[font color=\'#000000\']I've also noticed that the aspen in that area seem to be of many different specimen, so they do not all turn together. Last year I saw neighboring stands, one had already dropped it's leaves, the other just starting to turn. More variation there than anywhere else I've seen. The north end of Skyline Drive (Tucker to Highway 31) has the least variation in my experience.
About the confusion between the reefs down there, I'm still unsure how the three major reefs relate to each other. The North Cainville/Cainville reef seems to be a continuation of the San Rafael Reef (the Muddy has split them), but San Rafael is a dome (the reef is one side of the dome), while the Cainville reefs are monoclines (steps resulting from deep faulting), so they can't be of the same origin. The Waterpocket Fold is also a monocline, but it runs in a different direction (NW to SE) than the other reefs (NE to SW). Thing is, the San Rafael Reef looks a lot like the Waterpocket Fold, both having "teeth" of Navajo sandstone and "gums" of Carmel formation as a major feature, so it's easy to confuse them.
Anyway, the problem I found on Boulder Mountain (that you'll likely not have on Hell's Backbone) is vantage points for large fall vistas. Boulder Mountain is great for medium scenic shots of aspen, but since it's a single cone it offers no good views of aspen on an opposite slope. Maybe there are some on top, or on the western side, but I haven't been there.
The best Fall scenics I've seen are the cottonwood at the bottom of the canyons (especially Long Canyon on the Burr Trail) that turn late october/early November.[/font]
