| Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 | Day 5 | Day 6 |

Day 1

Sunday, May 18, 2025

It was 58º as we drove through Paradise Valley to the Park yesterday, past green pastures and snow-covered mountains; horses and cattle grazing contentedly.  There was a slight drizzle as we approached Gardiner, but that passed as we wound our way to Mammoth. I always wonder how each trip will be, and this first day had an auspicious beginning.  We stopped at Nature Trail to glass the Blacktail and spotted a black wolf traveling across the flats.  We’ve had so much trouble seeing wolves on the Blacktail the past few visits, the distance too far out.  Down the road a group of people watched a fox in the meadows near Floating Island Lake.  We stopped at Slough Creek to check the Junction Butte Pack’s den site where this year 1385F has given birth in the natal den on the hillside; six black puppies.  It was about 5:30 p.m. and we didn’t see any wolves, but as we drove through Little America two coyotes trotted along, each carrying something in their mouths, probably ground squirrels, and most likely going back to their own dens.

We also saw a grizzly sow in Little America with two cubs, one a two-year-old and the other a yearling.  The bears had crossed the road from north to south and were in good view.  All the bears looked fantastic.  It’s unusual to see a sow with a mixed family, having two cubs only one year apart.  There must be a story there.

Heading toward Silver Gate, the landscape is recovering from the flood of 2022.  The slopes of Lamar Canyon are covered with arrowleaf balsamroot, and between Soda Butte Valley and Pebble Creek, the slopes are also greening up, though deadfall is still scattered along the creek east of the campground.  A fox approached visitors gathered in the turnout at Thunderer trailhead.  This fox is a beggar.  I worry about him, especially when he trots down the road approaching cars.

Today we woke up to rain and cold.  The temperature went from 40º to 48º and then back down, raining all day on and off.  The Mollie Pack has denned this spring at the eastern edge of Lamar Valley.  It’s believed the den is in a new growth forest on Mt. Norris, above the Lamar River Trail and Mollie wolves have been seen going back and forth through Soda Butte Valley and Lamar Valley.  We stopped to look at Hikers Bridge and spotted an injured bull elk standing in the creek. The right side of his head was bloody and looked like the velvet had been ripped from his antlers.  He just stood in the water, occasionally stepping onto the banks and looking south. I thought I heard two faint howls coming from the direction of Mt. Norris, but didn’t see any wolves.  There was no way to tell what happened, and we never saw the elk again.

Then Tim found a black wolf sitting under a tree across Soda Butte Creek.  Another wolf, a collared gray, appeared and both wolves walked slowly east, disappearing behind a slope.  We were told there is a carcass in Soda Butte Valley across from the Soda Butte Cone, but though watched and waited, but didn’t see any more wolves there.  We did see a grizzly sow with a coy way up on the slopes above the valley.  The sow grazed up while the cub ran behind her.  And he ran fast!  It was a light year away, but we could see the coy zipping up the hill.

One thing I dreaded was the crowds at Slough Creek watching the den.  I was so wrong.  The Park does not seem so crowded.  We found parking at Slough with no trouble and set up the scope just in time to see a black wolf, possibly 1479F, come out of the sage den followed by four black puppies.  There are actually six puppies, but we only saw four. and they were out for only a minute.

As we approached Yellowstone Picnic area, a black bear climbed through the trees up the slope.  He foraged in the grass and went over the top.  Surprisingly (to me) there hasn’t been much news about black bears at Tower.  Typically, Tower Road is jammed with people trying to see black bears with cubs, but this year that’s not the case – or it wasn’t today.  We drove all the way up to the Tower store where there was a rude awakening:  the road across Dunraven Pass is closed.  So we drove back past Elk Creek to Hellroaring.  Climbing down the scree slopes where we often search for pika, was a black bear.  He was easy to see on the slate gray slopes, but once he reached the bottom it was hard to see him between the trees.  Luckily, he foraged out in the open meadow and we were able to watch him from the road.

We spent most of the day going back and forth between Slough Creek and Soda Butte Valley and avoiding the rain.  We learned the Junction Butte wolves moved their pups from the natal den to the sage den last night.  About 3:30 this afternoon we saw seven Junction Butte wolves on the Slough Creek flats traveling west, five blacks and two grays.  It looked like they were headed west until they spotted a bison with a calf.  I saw very little of the interaction, only wolves chasing the bison cow and the bison chasing the wolves.  The wolves did get the calf, and I heard one black wolf was tossed in the air.  I no longer care to watch.  I know it happens; I don’t like it, but I don’t judge.

After that we stopped to watch the osprey nest in Lamar Canyon.  The female was sitting in the nest looking this way and that when the male flew in, perching on the edge of the nest.  He fed her, then dropped to a nearby branch.  It is amazing to watch these birds care for each other for so many years.  He stayed quite a while before flying off, soaring above the canyon to get their next meal.

Rain started again and we slowly made our way back to Silver Gate.  We saw the brown phase black bear, still foraging in the meadows along Soda Butte Creek.  Mist descended making visibility poor, but there trotting up the road was the fox, no doubt hoping for a handout from some sympathetic visitor.

Next ->