29 August 1997 - Friday

We headed for the park at 1:00 pm on Friday. The traffic and construction were about normal, (we actually expected a lot more of both), but we were glad traffic was light. We had a nice drive to the park. We arrived at West Yellowstone about 6:00 pm, had supper at the Silver Spur and then drove to Madison, to Norris to Canyon to Tower and then out to Lamar Valley. Even the traffic in the park was light making our drive to Lamar Valley very nice. We saw buffalo, elk and trumpeter swans on our way through the park. We met our friends in Lamar and headed to Pebble Creek campgrounds to setup camp. What a beautiful cool night. The sky was lit up like a blanket of fire, the milky way was spectacular and the falling stars added to the fun of chatting and star watching. It was heaven to be home, what a peaceful calming feeling!

This trip was just for my wife and myself, as we celebrated our 26th anniversary in the park. We hit the sack "early" around 11:30 pm so we could get up early to start our wildlife watching. Our friends, Dick and Joanell, from Minnesota, reported that there were very few wildlife watchers in the valley and no reports of wolves or bears on Friday.

30 August 1997 - Saturday

We were up at 6:00 am and headed for the turnout that is just east of the large turnout for outfitters or anyone going into the backcountry with horses (the one with a hitching post). No one was there watching for wolves or bears. We scanned the hills and vales for any signs of wildlife, but it was very scarce. We sat two buffalos and some sandhill cranes. We decided to head west down the valley to continue our search.

We stopped at the turnout at the confluence of the Soda Butte and Lamar Rivers. We scanned the hillside and then headed up the hill by the turnout to get a better look at Lamar Valley. Ranger Rick and some other friends were on the hill looking for the Druid Peak Pack. Rick had the telemetry and indicated that they had seen five of the pack heading east over the far ridge. He was getting a reading on number 39 on the top of Specimen Ridge, and said that she probably had the five pups with her. We chatted for a while and went down the valley to the other turnouts scanning and watching for wildlife. We saw a small herd of buffalo out near the Lamar River just west of the Lamar Picnic area, but not very much other wildlife was out and about. It looked like the wolves were headed for the high country with the elk herds, their main source of food.

We headed to Cooke City for breakfast at the Soda Butte Lodge. After breakfast we traveled east of Cooke City to the Sunlight Basin. Dick had made a trip back to that area about 30 years ago and wanted to see how it had changed. It was a great drive with some fantastic mountain scenery. We needed four wheel drive as the dirt road turned too rough for two wheel drive and we had to ford a few streams. We drove back to the mining town of Lee City. It use to be three old log cabins, but now is one older cabin and a few logs of the other two.

We saw a young bull moose and a coyote on this trip. We headed back to Pebble Creek for supper and then back out to Lamar.

We setup our spotting scopes at the turnout by the Soda Butte and Lamar Rivers. We watched and chatted and had a great time watching for the bears and wolves. No bears or wolves were seen, but the evening was still fun just meeting new friends and sharing the time together, our favorite way to end a day in Yellowstone.

Grizzly bears had been seen earlier this week - Monday through Friday in Hayden Valley just north of the Mud Volcano area on a buffalo kill. The kill was pretty well gone by Friday and they were not seen on Saturday or Sunday.

We headed for camp for the evening and another beautiful night. The temperature got down to 38 degrees at night, but warmed up to the mid 70's in the afternoon.

31 August 1997 - Sunday

We were up at 6:00 am and out of camp by 6:30 am for the river turnout. We joined with the other wildlife watcher hopefuls in scanning the mountain sides and range for any sight of wolves or bears. We met a couple from Illinois, Ron and Marge, whom we had met on the net through the page. We had a great visit and then headed down the valley together looking for bears and wolves. We saw antelope, a coyote, a bald eagle and sandhill cranes. We also saw ducks as we headed out of Lamar in the ponds on the north side of the road.

Gardiner was our destination for lunch at Helen's Corral. There was a small elk herd at Mammoth by the chapel. The bull elk had a fantastic rack of at least six points on each side, he and his harem were all lying on the grass taking a break and providing a photo op for all the visitors.

As we were headed back in the park, we saw a black bear on the hillside between Mammoth and the main road. He or she was digging for bugs on the hillside and calmly staying put so we could get some nice pictures. While watching the bear, I had a chance to visit with Steve Braun of Yellowstone-Glacier Adventures. He said they had seen up to four grizzlies on the buffalo kill in Hayden Valley. Two of the bears got into a serious fight over the kill. He also said they had seen one of the wolves from the Nez Perce Pack in Hayden. The west side of Hayden Valley from the Mud Volcano area to Mary Mountain was closed due to bear activity and research.

While driving over Mount Washburn a herd of big horn sheep appeared and thrilled all who happened to come along. They were just off the road on a small open hill. There were about 15 of them - ewes, young rams and kids. These were the first kids we had had the privilege to see and photo. It was cool and I hope to have some pictures on this page as soon as they come back.

We headed down to Hayden Valley and on down to Pelican Creek, just east of the Fishing Bridge area. We hiked along Pelican Creek to an area that might have been used by Osborne Russell, a hunter/trapper on one of his forays in this area. He and his companions were attacked by the Blackfeet Indians. They were both wounded and made their way back to Fort Hall in Idaho where they recovered. This is from the book, "Journal of a Trapper" (1834 - 1843) Osborne Russell, Edited by Aubrey L. Haines.

We had supper at Lake Lodge, where the prime rib is great, and then headed to Hayden Valley for an evening of wildlife watching. We saw a flock of Canada Geese, and with the flock, was an adopted Snow Goose, the first one we had ever seen. We also saw a Pelican floating down the Yellowstone River to Carlene's thrill as this is one of her favorite birds. No bears or wolves were kind enough to show up for us, but we all had fun visiting together and sharing the time. We headed back to Pebble Creek to camp.

01 September 1997 - Monday

We were up early and out of camp by 6:30 am. We setup our scopes at the turnout by the Soda Butte and Lamar Rivers. Our friends Ron and Marge joined us and others as we scanned the valley for bears and wolves. We saw a big horn sheep on a pinnacle on the south mountain side, and a very large bull elk with an awsome rack on the top of Specimen Ridge.

We headed down the valley to try to find our friends the bears and wolves. We saw antelope, buffalo, Canada Geese, Sandhill Cranes, ducks, hawks and trumpeter swans. After a while, we headed west down the valley and our home away from home, but every time I got behind the wheel, the van would stall and not move, finally I relented and let Carlene drive us out of the park. She was able to coax the van out, but it was a difficult drive.... I envyed every vehicle we passed that was headed towards the park!

We had fun and really enjoyed the company of our new and old friends which we got to know or know better and share this wonderful experience. Until the next time...

We saw - Antelope, a Bald Eagle, Big Horn Sheep and kids, one Black Bear, Buffalo and calves, Canada Geese, Coyotes, Ducks, Elk, a Pelican, a Red-Tailed Hawk, Sandhill Cranes, a Snow Goose and Trumpeter Swans.

Total for the year so far: American Kestrals, Antelope, two Badgers, Bald Eagles, 13 Black Bears, Bighorn Sheep, Buffalo, Canada Geese, Coots, Coyotes, Deer, Ducks, Elk, a Golden Eagle, 26 Grizzly, five Moose, Red-Tailed Hawks, Sandhill Cranes, a Snow Goose, six wolves of the Druid Peak Pack and ten of the Rose Creek Pack.