OBKB is getting good.

So my punk-n-roll band OBKB just played our 3rd show this summer after a 2 year hiatus. And we're getting good. Maybe we just needed to think about those songs for a couple years to bring out their goodness.

This show was Friday, August 21st at Wonderroot with our friend Perry Fowler and his friend Ben Henry. Both Perry and Ben were completely amazing in different ways. It's hard to get in front of a crowd with only yourself and a guitar... well Perry has a badass stomp box/tambourine too, but still it's hard. They totally pulled it off and I recommend you check them out.

Ben Henry


Perry Fowler


OBKB







...now we write new songs... then we dance

Mt. Mitchell forest

Spruce or Fir tree on top of Mt. Mitchell

Adirondack Old growth

This is Charlie next to an old maple at the
Ampersand Mountain trailhead in Adirondack Park

Stage 4: Burlington, VT and Camel's Hump peak

Finally after 4,200 miles of driving for Charlie and about 1,300 miles with me we made it to Burlington! Most of my shots were from the lake, woods, and mountains, but the city is quite nice as well.

on the ferry


Charlie's new home


The view of Lake Champlain from the local park- stunning!



Hiking Camel's Hump- the highest undeveloped peak in Vermont and my first peak-bag east of the mississippi above the tree line



cool nearly alpine pond with Camel's Hump in the distance


neat birch roots


Indian pipes


There is a native species of Cornus (dogwood to us southerners) that grows as a groundcover only 6" high! Amazing!


nearing the top




stunted firs and spruce near the top- so neat.


lots of rare and endangered plants thrive at the top of Camel's Hump


a little over 4,000' up on top of Camel's Hump

Stage 3: Adirondack Park

small charlie or big chair?


upstate NY countryside


Lake Placid left much to be desired (looked like the Helen of NY)


Old growth at the base of Ampersand Mountain






240+ year old hemlock trunk (Tsuga candensis)


357 year old white pine trunk (Pinus strobus)


Look how tight these growth rings are- due to a VERY short growing season and harsh conditions


Cool orchids


Giant maples like this were EVERYWHERE!


Later that day the sun started to peek out a little and we did a quick 1 mile hike up 1000' vertical on the "Poke-O-Moonshine" trail. Pretty sweet.

maidenhair fern


ripe (tiny) blueberries on the outcropping at the top


Streams were high throughout the Adirondacks due to seasonally high rain and this trail doubled as a stream in many spots


view of the road near the trailhead


Bobcat scat?


Amazing view from the top- WELL worth the hike


Ausable Falls near Plattsburgh- I'd love to explore this area again


We crashed in Plattsburgh, NY and caught the ferry the next day across Lake Champlain

Stage 2: Shenandoah's, etc...

It was a foggy, misty day in the Shenandoah's, but absolutely gorgeous.


Pond or tallus slope?


Blackrock summit







Black Cohosh


lonely American Chestnut baby


There is an amazing meadow about 1/2 way down Skyline Drive. I thought surely it was a newer meadow that the park decided to maintain as such for aesthetic reasons... turns out soil cores have determined it's been a meadow for at least 1,000 years and maybe more. So it's either natural or it was maintained by natives in the area- so cool! There are numerous endangered species here as well.








Milkweed!


Parting shot of the Shenandoah's