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Tales of Telluride

Telluride creates a space in your head unlike any other place I have ever been.  And that is just the Skiing. Telluride is a  god-like creation of majestic peaks, backcountry heli-skiing, awesome front side diamonds, remarkable cuisine and a fairy tale like town that rocks as hard as it entertains.  The Devil Dog LOVES Telluride, and since winter is approaching, and since I teased it several posts ago, heres a little look at the awesome treachery and mountain adventure that is Telluride.

Above you can see the ridiculous back country peaks that are the staple of heliskiing.  This picture is actually taken from the helicoptor as we swooped in toland on a nearby peak.  On the peak.  At the very top.  And then the helicoptor goes away. And there is only one way down...and thats down.

But I digress, because the terrain at Telluride Ski Resort itself is equally challenging and stimulating. Above we see the view from the top of the mountain. This is the top of a run that leads to the legendary front side diamonds.

Below is the snow on the bough of a tree.

And this is what you see when you get off the lift at one end of the top of the mountain. But this is no ordinary mountain top.  On my last trip there we had over three feet of snow over 4 days, creating a true wonderland of vertical delight.  The front side diamonds were especially amazing, Milk Run in particular.

This is an aerial view of the INTERMEDIATE slopes on the back bowl area.  
And this is the back country looking down from halfway down a run in the wilderness.

There's little left to a mans life after the exhilaration of a quintessential ski adventure. Thats the feeling the Devil Dog always gets in Telluride.  Winter is coming. Can you hear the snow?

Kipahulu

Kipahulu is truly at the end of the road, some 15 miles further on from Hana, on the far side of the island of Maui, on the far reaches of the backside of Haleakela volcano, a place of infinite beauty, unspoiled paradise, and where Charles Lindburgh went to escape from it all. The Devil Dog understands intrinsically wherein lies the unbelievably powerful attraction. Hana and Kipahulu are the intimate connection to all that is real about Hawaii.

Lindburgh lived here in Kipahulu for years, died here, and is buried here, in a simple cemetery of Palapala Hoomau Church, notable for its stain glass Hawaiian Jesus, complete with Alii cape, seen below. In the picture above we see the ocean view from the cemetery grounds, a view that Lindburgh saw every day from his home next to his good friend, Sam Pryor (a founder of Pan American Airway), who convinced Lindburgh to come here to live in the 1950's. Pryor and his 5 pet gibbons are buried not far from Lindburgh in the church cemetary.

The views are amazing, as is the drive. You could not be more remote, more removed, a simple 2 lane blacktop twisting through dense jungle over one lane bridges and past waterfalls alongside a brilliant Pacific Ocean, with occasional farms and pastureland dotting the exotic unspoiled landscape. Below are a group of horses lounging in an oceanside pasture not far from Palapala Hoomou Church, paradise for all in a land the Devil Dog cannot forget.

Oahu's North Shore

Speaking of Oahu, it is also  the home of the North Shore, 10 miles of the most spectacular beaches and legendary surf spots on the planet.  The Devil Dog grew up on Oahu, spending 9 idyllic years of my youth here, and one of the most amazing things is how the North Shore has remained, with minor exceptions, virtually intact from the way it was 30 or 40 years ago. Above, two surfers ride the same break at Epukai Beach Park, better known as the Banzai Pipeline. In the winter the perfectly tubed waves here can reach 20 feet and more.  

At Waimea Bay, when the surf is down, the locals amuse themselves by diving off the large rock at one end of this picturesque legendary beach.  Waimea Bay itself, seen below, is a stunning beach park where the winter off shore swells can reach 30 and 40 feet.

And at the end of the day there is nothing like a Hawaiian sunset, where the couple below enjoy the last rays of the sun at Waimea Bay. The North Shore is an epic destination and one the Devil Dog never tires of revisiting, no matter how many times he may go there.

Aerials over Oahu

Speaking of Hawaii, the Devil Dog has  always been a big fan of taking helicopter rides while in the islands, if only to get amazing views of unforgettable scenery which can be seen in no other way.  Sometimes its fabulous to see major landmarks and traditional attractions from an aerial view, as on a recent trip to Honolulu, on Oahu.  The amazing thing is how well you can see from the sky, and how remarkable familiar sights can be from a different perspective.  Above we see the USS Arizona resting on the bottom of Pearl Harbor with the gleaming white Arizona Memorial straddling its decks. Over 1600 American servicemen remain entombed in this living reminder of Pearl Harbor and WWII.

Below is the brilliant pink landmark, the Royal Hawaiian Hotel, the symbol of Waikiki Beach since its opening in 1926. A magnificent 5 star luxury resort, the Royal Hawaiian retains the charm and phenomenal location of another age that has made it the epitome of comfort and timeless accommodation.
Just past the Royal Hawaiian, in the  early morning light, lies the iconic glory of Diamond Head crater and the ring of luxury condos at its base.   Its an amazing view of a legend from the sky, and part of what makes Oahu an indelible destination even when too many pass it by to see the outer islands of Maui and Kauai.  We will explore the charms of Oahu further in the weeks ahead.

Hana holidays

With winter approaching the Devil Dog thinks back to last year about this time when he was in the Hawaiian wonderland of Hana, Maui, as isolated andbeautiful a place as you will find anywhere on the planet.  Hana breathes with an authenticity and remote charm that can only be found in rare and special places.  A lone swimmer (above) challenges the surf at Homua beach, what James Michener called "the most perfect crescent beach on the planet". (Michener is half right - Homua's doppelganger is the beach in front of the Mauna Kea hotel in Kohala on the Big Island).  

One of the lovely parts of Hana is the luxury resort Hotel Hana Maui (owned by the people who brought you Post Ranch Inn in Big Sur) which sits on a wide expanse on open acreage on a bluff over the ocean (as seen below), with its famous Sea Ranch Cottages settling in like a village of bungalows over a surging sea and a black sand beach.

But above allelse Hana is the place at the end of the road, 45 miles of a twisting two lane blacktop with dozens of one lane bridges, stretching to literally where the road ends, just a couple miles down a steep and winding trail that leads up  to Waimoku Falls, the gem of a waterfall at the top of the trail above the Pools of Oheo, widely known as the Seven Sacred Pools.  

In the week ahead we will take a deeper look at Hana, easily one of the most beautiful places on the planet, before heading off to Kona in two weeks time for the Kona Coffee Cupping competition pitting the finest boutique coffee farms from Honaunau and Holualoa against each other to see who will be the greatest Coffee Chateau of the year.  

A Series of Canards

And we don't mean a pack of lies. No the Canard the Devil Dog refers to are the various forms of fowl we encountered at different times during our trip (and we don't mean the well dressed ducks in the glass cases at the central market in Dijon). In Essoyes (above) a little girl watches the ducks in the river at the center of town.  At the Abbey de Fontenay (next two pictures) we ran into a group of fowl in the parking lot who clearly were comfortable ducking the traffic.  

We thought the the old school look of the sepia tone picture above was a fittingly archaic depiction of the ducks on this ancient property, while they were actually quite colorful, and not terribly shy, as we see here.

Meanwhile, back in Essoyes we ran across these two geese who took one gander at us and began pleading for their freedom, or asking for food, or begging us to boycott Foie Gras.  We weren't sure what their message was but they were certainly not shy about delivering it.

But it all comes back to our little girl on the edge of the river in Essoyes trying to decide what she wanted for dinner...fish, or fowl. As long as she learns she should never tell a canard, but be content to merely eat one. Ohh, the humanity.