Hiking through a powdery layer of snow on a crisp day in early November, moisture for the valley was looking promising for this water year. It was not even Thanksgiving, and the snow was already deep enough to over-top our boots when we went off trail. There were other clues as well, hinting this was a wet late summer/early fall. Many service berry bushes were still loaded with fruit. The fruits were dry and wizened by then, but the fact they still clung to the brown branches suggests that berries were so plentiful this summer that the bears and birds found more than they could eat.