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             On Monday morning, we headed straight to Slough Creek.  As soon as we got out of the jeep, we spotted a black wolf on the creek bank straight across from us, staring straight ahead.  It was 1479F, Junction Butte’s single surviving pup from last year.  With her midnight black coat and white chest patch, she is stunning.  Her collar studs glisten in the morning light.  She is trying to go down to the carcass; she knows the crowd is watching her; she hears us.  Eventually she moves west along the bank, trotting quickly across the ridge and disappears. 

            Someone says there is another wolf nearby weaving in the grass along the ridge bank, but it’s a coyote.  Then another coyote pops up in the meadow across the creek, both with beautiful rich red-brown coats.  The coyotes know the carcass is there and see an opportunity.  The crowd does not bother them; they are only vigilant of wolves.  One coyote runs through the flats and across Slough Creek Road, carrying a piece of the carcass in its mouth.  Not long after, he appears on the ridge and lets out a piercing howl. 

            We moved up the road to get a better view of the carcass where ravens and bald eagles were keeping watch when a gray wolf appeared in the hills above the river bank.  It was 1478F.  She is gray with hints of brown and red, especially the back of her ears, a dark saddle, and a dark tip on her tail.  She sat, waiting for her chance to go to the carcass, but when she finally moved to the river bank ridge, the crowd noise spooked her, and she trotted east up the hills toward the trees.  Reaching the trees, she discovered the remains of another carcass to nibble on and was joined by a dark brown grizzly, who draped himself over a boulder and went to sleep. 

            Later that day we hiked the Lamar River Trail starting at Hiker’s Bridge.  The trail was dry, something it hasn’t been in previous years when we attempted this hike, but just as we reached the fork in the trail where it turns toward Cache Creek, it began to rain.  We turned back as it hailed tiny icy pellets and luckily, had enough time to reach the jeep before it began to pour. 

            It rained on and off all afternoon and the next two days, the temperature hovering in the 40s.  In between showers, Tim fished along Soda Butte Creek while I hiked around Pebble Creek, Round Prairie and Lamar Valley.  We cruised the Park, driving as far as Sheepeaters Cliff looking for wildlife and found bison with calves everywhere, a couple of black bears, pronghorn, and a few elk.  The Junction Butte wolves reliably appeared at their rendezvous site every morning and though far away, we enjoyed watching the pups’ antics.  They chased each other and wrestled, played tug-of-war with pieces of the carcass, and pulled each other’s tails.  Adults often joined in the play, forming mounds of wolves, legs kicking in the air.

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