Overnight the weather turned and today we have been traveling in a mix of rain, light hail and a few snow flurries. Higher on the mountains there is a lot of fresh snow. We saw very few bright yellow Aspens today; their leaves are now mostly brown or gone. It is amazing how things have changed in a week; though of course we have moved more into the heart of the Rockies and should expect that fall/winter is more advanced here.

We had a small hiccup with the truck today. As we pulled into Ouray the truck would not respond to the accelerator. The engine would run but whenever I tried to move-off the throttle would not increase the revs. After much checking of voltages on the truck electrical system I concluded that the alternator was not working. I called Rob Pickering and discussed the symptoms and he confirmed my diagnosis.

However; a bit more re-thinking and re-checking found the problem. It was the nut behind the wheel; I had forgotten to turn off the engine air-intake heater after starting the engine this morning. This heater draws so much power from the truck that the alternator could not feed it and keep the batteries charging. Once the truck batteries started to get low on voltage the truck computers started to go hay-wire. Problem solved and I feel like an idiot.