16 April 1998 - Thursday

We headed out about 9:00 am and the roads were clear and traffic light. We took a nice easy drive to the park. We did some sightseeing in Idaho Falls and then headed for West Yellowstone. We stayed with the good folks at Three Bear Lodge and had great accommodations and service. We had West Yellowstone basically to ourselves. We took several walks around the town. They helped us to wind down from the drive and enjoy the great atmosphere that comes from this special place. They still have plenty of snow around the buildings, but the roads were clear.

17 April 1998 - Friday

I was up early, couldn't sleep, so I took a short walk around town and then drove to the west entrance and purchased my golden eagle passport. I made a few visits around town and headed back to the motel to wake the family to get ready for this years adventure.

I was a little concerned as we were having a major blizzard this morning and it was looking like a typical spring Yellowstone day. But as the morning wore on, the snow stopped and melted and some blue sky broke through with sunshine.

As we drove into the park the roads were dry and clear. There were some icy spots along the Madison to Norris drive in the shaded areas that do not get any sun.

We saw buffalo and elk along the drive to Mammoth. There is still plenty of snow along the roads and the rivers and streams were fairly low as normal for this early in the spring. Runoff will start soon and it will be a different story.

We watched two big horn sheep just south of Rescue Creek on the east side of the road near the north entrance. We checked in at the Best Western in Gardiner and unpacked. The first thing the children wanted to do was hit the pool and hot tub so we took a break as the surf was up and we hit the pool. We enjoyed the relaxing swim and hot soak.

Our six year old with the help of her older brother learned to swim. Doggie paddle on top, underwater and on her back. She and we were excited and we had a hard time getting her out of the pool. I swear she has gills... but that's another story.

We had supper and headed towards Lamar Valley. As we drove past Rescue Creek, Jacob and Joseph spotted a herd of big horn sheep on the west hillside. There were 13 of them, the largest herd we had ever seen.

I have never seen so many elk and buffalo as we did on this trip on the drive from Mammoth to the Lamar River bridge. Hundreds of elk were all over the hillsides and buffalo were also all over the area. Great sights to see after last winter and scarce sightings of buffalo last year.

We stopped and did some glassing of hillsides that were haunts of bears and wolves last spring with no success. We drove the length of Lamar Valley. We stopped at the turnout just before Soda Butte and searched for the Druid Peak Pack. They had killed an elk just a few days before, but were not in the area at this time. Just before sundown, we drove back down the valley towards Roosevelt spotting along the way with nary a bear or wolf in sight.

As we were leaving, Jacob spotted some movement on the two small ponds just before the Yellowstone Picnic grounds. We backed up to a turnout and watched. We were thrilled when we saw some furry creatures swimming and playing in the ponds. As quietly as possible we exited our van and with camera in hand stalked down to the ponds edge.

We watched and photographed a family of muskrats. As it was almost sunset, the light was not the best. There were five in the largest pond, it looked like two larger adults and three young. We only saw one larger creature in the other pond.

I talked with the Tower head ranger and she indicated that there were otters in Lamar Valley and they had been visible this winter, but they were further east down the valley. She said it was possible that they may have moved into the ponds, but they also have muskrat around the area and that she would check it out. After some further research, we believe they were muskrats.

We took some photos of the critters and the beautiful sunset and headed back towards Gardiner. Just past Hellroaring, four young bull moose greeted us as we were driving back and posed for some pictures. Nice way to end the day.

18 April 1998 - Saturday

The alarm rang early at 5:00 am for our sunrise search. We were on the road by 6:00 am. Again, there were tons of elk all the way from Gardiner to the Lamar River bridge. We stopped at Blacktail Ponds and looked at some Canada Geese and ducks and then continued on our way. We saw two of the same moose in the same area as Friday night.

As we drove past the ponds, the muskrats were swimming about and Rachel wanted to join them. Just past the ponds, elk were all over the hills and dales and it was an amazing sight to behold and enjoy. We stopped several times along the way to let them scurry across the road.

When we came to the area where we had watched the Rose Creek Pack last spring. There sat bear and wolf spotter extraordinair, Bill Hamblin. We exchanged greetings as we hadn't seen each other since last fall. He stated that he thought he had a wolf spotted near a ridge top. We broke out the binocs and scopes and sure enough, a black wolf of the Rose Creek Pack stood up and then another black wolf stood and then a gray. Three wolves of the Rose Creek Pack, they were back in their spring range and we were excited to see them again. They had almost gone invisible since last June and this really added to our excitement. The gray wolf disappeared from view, but the two blacks slowly made their way east along the ridge. As they came close to a small herd of elk, the elk gave them their full attention.

The wolves mode of travel was interesting, as stated the gray went on his or her way and disappeared from view. The two black wolves traveled east but not in close proximity to each other. The one wolf led the way and the other wolf followed at a distance of about 100 yards. When the first wolf stopped the second stopped, when the first sat, the second sat. On two occasions while traveling in this manner, the pack on the other side of the ridge howled and the wolves would hurry along on their way. It was just as thrilling this time to hear them howl as it was the first time we heard them last spring.

We watched the wolves from about 6:45 am to 7:30 am when they disappeared from sight. We were hoping the rest of the pack might come and join them, but it didn't happen. There are 14 wolves in the Rose Creek Pack.

We also spotted nine big horn sheep on the hillside below the wolves and elk.

It was a thrill the first morning out to be greeted by three wolves and for the pack to howl. I think they knew we were back! Only kidding, but a great start to a new year in the park.

We headed towards Lamar and stopped at the turnouts to glass the countryside for bears and wolves. There were just a few buffalo and elk down in Lamar Valley. Most of the buffalo and elk that we did see in Lamar were high up on the north side of the valley. We did see our old friends from last year, and three big horn sheep off the road on the hillside just east of the confluence of the Soda Butte Creek and Lamar River. It was good to see them all again. We made our way to the pullout near Soda Butte and searched high and low for the Druid Peak Pack with no success.

We headed to the northeast entrance and Cooke City for breakfast. After a nice leisurely meal, we headed west back into the park to enjoy our outing. We stopped and scanned the Druid Peak Pack area and only spotted a lonely coyote making its way down the valley.

Just west of the Lamar River bridge, we stopped and enjoyed the largest herd of antelope we had ever seen (17), and took some photos. Timing was right. They were just off the north side of the road and we enjoyed watching these sleek graceful speedsters stroll along.

A friend from Gardiner stopped at the turnout and reported sighting a griz just above the Blacktail Pond on a kill. This was the first griz sighting that we had heard about this year. This brought our anticipation up a notch for our first possible griz sighting. We made our way towards the pond but did not see the griz, so we continued back to Mammoth to visit with some friends at the Albright Visitor Center.

We gathered as much info as possible and then made our way back to Gardiner. We made it back in time to change and hit the pool where Rachel continued to develop her swimming skills and ability to communicate with fish.

Saturday evening, Jacob and myself headed back towards Lamar Valley watching the countryside for bears or wolves or any wildlife of interest. We made it back to the same turnout that we had watched the wolves from this morning to find Bill setup and watching.

Bill reported seeing a black bear work its way into a rocky area but no wolves or griz lately. He also told us that he and Doug and another friend had hiked up to the Tower area and had seen three grizzly bears across the valley from Tower Falls. Bill's first griz sighting for the year and he was off to a great start.

Bill searched the area where he had last seen the black bear and was able to pick it up again. We watched the bear the rest of the night while searching for the wolves. At one point, we heard some faint howling as the wind had picked up and was doing some howling of its own. About 20 minutes later, Kevin Sanders stopped by and reported that they had watched nine wolves of the Rose Creek Pack from the Slough Creek turnout. He said that they had spotted the alpha female number 9 and several yearling pups and a couple of the other wolves for a total of nine wolves.

We anticipated that they might be heading toward us since there were tons of elk in the area. But they never showed. We chatted with friends and shared the black bear with as many folks as stopped and wanted to see it. We met some friends from Montana that I had been corresponding with for over a year. It was nice to finally meet and put some faces and personalities to the electrons.

We stayed till past sunset just wishing and hoping and spotting. Our friends from Idaho Falls, Ray and his wife met us there also and we chatted and watched. Ray had a pair of night binocs and it was truly amazing to look through them and look at the elk and buffalo which we could not see with our eyes as it was too dark. It was the first time I had seen and used any type of night vision equipment and it was fun.

Ray and his wife had spotted a griz early this evening in Lamar Valley east of the ranger station. The griz was making its way across a snow field, they were thrilled. I understand that the griz was waiting there all day for any late risers who may happen to make it into the valley (Ray is a night person, but will get up early if he has to for work or some other fun thing)!

By this time, the wind was really howling and cold, so we called it a day and headed back to Gardiner. We made it back in time to be able to take Rachel to the pool for half an hour to see her scales start to form over her skin... ha! She definitely should of been a fish. We had fun, and stayed til the pool closed. We had to use a net to get her out of the pool as she was not going after any of the spinners or flies we were using... we made it back to the room and crashed! What a great day!

19 April 1998 - Sunday

We slept in (this is for you Ray) until about 7:00 am and then got up and had breakfast and got ready for the day. We packed the van and checked out of the motel. We went to church and then made our way towards the west entrance. It was a hard task as I couldn't get the Plymouth van over 2 mph, there was something wrong with it, but my family wouldn't believe me. I was forcefully thrown from the van by my family, luckily we were only going 2 mph and a buffalo broke my fall. The buffalo looked at me with understanding eyes and just shrugged its shoulders. Can you guess who didn't want to leave?

All kidding aside, I drove south to just north of Twin Lakes when we noted a few cars pulled over and a ranger vehicle with its lights on and then a grizzly walking in the snow by the east side of the road. We stopped! I had the camera and was on the run. The griz was digging for grubs, and roots and anything it could fine, just taking its time and only about 100 feet off the road. I burned up two rolls of film in nothing flat and we also did some video of her. She was a beautiful bear. A couple that we talked to indicated that this was the female that had been in the Twin Lake and Norris areas last year with her two cubs. We had seen her on our June trip last year. Her two cubs were killed - very sad situation. But she is still alive and doing well, she was thin from her long winters nap and was looking for food. We stayed and watched for about an hour and spent our film and enjoyed the experience watching the great bear. We were all thrilled!

When I made it back to the van, Carlene was firmly entrenched in the drivers seat and I could take a hint, no matter how subtle - NOT! We drove out of the park and enjoyed the feelings and pleasure of our first trip home. We stopped one last time just west of Madison to view a hawk perched on the very top of a large burned out tree and to take some video of it. We then mounted up one last time to make our graceful exit west to our home away from home. We were filled with family, fun, friends, experiences, wonderful wildlife and scenery and memories of Yellowstone.

Hey it's good to be back home again. Sometimes this old park feels like a long lost friend...

Wildlife Seen on This Trip

Antelope, buffalo, one black bear, one grizzly bear, big horn sheep, three coyotes, ducks, Canada geese, elk, hawk, four moose, mule deer, muskrats, sandhill cranes and three wolves of the Rose Creek Pack.