New Hampshire – David Kotz

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!

Clay Brook Trail

A walk in the Lyme Town Forest.

Our little town of Lyme has several beautiful natural areas, many of them conserved and open to the public. The Lyme Town Forest spans a range of forest types and stretches from the Connecticut River up and over some rolling hills in the northwest corner of town. Today I took a walk on some of those trails – far more difficult than I expected – in search of a waterfall.

The ‘waterfall’ is not much to look at, in August. Just a trickle!

Unfortunately, this trail – the Clay Brook Trail – is severely overgrown, its treadway underused and covered with forest litter, and its painted blazes fading. So I spent much of my time pausing, backtracking, and searching for the route. At times it felt more like bushwhacking than hiking. But it was nonetheless a pretty day in a pretty forest. See the photo gallery!

Hike stats: 49th consecutive weekend hike!
Distance: 4.0 miles (6.4km)
Gain: 826 feet (252m)
Time: 1h54m
GaiaGPS track

Moosilauke

It’s been a year, old friend!

Mount Moosilauke is of the first places I wanted to visit after returning home from London. My favorite mountain, of course! I headed up early this morning, while it was still sunny, trying to beat the incoming clouds. The result was a lovely hike, with broad views from the summit. I set off at a brisk pace, wondering how I might feel climbing a big mountain after a year of mostly level ground and rolling hills in the South Downs.

Signs to Mount Moosilauke at the Baker River crossing.

What a year!

A year of personal and professional exploration.

One year ago, today, I headed out the door for a year-long sabbatical. The professional core of that sabbatical was my Royal Society Wolfson Visiting Fellowship at Imperial College London, but I also enjoyed meeting colleagues at University College London, during visits to universities across the UK in England, Scotland, and Wales, and at conferences in France, Portugal, and the United Kingdom. The year was academically very productive! And the year also presented incredible opportunities for travel, much of it described in this blog. Here’s a quick summary, with one photo per month. Each month’s heading is a link to the blog posts for that month, and the bullets link to a few travel highlights.

Familiar terrain

Back to my home stomping grounds.

My calves strained as I hiked up the steep, forested hillside, following a familiar route that has no trail and rarely feels the pressure of human soles. Except mine. For this weekend’s hike I decided to stay close to home and visit a patch of forest that I know very, very well. I have traversed this hillside dozens, nay, hundreds of times, following my whim instead of any formal trails. My senses perk up as I move slowly through the underbrush, looking and listening and sometimes even feeling for animal sign, trying to read the land and determine where I might place my motion-sensor cameras to capture interesting videos of the local wildlife.

Return to Mount Cube

My go-to peak when a hike is needed.

Now that I’m back home, I’m looking forward to hiking some of my favorite places. Today I chose Mount Cube, a small peak along the Appalachian Trail north of here. It’s only a 45-minute drive, a 2-mile hike, and leads to some pretty nice views. It’s my go-to hike when I need a short morning outing. When I set out, early this morning, I was driving through dense fog and (seemingly) cloudy skies, but I knew Mount Cube would rise above all that. It did not fail to deliver.

View toward Sunday Mountain from the summit of Mount Cube; the Connecticut River Vallery is still buried in fog.

Cross-country Tesla

Kilowatts and kilometers.

After yesterday’s post about driving across the USA from San Francisco to New Hampshire, many of you inquired about the experience – what was it like to drive an electric vehicle (EV) like my Tesla Model Y more than four thousand miles across the wide-open spaces of the American West? Very comfortable, and remarkably easy. Read on.

Cross-country USA

Driving home from San Francisco.

I’ve always wanted to drive across country, that is, across the United States from west to east. In my mind, it was always a leisurely road-trip wandering from state to state, exploring the national parks, historic sites, and cultural touchstones along the way. So, I was pleased when a series of duties and events aligned, finally allowing me the opportunity to drive from California to New Hampshire. The schedule did not allow me to wander leisurely about the landscape – let alone to explore any place in depth, or to pause for serious photography – but the trip nonetheless presented a smorgasbord of scenery, a cross-section of roadside dining outlets, and brief glimpses of Americana.

High-level map of our route, excluding some small side trips; ignore the time labels, which are Apple Maps’ estimate of non-stop drive time. We drove 4,096 miles (6,592 kilometers)!

Hiking NH again

Home in New Hampshire!

After a brief return to Lisbon [photos] for a conference, I’ve arrived home again to New Hampshire. At my first opportunity, I joined a friend for a hike along the Appalachian Trail here in my hometown of Lyme NH. It is an easy hike up the north slope of Moose Mountain, to a barely discernible ~2300′ summit covered in trees. This trail is pleasant for its gentle climb through hardwood forests to a ledgy summit ridge. Although it has no real views or distinctive features, it holds a special place in my heart because I built this trail. Literally.

The Appalachian Trail over Moose Mountain.

Sale, Prestbury, and Lyme Park

A visit to my birthplace.

Fun fact: a bit more than six decades ago, I was born in England. I departed for the United States only three months later… so I have no memory of my birth country. Thus, the opportunity to spend a year living in London, and exploring England, has been especially meaningful. This week we took a roadtrip to the Manchester area to find my birthplace and to visit some of my parents’ friends.