By mid-October, I doubted much vibrant foliage would remain on the trees outside of the valley. My drive up to Piñon Mesa seemed to confirm this assumption. Dusty aspens, all completely barren, lined the dirt road leading to Turkey Flats, the trail I planned on hiking. Crows squawked overhead as they flew from pine tree to pine tree. Stepping outside at the trailhead, I looked down to see limp brown leaves and sparse tall grasses spreading across all of the ground I could see. However, as I started walking into the forest, the brown leaves on the ground gradually had a growing number yellow leaves amongst them like bold polka dots. I was shocked; the hills looked lifeless from the road that lead me there. Looking ahead among pines were aspens