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29 January 2007 - Monday What a beautiful winter morning to be headed into Parkadise. I left at 9:30 am. The sky was clear blue with nary a cloud. The temp was a little cool at 9°F in Gardiner and I knew it would be colder in the park. There was a small herd of about 25 bison just outside the north entrance in the triangle area. The roads are clear and dry from the north entrance to Mammoth, the only areas with ice and snow pack were the shaded turns. There were a few elk grazing and sunning in front of the Mammoth dining room. As I reached the high bridge over the Gardner River, I noticed the brake lights on the vehicle on the other side of the bridge. A small herds of about 30 bison were on the road just east of the bridge. We took our time and slowly moved around the herd on our way towards Lamar Valley and the northeast corner of the park. There was also a small herd of bison before Blacktail Lakes and another herd just after the lakes. It was nice to see them grazing and sunning in the safety of the park.
After turning left at the Roosevelt / Tower Junction, I saw a small herd of Big Horn sheep on the ridge above Junction Butte. Too far away for pictures but fun to see them as I headed to my favorite area of the park. Just past the Yellowstone Picnic grounds and in the area known as Little America I saw bison, coyotes, and elk in the meadows and hillsides. I also saw Doug Dance driving by in the opposite direction. I waved, but I don't think he saw me. At the Slough Creek parking lot there are a few cars and a few folks up on Dave's hill. I decided to continue on up the narrow canyon to see if the otters are out playing. There was a small group of photographers along the roadside just before the top of the canyon. I stopped to see if they were taking pictures of the otters. They weren't, they were taking winter landscape photos. I continue to the top of the canyon to the pullout at what is called the narrows. I noticed Rick's car there but he was out and about. I took some pictures of the ice bound canyon and Lamar River and a small herd of bison as I looked for the otters. No success. As I was taking pictures and looking for the owls nest, Lew and Deb came by on their way out of the park. They had a good morning, seeing the Druids and other wildlife in Lamar. They told me that the Agates had been seen and that they had come in and divided up the Slough Creek Pack. There had been some howling between the packs but no fighting. We chatted a while and then they took their leave as they slowly headed to Bozeman and their flight back to Pennsylvania. It was nice to see them again and to spend some time together in Gardiner and especially in the Stone! I packed up and headed east into Lamar for the rest of my morning adventure. There were a few bison down in the valley and elk up higher on the mountainside. Lew told me that the Druid Peak Pack was visible from the pullout just across from the Lamar Ranger Station. I saw the folks there with their scopes setup as I drove by. I was heading down the valley first to see if the otters or beavers were out at the confluence of the Soda Butte and the Lamar. I stopped at the confluence pullout and checked out the area for beaver, big horns and otters. None were seen, but there were bison along the river bottoms and along the road. The bison were mostly resting and sunning themselves. Just before the Outfitters Pullout, there was a group of photographers all over the road (same group that was in the canyon near Slough earlier). There was a nice big horn ram just lying on the ridge line above the road and the photographers were having a field day taking photos. I continued on down the valley to the Lamar River (foot bridge) Pullout. There were two cross country skiers headed out across the valley towards the Cache Creek area. There were a few bison to the right of the pullout down by the river.
I continued down the valley and stopped at the Soda Butter Cone to check out the area and take a few pictures. There were a few bison grazing and getting a drink just below the cone. I was hoping to see some moose between there and the Trout Lake pullout. No luck, just bison and elk. On the way back, on the south side of the road I saw some dogs. I pulled over in the next pullout and there were some folks there watching wildlife. I checked out the dogs, but there were coyotes. I watched them and as I scanned up the hillside I saw other coyotes on a bull elk kill along with some ravens trying to jump in once in a while for a guick bite. There were 7 coyotes in this group. It was reported that the Druids had made this kill on Friday and had been feeding on it all weekend along with other critters. It was pretty well picked clean. The coyotes and ravens were finishing off anything that was left. I watched the coyotes and ravens for awhile while chatting with the couple. We had a nice visit. It was cold in Lamar, - 8°F so I packed up my scope and headed west down the valley to check out the Druids. I pulled into the ranger station pullout and joined the others watching wolves. There were 11 of the Druids just sleeping and sunning themselves. We had a fun time chatting and sharing wolf news, history and sightings about the Agates, Druids and Sloughs. I stayed as long as I could, but my cheeks were starting to freeze, so I took my leave and headed west and home. Earlier in the day, 12 of the Agates were seen down by Slough Creek from Dave's Hill as reported by Jane (she was a young lady from Chicago that I was watching the Druids with). I returned home to Gardiner by about 2:00 pm with overcast skies.
 
by John William Uhler Back to: Yellowstone Up Close and Personal |
