discovery of what has changed over four years.

Brigade Road - always a bustling place in the evening. Every time I return to Bangalore it feels a little like returning home. My family and I lived at IISc in Bangalore for a year, back in 2008-09, and I came to think of its streets and sounds and smells as my home. I had the good fortune to return every January for six years (2010 through 2015), but hadn’t been back for four years. Although my visit was short – not quite three days – it was fun to walk the streets of the city and the paths of the campus and see what’s new. Read on. Continue reading “Back to Bangalore”

Moosilauke in early winter

A gorgeous sunny day on Moosilauke, with an undercast across Vermont and southern New Hampshire. Deep snow, temps in 20s, no wind – amazing day!

I’d heard that the mountains were in “full winter conditions” already. I finally had a chance to check it out today. What I found was astonishing – deep powder snow like mid-winter, but in November! (Ok, today is December 1st, but it’s also November 31st, and I’m gonna go with that.) Be sure to check out the photos, and read on for more! Continue reading “Moosilauke in early winter”

Delhi and MobiCom

A quick trip to Delhi allowed me to explore a little.

I’m just back from a quick trip to Delhi – less than four days on the ground, and less than six days away from home – to attend the MobiCom conference. The conference was great – interesting talks, colleagues, and friends – but I did take some time to get out and explore the city. I’ve been there before – most recently last November – and had already seen all the major sites. This time, I was most interested in just walking the streets and seeing what I might encounter.

Police in dress uniform assemble near the India Gate in Delhi. It was a week of intense smog… though, arguably, not as bad as last year. On Monday, I visited Jama Masjid and the streets of Old Delhi. On Wednesday, I strolled down to India Gate and encountered the crowds gathered for a VIP dignatory function related to Unity Day; most interesting were the police in dress uniform, and the (all-women) SWAT team. On Friday I visited the Red Fort in Old Delhi and an old step-well in New Delhi. (The step-well was a new site for me. Interesting!)

Check out all the photos.

Ugrasen ki Baoli, a stepwell in New Delhi.

Singapore

A week in Singapore during the Ubicomp conference. Delectable!

2018-10-10-60561 I’ve just returned from Singapore, where I attended the Ubicomp/ISWC joint conference. Excellent conference, and a wonderful opportunity to catch up with colleagues from all over the world. It was also an excellent opportunity to re-visit some of Singapore’s delightful attractions, and even more notably, its delectable palate of restaurants. (My prior visit to Singapore was just over two years ago, for the MobiSys conference.) A large fraction of my photos are of the foooood. Read on!

Continue reading “Singapore”

River trip – to Massachusetts!

We have completed the entire journey of the river through New Hampshire and Vermont!

Pam and Mara on our annual canoe trip. For the past six years we have been canoeing sections of the Connecticut River from its source at the New Hampshire-Canada border toward its mouth on Long Island Sound. Each year we pick up where we left off the previously – so this year we launched our canoes just below Bellows Falls, and paddled three days to the first take-out inside Massachusetts. As a result, we have completed the entire journey of the river through New Hampshire and Vermont! We’ve been fortunate to follow the string of campsites organized by the Connecticut River Paddlers’ Trail and their excellent map. This year we paddled through a beautiful section of river, with good weather, albeit with some strong headwinds. We passed the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant (now being decommissioned), and the city of Brattleboro, and portaged around Vernon Dam. Continue reading “River trip – to Massachusetts!”

Katahdin and the Northeast 111/115

Dave completes his NE67 and NE111 peak-bagging adventure with three outstanding peaks in Baxter State Park.

I enjoy hiking for the mix of natural beauty, physical challenge, and the fellowship of dear friends. I was lucky enough to have all three components this weekend as I completed the New England 67 (NE67) and the Northeast 111. Read on for the full story and check out the photos! Continue reading “Katahdin and the Northeast 111/115”

Dolphins

During an August visit I made five trips to the west end of Kiawah Island to watch the bottlenose dolphins and their “strand-feeding” behavior. I got lucky on two days, with repeated displays of this behavior, in which a pod of dolphins herd fish toward shore and then, in a burst of activity, leap on shore to eat the captive fish. The pelicans are aware of this behavior too, and eagerly await an opportunity to snatch the jumping fish. One pelican, in this sequence of images, had trouble swallowing his catch!

See the photo gallery.

Saddleback-Sugarloaf backpack

Andy and I backpacked the Appalachian Trail in Maine, picking up eight 4000-foot peaks along the way.

2018-07-30-58962 — Andy heads north from Saddleback Mountain toward The Horn.

The guidebook describes this route as the “most difficult along the A.T. [Appalachian Trail] in Maine”, and after hiking this section, I can certainly see why. It is incredibly rugged and steep – and we managed to avoid the tough conditions that might have come with rain: slipping down wet trails, and fording high-water streams.

Andy and I set out to backpack the A.T. from Route 4 (near Rangeley) to Route 27 (near Stratton), bagging eight four-thousand-footer peaks along the way. It was an ambitious five-day, four-night plan, part of my goal to complete the NE111. We had a great time, good weather, nice views, and I succeeded in bagging all eight peaks – but with a twist at the end. Read on, and be sure to check out the photo gallery.

Continue reading “Saddleback-Sugarloaf backpack”

Costa Rica workshop

A week-long wildlife-photography workshop in Costa Rica.

I had the great pleasure of spending a week on in southwest Costa Rica, participating in a wildlife-photography workshop run by Steve & Rose Perry of BackcountryGallery.com. Anyone who follows Steve’s blog, or YouTube channel, or has read his excellent books knows that he is an incredibly knowledgeable teacher of photography and, specifically, of Nikon camera techniques. For me, it was a great opportunity to focus intensively on photography, surrounded by other photo enthusiasts and accompanied by a master photographer and deeply experienced wildlife guides. Read on, and check out the photo galleries!

Central American squirrel monkey, drinking from a puddle in the knot of a tree branch.

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Yosemite

We took a brief family vacation in Yosemite Park, late June 2018. The first day we walked the Mariposa Grove of giant sequoia trees and visited the Glacier Point overlook. The second day we hiked a loop up to Lower Yosemite Falls, then up to Vernal Falls via the Mist Trail. The third day we walked from Glacier Point down the Panorama Trail, past Illilouette Falls, Nevada Falls, and Vernal Falls; later we caught sunset from Tunnel View point. The final morning I snapped sunrise at Valley View, and later we visited Bridalveil Fall, Yosemite Chapel, Sentinel Bridge, and Valley View, before driving back to San Francisco. Hot and crowded, but beautiful!

Just back from a brief family vacation in Yosemite National Park. Somehow, I’d never managed to visit this gem of the park system, and have long been eager to do so. John is interning in silicon valley this summer so it provided the perfect excuse for the rest of us to hop out there to spend three days in the park. We were fortunate to have clear, sunny weather throughout – though it was hot (over 90° every day) and crowded. It was nonetheless a great place for me to test a new batch of camera gear. Read on for the full story – and photos! Continue reading “Yosemite”