---
url: 'https://dri.es/photos/archive/2026/07'
title: 'Photos from July 2026'
author:
  name: 'Dries Buytaert'
  url: 'https://dri.es/about'
date: '2026-07-24T01:39:35+00:00'
license: 'https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/'
type: photo-stream
count: 13
---

# Photos from July 2026

![Alt text: Fireworks over the water in Bar Harbor, Maine, with boats in the harbor and a packed beach watching from below.](https://dri.es/files/cache/miscellaneous-2026/bar-harbor-fourth-of-july-fireworks-640w.jpg)
*America turned 250, and we watched the Fourth of July fireworks from the beach in Bar Harbor, a fun town on the coast of Maine. The beach was packed, boats were anchored across the harbor, and whenever the fireworks flashed, the whole beach appeared for a second, full of people.*

![A cook lifts a mesh bag of freshly steamed lobster from a steaming kettle.](https://dri.es/files/cache/miscellaneous-2026/steamed-lobster-maine-640w.jpg)
*Lobster steamed over a wood fire at Abel's, on the shore of Somes Sound near Bar Harbor.*

![Open van doors looking out over the water in Acadia National Park, with a laptop showing the Belgium vs USA 2026 World Cup game.](https://dri.es/files/cache/miscellaneous-2026/belgium-usa-world-cup-640w.jpg)
*Camping in Acadia, on the coast of Maine, the sun was starting to set just as Belgium played the USA in the 2026 World Cup. So we fired up Starlink and watched from the van. All day, friends kept texting to ask who I was rooting for. Belgium, of course. After the final whistle, the congratulations started coming in.*

![Wooden bunk beds in a cabin with backpacks, sleeping bags, and hiking gear scattered around.](https://dri.es/files/cache/presidential-traverse-2026/mizpah-spring-hut-bunk-640w.jpg)
*The view from my bunk at Mizpah Spring Hut.*

![A bearded man reflected in a weathered mirror with hooks, mounted on a wooden wall beside a red fire extinguisher.](https://dri.es/files/cache/presidential-traverse-2026/mirror-selfie-640w.jpg)
*A worn mirror, an old-school fly catcher, and an early-morning selfie.*

![A hiker with a backpack climbs a rocky trail through a dense, sunlit forest of tall trees.](https://dri.es/files/cache/presidential-traverse-2026/trail-to-mount-pierce-640w.jpg)
*Between Mizpah Spring Hut and Mount Pierce, the trail passed through a forest straight out of a fairy tale.*

![A wooden trail sign marks the Crawford Path and Appalachian Trail, with Mount Washington 5.4 miles away and Lakes of the Clouds 3.9 miles away.](https://dri.es/files/cache/presidential-traverse-2026/mount-washington-trail-sign-640w.jpg)
*The sign put Mount Washington 5.4 miles away. What it did not say was how difficult each of those miles would be.*

![A weather station building with large satellite dishes and antenna at the top of a rocky summit.](https://dri.es/files/cache/presidential-traverse-2026/mount-washington-summit-640w.jpg)
*After hours of hiking, we reached the summit of Mount Washington, where we found a weather station, satellite dishes, and tourists who had driven up. Sharing the highest summit with people who had simply driven there felt strangely anticlimactic.*

![A stacked stone cairn marks a rocky mountain trail overlooking hazy ridges and a small white hut in the valley below.](https://dri.es/files/cache/presidential-traverse-2026/lakes-of-the-clouds-hut-640w.jpg)
*The trail down from Mount Washington is a long scramble over broken rock. The small white building below is Lakes of the Clouds Hut, tucked beneath Mount Monroe, with Mount Eisenhower and Mount Pierce in the distance.*

![A helicopter flies near a mountain hut and alpine pond, with rocky terrain and hazy ridgelines in the background.](https://dri.es/files/cache/presidential-traverse-2026/helicopter-evacuation-640w.jpg)
*Lakes of the Clouds Hut looked peaceful from above, but the helicopter flying beside it was evacuating a hiker who had fallen ill after a difficult climb up.*

![Wooden trail sign reading "Crawford Path \(AT\)" atop a mountain, with an alpine lake and hazy ridgelines in the background.](https://dri.es/files/cache/presidential-traverse-2026/crawford-path-640w.jpg)
*Leaving Lakes of the Clouds, we rejoined the Crawford Path, which carries the Appalachian Trail toward Mount Washington.*

![A person uses their phone to photograph a mountain sunset, with a hut visible to the right.](https://dri.es/files/cache/presidential-traverse-2026/sunset-at-lakes-of-the-clouds-hut-640w.jpg)
*At Lakes of the Clouds Hut, sunset brought everyone outside, where they all took the same photo.*

![A pair of worn brown leather hiking boots rests on a grassy hillside, with mountain ranges in the distance.](https://dri.es/files/cache/presidential-traverse-2026/hiking-boots-640w.jpg)
*I stopped to take off my boots and treat my blisters before they got worse.*