Youngest daughter flew home for the weekend from college, So I got two daughters and one boyfriend on horses and get all the horses exercised.

From the parking lot, the mountain is really colored.

This is on the Wasatch mountains of Northern Utah

The parking lot is at Snow Basin Ski Resort East of Ogden Utah

Gorgeous!  Stunning!  Drool.  I know your winters can be harsh compared to Cajunmulemans' and even here in northeast/central Texas.  You are lucky to have such beautiful scenery and terrain to ride in.  We are flatlanders also, but enjoy at least getting to ride in Arkansas, Oklahoma and Missouri...no match for your beautiful area but we enjoy it.  Thanks for sharing your special time with your family.

Mary

We have a lot of Mountain Maples in the 5,000 to 8,000 foot elevations, They are the Red/Orange colors. Also in that elevation range are the Gambel Oak or as we call them Scrub Oaks.  They turn a little later than the maples and go more the Yellow/Brown colors.  In the photo are also Quaking Aspen which turn bright yellow most years. With the occassional Orange. They are typically a little higher in elevations. You start seeing them intermix with the Maples once you cross the 7,000 foot.

And of course the Spruce trees are the dark green and favor the shady side of the slopes.

There are some colors on the shrubs. Pinks. reds and orange

But it's all gone now. If I was to take a photo of that hill this morning they have 17" of snow.

I was riding in snow yesterday.  Fall colors are gone.  Not many more days that I will even be able to get up on the mountain.  Some of the ski resorts are reporting 40" of snow already, So I had to carefully pick what area to ride yesterday to find trails that the storm had missed.

What a difference a few weeks make!!! Is the snow early,late or on time? Different but still pretty.

October can be hit or miss as far as snow.  Most snow that comes in October doesn't usually stay for long. And storms can be very localized. Lake effect etc can dump 3 feet of snow on one mountain and 10 miles away will only have a trace.

In fact my choice for where I rode was because the storm had stayed north and this area only got 4-8" of snow, where as the Ogden Valley area got 17-36" . They were in a more direct path of the lake effect as the storm passed over the Great Salt Lake and then stalled.

I usually set up a wall tent for elk and deer hunting during the month of October and usually go in the saturday closest to Halloween to pull the tent and pack everything down off the mountain. Some years that has been 0° and 2 foot of snow. Other years it can be 70°. Once I get my camp off the mountain, I start looking to Southern Utahs high desert for some place to ride.

The ski resorts are usually very very happy if they can get open the week before thanksgiving. If there has been storms in November and the news is showing a ski resort covered in snow, Their holiday revenue really jumps. If the ski reports are so-so, then folks go to Grandma's house for turkey instead.

Leaves are gone, Mountains have turned pretty grey waiting for the snow.  We have had some wonderful indian summer weather and  I was able to get up on the mountain for a couple more rides.  It won't be long and those trails will be inaccessable.

Most of yesterdays ride was along side the middle fork of the Ogden river

Still a little snow from the storm a week ago that dumped 2 feet of snow,  But most has melted off

I kinda figured this would be my last rocky trail ride of the year. It has been 8 weeks since I shoed my horses and time to pull their shoes. This late in the year, I won't reshoe them. I leave them barefoot until next summer when I again start climbing the mountains. This section of trail claimed the two rear shoes off my gelding, So I guess it really was time to pull his shoes.