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.
A beautiful summer day calls for a hike to a beautiful summit peak. Today I decided to climb Spruce Mountain in Plainfield, Vermont. From the guidebook description it looked like it was achievable in the coolness of the morning – perhaps one hour to drive and one hour to hike, each way. The hike follows a pretty trail, beginning with an easy mile along an old forest road, then turning increasingly steep as it winds its way to the summit. There, an old fire tower offers 360º views of central Vermont.
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)!Continue reading “Cross-country USA”
Four weekend hikes in a row – what a treat! This morning I met two friends just before sunrise to climb the tiny-but-beautiful Gile Mountain, here in Norwich. No, that’s not Norwich, England… this pretty little peak is in Norwich, New England. I happen to be back at Dartmouth for a long weekend, and took the opportunity to visit this local favorite: a short hike to an otherwise unremarkable bump in the rolling hills of Vermont, with a firetower that allows one to climb above the trees and enjoy a spectacular 360º view across the Upper Valley, the Connecticut River, and the route of the Appalachian Trail as it passes through Norwich, Hanover, and along the ridges past mounts Moose, Smarts, Cube, Mist, and culminating on the twin peaks of Mount Moosilauke.
We were fortunate to be able to spend the afternoon today visiting some colleagues at a lakeside home in northeastern Vermont – where the skies were clear, the sun was warm, and last week’s snow was quickly thinning. Shortly after 2pm we settled into lawn chairs, pulled out our solar-eclipse safety glasses, and enjoyed watching the moon take over the sun… read on!
After another week of snow and cold weather – that allowed the snow to remain soft and powdery – it was time to get out on the trail again. Some friends suggested Wright’s Mountain, outside Bradford VT. It has a lovely network of trails, maintained by local volunteers. It’s not a tall mountain, nor are its trails long, but on a single-digit kind of day it makes for a nice morning outing.
It was a busy week, and I was eager to get outside. So when some friends suggested a short hike on Saturday – and the forecast looked sunny – I jumped at the chance. We decided to try the diminutive Mount Peg, which is a grassy hilltop just a short walk from the side streets of Woodstock, Vermont. I had never been there, and it took us a while to find the right trailhead. It turns out that the slopes of Mount Peg has a vast network of trails, twisting around and interconnecting (it seemed) every hundred meters. On its south side, the trail network grows even larger and (this time of year) becomes a nordic ski center. Indeed, the first trailhead we located was for skiers, and there were a few skiers braving the warm temperatures and mushy snow on this sunny morning.
Karen and Dave on the Summit of Mount Peg – a small hill outside Woodstock VT.
We relocated to one of the hiker’s trailheads and headed up into snowless forest. One kilometer later we popped out onto the grassy slopes of the summit, where a thin layer of crusty old snow persisted despite heavy foot traffic. A large, multigenerational family bustled by us at one point, as did a lone, lycra-clad jogger. These trails are popular for both the locals and the tourists, they being easily reached from the downtown hotels and the quiet neighborhoods nearby. We went down by a slightly different route, one of the benefits of a mountain with so many trails!
Route to/from Summit of Mount Peg – a small hill outside Woodstock VT.
I enjoyed photography in 2022 and decided to share my pick of favorites. It was not easy! 12 photos for 12 months – not one per month, but just the twelve that I felt were especially beautiful or interesting. See the full gallery – where I recommend clicking the “play” button to see them as a slideshow – and read on for some commentary about each one.
Today I climbed Camel’s Hump – the third-highest peak in Vermont, along the Long Trail as it travels over the spine of the Green Mountains – with friends Lelia and Kristin. We spotted a car so we would not be constrained to one of the standard ‘loop’ hikes, getting underway just before 10am near where the Long Trail crosses the Winooski River. The 10km hike to the summit is grueling, with many steep sections and several rocky scrambles over the cracked granite of Vermont’s spine. The hot, humid weather made it even more challenging. (The last time I climbed Camel’s Hump, the conditions were very different!) Check out the photo gallery!
Finally, after a two-year hiatus due to the pandemic, the Post Mills Balloon Festival has returned. This is one of my favorite events every spring, when hot-air balloon enthusiasts gather at the tiny Post Mills Airport for a weekend of ballooning and fellowship. The term ‘airport’ hardly fits, because it is a simple grassy airstrip nestled between a forested wetland and the town cemetery, but the lure of these graceful, vibrantly colorful balloons on a cool spring morning brings me back every year. Read on, and check out the gallery!
David Kotz 