<Aspens glow in the afternoon sun.   Mount Nebo rises from the east.

The loop is packed with wide and tight corners - perfect for leaning into on a bullet bike. Range cattle occasionally block the way. Half a dozen scenic overlooks line the ever-climbing road. On a motorcycle, you're torn between slowing down to take in the views and speeding up to take the corners.

<Chantal dozes in the warm autumn sun. 

The sound of autumn is as much the silence of summer's bugs as the dry rustle in the trees above.  The smell of autumn is as much the missing smells of summer as the dry air and the scent of fallen leaves that scatter in the wake of passing cars. The touch of autumn comes in the cool morning calm and that something inside reminding you that nothing lasts forever.

<Shaun's happy to take advantage of his favorite season before winter sets in.

The day ended, as the season will all too soon, but some things remain. Mental snapshots, mostly, of the stunning blue of the sky against a brilliant aspen-covered ridge, or riding through a backlit, brilliant-yellow waterfall of leaves. Memories like these link all autumns together in one more circle of life, the old enriching the now and making us look forward to many beautiful autumns still to come.