For my AG pool, I do it similar to CarlD. Take out my steps - usually a month before closing since I don't like 50 degree water to get them out!
Clean the pool as good as is gets, shock to 15ppm, one day later add a quart of poly 60. Let that circulate for a day or so, bring it to 15ppm again, after another day I usually vac to waste to lower my water level, once I get relatively close to where I need to be, I switch to backwash and backwash the filter for 5-10 minutes, then rinse it.
Disconnect my hoses, pump and multiport valve, bring all that inside, get the garden hose, stick it into the filter tank and into the media to wash my zeobrite as much as possible - all submersed guck usually floats up and out over the rim.
Once it flows clean and clear, I put the hose away, open the drain plug on the tank, get an oversized HD garbage bag, place it over the tank and bungee it above the drain plug so it can drip without landing on the plastic garbage bag.
I also keep my shutoff valves open with a board leaning under them against the pool so any water that needs to run out runs down the board and ends up about 2 feet from the pool wall instead of directly at the pool wall.
I roll up the solar cover, wrap it in a white plastic sheet to prevent heat buildup in it - it stays outside all winter.
I don't cover my pool, we don't have trees nearby so it's not necessary.
Pool freezes pretty much solid where we are, I open relatively early to crystal clear water with dirt and pollen that will clean up in 2 days of running the creepy crawley.
Many of my neighbours wait too long to open and end up opening a green swamp that takes them another 2 weeks to clear up - I open in april - by that I mean I close the shutoffs to accumulate the rain (we're on a well), and by may I'm installing the pump and shocking so I don't get the green pond - much less work that way.