Dartmouth – David Kotz

Dartmouth and its castle

The picturesque village of Dartmouth, at the mouth of the River Dart.

Dartmouth College has been a major part of my life – as a student, professor, parent, and spouse – for over four decades. I am proud to be part of the extended community of this Ivy-League university that dates back to 1769, founded even before the United States. And yet, although I’ve long been aware it was named after the Earl of Dartmouth, in England, I’d never had a chance to look deeper into the origin of its name. Until today! I spent a beautiful spring afternoon exploring the picturesque village of Dartmouth, nestled along the banks of the River Dart within sight of the river’s mouth, which is defended by a Castle dating back to 1388. In addition to exploring this Dartmouth’s many historical milestones, my hike (30th consecutive weekend!) led me to one of the most spectacular wildflower meadows I’ve ever seen, in peak bloom!

David – on the River Dart, in Dartmouth England.

Forty years in research

How time flies.

I realized this month that I have been involved in academic research for four decades. Indeed, I started getting involved in computer-science forty years ago today.

J’ai perdu mon chapeau

around the girdled earth we roamed…

Flashback to our visit to Paris in January: As I emerged from the boulangerie into dim, pre-dawn light, it began to snow lightly. I reached behind my back, where my hand slid instinctively into the side pocket of my camera’s sling bag, reaching for my trusty Dartmouth cap. This faded cap, which has been blessed by an elephant in India, which had beaten back the sun from Japan to Cyprus to New Zealand, which the wind once tossed into a puddle of penguin poop in the Antarctic, was just what I needed as I headed for the Bois de Vincennes for a sunrise hike. No luck. My cap was missing!

2025 Favorites

Favorite photos and videos.

Wow, 2025 was quite the year. With a dozen or more hikes in New Hampshire, and travels to Australia, England, Greenland, Iceland, New Zealand, Colorado, New Hampshire, North Carolina, and South Carolina, I had many opportunities for photography. Check out some of my favorite photos!

Sunrise view from Fryingpan Firetower, in the Blue Ridge of NC.

New Zealand – Dusky Sound

First stop on a 10-day cruise around New Zealand.

several people on a muddy trail in the rainforest — Our group moves slowly through the New Zealand rainforest.

two legs, deep in the mud — Deep mud along the trail.

My feet plunged into a muddy pool as we scrambled along a crude track through the temperate rainforest, surrounded by huge ferns as tall as trees and other unfamiliar flora and fauna. The guides warned us it would be muddy – after all, they measure annual rainfall in meters, here in the remote fjords of southwestern New Zealand. Fortunately, I was wearing calf-height muck boots with waterproof rainpants over those. I was just happy to be in the forest, my eighth hike in eight consecutive weekends, spread across three continents and four countries.

Chantry Wood hike

An extended walk in Chantry Woods with about twenty other Dartmouth alums.

I had my third opportunity to hike, today, in an outing jointly organized by the Dartmouth Club of the United Kingdom and the Tuck alumni club of the United Kingdom, to the Chantry Wood area around Guildford in Surrey. About 20 Dartmouth alums and three dogs came along. The day started cloudy, shifted to hazy, and ended with blue skies, leaving all in a wonderful mood as we settled in for a late Sunday lunch at the Seahorse Pub. As the photo gallery shows, the trees were beginning to show their autumn colors, and the route exposed us to a wide variety of meadows, forests, fallow farm fields, and country lanes.
A beautiful day! [Slideshow]

A farm with vast fields, with distant view of farmhouse and barn.

Second College Grant

A wilderness refuge in northern New Hampshire.

Regular readers will have seen my three posts about hikes this past weekend –Sugarloaf, Magalloway, and North Percy Peak – all in far northern New Hampshire. I was visiting that region for a Dartmouth event in the Second College Grant – a Dartmouth-owned township spanning 42 square miles of forest, wetland, and wilderness. Dartmouth manages it for sustainable timber production, recreation, research, and education. It has a fascinating history dating back before the American Revolution.

the Dead Diamond River, near Monahan’s Bathtub. Dartmouth’s Second College Grant.

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.

Bangalore

Like a second home.

Ah, home. I was excited to return to Bangalore, after having been away for six years. Bangalore, especially the area around the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), still feels a bit like home (we lived here for a year in 2008-09). This week, I am in Bangalore with a group of Dartmouth colleagues to explore a potential academic relationship with IISc, and for me it is also an opportunity to reconnect with colleagues and friends from our life here 16 years ago. Read on!

Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) building at Indian Institute of Science (IISc).

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!