I have not been seeing anything on my way out, this morning I stop at Blacktail Ponds, it's about 07:00 and as usual I don't see or hear anything. I should have been more patient at about 09:00 there were wolves everywhere.

At Elk Creek Unit 2 had Agate signals on Specimen Ridge, it's a long way from Elk Creek, I set up my scope and look but snow comes in and I can't even see the ridge. I move on to Little America where from the Curve pullout they have the two black males with the '06 female, they are on a hill across the river and after about ½ hour they move off to the south. 690 is on Junction Butte but we can't see her. I try from the pullout east of Boulder and get to see one black for a couple of seconds, I move to the hill at Boulder pullout and can see the three wolves from across the river are now on Junction Butte, the Druid females run up hill towards them and they are lost in the trees. It is a while before we find them again and after a few minutes snow comes in and we can't see anything.

We have heard about wolves at Mammoth and with no visibility here I go west. There is a big dirt pullout just west of the High Bridge and that is where I find cars parked and people are on a low hill to the west of that, the wolves have a carcass near the Helli Pad. There is one wolf, 471 and two coyotes, she moves off and leaves the coyotes with the carcass. I get back to my cabin about 17:00 as I'm emptying my car I hear a shout from across the parking lot, it's Veronica, she had been out in Lamar and all the way to Cooke City and I had not even got as far Slough today. The last two years we have just missed meeting up as my visit was ending as she arrived.

Wednesday - 27 January

I'm out about 07:00 to a little powdery snow that brushes off easily. I pass Calvin at a little pullout just out of Mammoth from where he can see the carcass area, I stop at the big pullout and look around and listen but there is nothing. Veronica pulls in and we talk for a few minutes and then move on, I stop at the Blacktail Ponds, there is nothing there, the same at Elk Creek. There are people on the hill at Boulder so I join them and soon we hear a howl from Peregrine Hills, it seems close but we don't see the wolf, eventually we find it and it is in view for a few minutes.

I move on to Fisherman's where they have the Silvers, I get there just in time to not see them but after about ten minutes one of the pups comes out from behind the tree where they are bedded. The alpha male also comes out and stands under a tree, he can't lie down in the snow because of his mange, the pup beds in the snow. Veronica arrives and gets to see them through my scope but they are not doing much so she heads east and so do I, there might be beavers at the confluence, the second prize is bighorns.

Back to Fisherman's and the Silvers have gone higher up and look like they could be going over to Little America so I go to Slough, they never appear. The next stop is Boulder, the Druid have moved north of the river at Buffalo Ford and are standing under a tree trying to rest. The two black males are on Junction Butte with '06. One of the Druid females comes down to the ford and along the river, where she howls and gets a response from the butte and more response from the other Druid females. Then we see the lone female going back to the other Druids. Next the three on Junction Butte go down to the ford and cross and go up hill to the three Druids, who, on seeing '06 come running down hill and chase her, she gets away and they join up with the two males. It is now around 16:30 so I head west, this evening I am going to dinner with Veronica at the Mammoth Hotel, we meet up at 19:30 and drive over. It is a good meal in good company.

Thursday - 28 January

A beautiful clear sky this morning, temperature 17ºF the windows are clear and I am soon away, I pass Calvin at the high bridge. I stop at the S curve there is no sign or sound so I go on to Elk Creek and stop and listen, I should have looked, I drive on there are elk around Tower Junction. Cliff and other photographers are there but I drive on. People are stopped at the bridge so I pull in. Four Blacktails are on top of Junction Butte, I could have seen them from Elk Creek, we watch them bedded up there for a while and get reports of more wolves in Little America. Rick asks me to go east and help find them, there is howling from Peregrine and Buffalo Ford. I find a black wolf bedded on Peregrine, he is howling and eventually meets up with a grey and they go east, I go to Crystal and after about an hour we find a black and a grey and then another grey following them back to the west. I have been thinking that Veronica picked a good day to go on the snow coach, it is bright and sunny, when a Subaru Outback pulls in it is Veronica, the trip was cancelled.

I go back to Boulder and after an hour or so we find 147 and 641 on the hill, 147 is howling for all he is worth and then he goes east, 641 stays. I try to find them again from Crystal but there is nothing. The Silver pack and three Druids are in view from Dave’s Hill so I go up there for an hour or so and see the Silvers chase 147. Wedge’s little group sleep on a hill and the Druid females are standing near a carcass, at least they are getting a feed. I go down the hill at about 14:30 for lunch then I go west to look for the Blacktail’s from Elk Creek. The Druid female yearling that has been at Wrecker comes into view and there is a moose nearby, it is about 16:30 so time to go home.

Friday - 29 January

There is nothing before Crystal Creek, the Agates are here with a Mollie male, the Agates chase him to the west, I miss a good photo opportunity because he was not far out from the pullout. 472 and the other two bed nearby so I get my camera and mount it on my scope and get some reasonable photos. Veronica has rearranged her trip to the interior for today and so missed out on the wolves. After a while 472 gets up and heads north and crosses the road near the Aspen Pullout, the other two follow until they come near the road and stop, a car has stopped in the pullout and the wolves turn back, 472 howls and the other two howl but will not go to the road. Eventually the car moves off and after about an hour 472 crosses back south, and my notes for the day end there.

Saturday - 30 January

I stop with Elli at the Self Guided Trail there is nothing there but a good view of the full moon, Veronica pulls in, in the hope of getting a photo of the moon but is too late, we all move on to Elk Creek I stop to look and listen, all I hear is Rick saying they have something in Lamar so I drive on and get to Fisherman’s before finding him, they have the two Agate females with two Mollie males Big Blaze the agate alpha is not there at first no one thinks much about it but Elli notices that there is blood on one of the Mollies and they seem to be accepted by the Agate females, it looks like Big Blaze might be dead or injured. It is strange that the Mollies are accepted and it looks like a mating attempt with 472. They go out of sight. 147 is on the other side of the road howling, he is up near Secret Passage and beds at the top, at about 10:00 he moves out of sight so I go to Slough and look for the Druids from Bob’s Knob, they are standing, as usual and after ½ hr after a good howl they move off to the north and disappear near the Horizontal Forest. Kathi and I are the last ones on the knob and it is lunchtime so we go back to our cars, it is Kathi’s last day. After lunch Elli and I go back to Fisherman’s but can’t find anything, she goes to Dave’s and I drive to Hitching Post and meet up with Veronica, she has lost her sun glasses we walk along the road west to where she had been earlier, luckily we find them and nothing has run over them, she had been photographing wolf tracks in the road.

I go back to Fisherman’s, there is a couple who tell me that there is howling from Secret Passage 147 is still in the same place but soon moves off. I keep looking for Agates but never find them Elli joins me and them we hear from Calvin; he has Blacktails from Petrified Tree. When we get there we see nine Blacktails on a carcass and watch until nearly dark.

Sunday - 31 January

The weather forecast was for snow today, there is a light snow but nothing much, I don’t intend stopping until Elk Creek, snow is just covering the road. At Elk Creek I don’t see or hear anything so I drive on to Petrified tree where we had the Blacktails last night. Calvin stops and looks and drives on, I can’t find the carcass and I carry on east, as I round the bend at Rick’s pullout and there is a car stopped in the middle of the road, I look down to where he is looking and I spot the Blacktail wolves moving west. I call Calvin to come back, I have to go to the ranger station to turn around I just see the wolves disappear and I go on to Elk Creek where after a few minutes a black wolf comes into view but no others, the rest of the pack appear on the ridge in front of us and they start to howl, it is a great long howl after about ¾ hr they are out of sight going west. I take Veronica to Lower Hellroaring where they might come out but like last time they don’t, we wait for ½ hr then go back to V’s car and go on to the east to Mid-Point in Little America where we have howling from all around. I find one of the howlers on South Peregrine, it is ‘06 female. There is howling to the NE and I keep looking in that direction and find the Druids at the base of North Peregrine with the two males, they go to the top and do their best to rest. The two males go over to the ‘06f. Veronica leaves and goes east to look for otters. Snow showers come and go and visibility is occasionally lost, there is howling to the south Calvin spots two wolves in the trees but loses them, they occasionally howl then all is quiet. I start to look around and eventually start to look along the top of Specimen Ridge where I spot two animals, they are wolves, it is 472 and Big Blaze, he is alive and well, great news.

The Druid females come down from the top of Peregrine and find a spot at the base of a rock face where two of them manage to lie down.

At about 16:00 Rick finds the two Mollies and 517 they are near Crystal Creek and move west, smelling and scent marking, they move around for ½ hr and I decide it is time to go. When I arrive at Lava Creek I come up behind an Outback, it is Veronica also on her way home, she lets me pass, I stop at the post office and she stops I tell her what has happened and she drives on and after a couple of minutes I follow, it is now dark and as I take the first corner there is something in the middle of the road, I slow, it is a cow elk feeding it’s full grown calf.

~ February 2010 ~

Wednesday - 03 February

The Silvers have a carcass in the river to the east of the trees and were staying in the area. It was a good clear day and the yellow plane came in and located the wolves, they had moved to the south of the river and were heading towards the trees but still quite a way from them. About ten minutes later the helicopter came in and approached the wolves from the south in the hope of keeping them away from the trees. They wanted to get the alpha female, it may have been a good clear day but the helicopter made its own snowstorm in the dry powder and the alpha got away. One of the pups was darted but she got into the trees where the helicopter couldn't land, two of the crew had to hike in and find her, she is 753. 147 was with the Silvers and he showed no fear, we expected him to be the first to run as he had been collared before in Idaho, he was easily darted and recollared. We learned later that he had previously been caught in a trap and had no experience of helicopters. Because 147 is not one of the Silver pack and might be attacked before he is fully recovered from the anaesthetic they load him into the helicopter and move him north of the road. I stay until about 17:00 looking for him to recover but don't see him. Back at the cabin I am preparing my evening meal when there is a knock at the door, it is Kathy AKA Hellroaring Kat.

Thursday - 04 February

Today is the day for collaring the two black males that have been with the Druids for the last month or so.

I set the alarm for 06:00 and I am out at 06:40 to a light covering of snow, there is about 2” on Blacktail but no wolves, no sound, there is no one in Little America, I stop at Canyon West, Kathy stops and we decide to go east. The crowds are at Picnic again and at Trashcan, today I just park on the road, the Silvers are back together, north of the road, 147 is near them, they howl. I go on the hill and they are in view for an hour then the four go up hill into the trees and out of sight, I expect them to come out higher up, Kathy spots one of them just where I expected them, they howl again and 147 replies, it looks like they will be there for the day. Rick has gone west so I drive that way, I pass him at Slough going back, he tells me to go see Calvin. From Crystal they have the Druids up near Secret Passage, they are a long way off and after about ¾ hour the wolves move off over to Lamar, I go to Coyote but I can’t find them and go back to Trashcan where the Silvers have crossed the road and are heading towards the river. I am here for about another hour, the wolves bed. Rick said that they would be trying to collar the two black male Druids. I guess that the wolves will be up on this side of Secret Passage, so I go to Coyote and wait, the wolf plane comes over and circles over where I thought that the wolves would be, then the helicopter comes in and one of the black males runs into our view, in one of the few open spaces that we can see and after some spectacular flying in what seemed from our position a very confined space, with trees and rocks all around they got the wolf and landed and did the collaring and tests so we now have 754 and 755.

It is 17:30 and time to go because we are going to dinner at Outlaws, it is supposed to be 19:00. I get home at 18:00 Elli comes to the cabin to say the dinner is now so I get out and go.

Sunday - 07 February

At Tower Junction I hear that someone has seen four wolves crossing the road south of Junction Butte, two grey, so they couldn’t be Druids, maybe the unknown pack from Friday, I go to Boulder but find nothing, I look along the south side of the butte, nothing, we conclude that the original sighting was a mistake and there was only one grey. I head for Lamar, passing anther wolf watcher coming west. I get to the Lamar Bridge when I get a one word call "west" so I turn and go back. I see Rick at Wrecker Grade he has two wolves on top of Junction Butte, it is Big Blaze, the alpha male of the Agates with a grey, they are bedded and after about 20 minutes the black goes over and tries to get the grey up, he gets snapped at and chased around and then they both bed again. Rick says it looks like '06 female, I don't believe it, after what we saw two days ago it seems impossible that she could be so fit and active but it is '06 she has the mark on her face and hip.

There are Druid signals from nearby, they are found low down on the south side of the butte. The three females have found a snow free area under a tree and are able to lie down, they are there all day and at about 4:00 they start to move around 690 heads up to the top of the butte and others start to follow. I go round to Wrecker Grade, Big Blaze and '06 have moved north and out of sight, 754 and 755 start to follow their trail and I lose them and go to Wrecker but never find them again and I head west.

Slough Creek

I started off in Little America where the temperature was -9ºF. Unit 2 had Druids near the Peregrines but we couldn't find them I moved further east to Crystal as they were moving east but there was still no sighting. I guessed that they were heading for Slough, I went there and walked down the campground road I heard a howl from the west and the three females soon came into view, then there was howling from the bowl area where the two males were. Mixed with the wolf howls were some excited coyote howls and barks, I was expecting the males to appear but they never did. With 690 in the lead the three females headed north towards the campground, then they turned east to the road, there were two skiers on the road, the wolves didn't like it but they started to run, they disturbed a herd of bison who took off running, the wolves crossed the campground road and I lost them. It was now really cold, a wind had risen and I was glad to get back to the car.

The females had passed by me and got to the Bowl, I went to Crystal with Kathy and we watched the sleeping wolves, they started to howl and there was a reply from west of us near Peregrine, I went to Long Pullout, there were cars parked in the road just east of the curve, I walked back from the pullout, they could see a pair of ears just poking over a ridge, I went back to my car and then went on the hill to the north. I could see the wolf, it was Big Blaze but I was too close and I went back to the car and drove back to Kathy where we watched the three females and 755 head south where they met 754 and we lost them.

I went east to Lamar, just ahead of me in the canyon a vehicle stopped and a big lens poked out of the window I stopped in the next pullout and looked back, Kathy pulled in and said that she had seen a coyote with blood on it's face, we looked back towards the parked car and Kathy said, "There's the coyote now" through binoculars it was a wolf, the '06 female, she crossed the road and went up on the north side Kathy got a good photograph.

Thursday - 11 February

I head into the park, as I drive into Mammoth I notice that some of the panel lights have not lit up, the heater controls don't work, nor does the radio. The heater is working but it is set at 83º and the morning is not very cold, I can't regulate the fan or the temperature, I think maybe it's a fuse, I will check when I have lunch.

I see no sign of activity through Little America and I continue to Trashcan but there are no wolves, I hear that some have been spotted back at Slough so I go back. It is the Blacktails, they have a carcass down by the creek, I go up on Dave's Hill we can see the wolves bedded on a little knoll but the carcass is out of sight, though ravens give the location and a wolf occasionally goes down to it. At about 12:00 all the wolves look like they are bedded for the day so I went east to look for the Silvers, I got to Hitching post where people had seen them on the Ledge Trail but they were out of sight now. There was howling from the south, around Dead Puppy Hill so I went to Footbridge, I found a single black, it had no collar so couldn't be 147, I think it might be one of the Miller wolves maybe the one with 682 a couple of days ago, it seems to be looking for a companion and heads over into Cache Creek.

I went back to Slough where I have missed the action, with the Blacktails sleeping, the Druid females had gone to the carcass and were seen by the Blacktails and chased, the Thin Female was attacked and seriously injured. We are out at Bob's Knob and we can see the two Druid males to the west, we hear a howl from the Bowl area and soon see Whiteline, she walks along the top of Dave's Hill and crosses the campground road and goes to join the two males and is joined by Thin Female she looks in a really bad way. I leave and go into Lamar and look at my heater, it is a warm day and 83º is getting beyond a joke, from the hand book I find where the fuses are and pick two likely ones, Radio and Display, the radio one is OK and I put it back, still nothing works. The display one is OK and I put it back and everything works?????

Back at Slough the Druids are still in the same place, thin female looks like she will not make it through the night. The Blacktails are away to the southwest and heading west.

The next day Thin Female was found dead on Bob's Knob.

Saturday - 13 February

It is getting light earlier now and I am on the road at 06:30 From elk creek I hear a single howl from the Tower area so I drive over there and I'm just in time to see a black wolf disappearing behind a hill, it looks like it is heading for Elk Creek, I go back but don't find it.

I continue east, visibility is not good, it is snowing, the Druids are north of the road from the Old Picnic pullout but with the snow we can't find them. The Silvers are somewhere near Footbridge, so I go over there, someone has seen them to the south east but they are not in sight when I get there, I drive to the Cone and while I am there a snow mobiler stops to tell me he has just seen a grey wolf on the road about quarter mile to the west. I drive back slowly but don't see it I stop on the road and look north, I hear a howl but don't see anything. I get back to Footbridge and look from there, a couple of photographers drive slowly east but don't stop. After about half an hour someone finds the grey wolf, it has crossed and is to the south, it is the Silver alpha, he crosses the creek and heads uphill where he finds the rest of the pack, they have been bedded behind a ridge. The three females are there with 147 who now seems to have joined the pack and it looks like he has taken over from the old alpha, who shows no aggression towards 147 and just follows along as they move off together and out of sight. I don't think anyone has seen this behaviour before; I think the deposed alpha either end up dead or leaves the pack. In the following days, up to the time of my leaving he was still with the pack and as of March 6 is still there, fit and well.

I head west to look for Druids but don't find them and continue to the west with the intention of going for a walk on the Blacktail Creek trail. I stop at the Self Guided Trail and hear a faint call on the radio but can't make it out, I think there might be wolves around Mammoth, reception is not good from there I drive to the High Bridge but see no one and hear nothing more, so I decide on Wraith Falls, it's an easy walk on a well trampled trail. Light is failing but I get some photos and head back, from the pullout I can see three bull elk to the west and walk down there, the light is even worse now but I get my photos and back to the car and head for Mammoth. I pass the bridge and come to the big dirt pullout, there are several vehicles in there, I know before I stop that I had made a mistake in not driving past the bridge the first time. They had the Canyon pack on a kill near the terraces. People had been trying to contact me, now the wolves were out of sight except for one, a black bedded under a tree, I did get to see that one lift it's head. You win some you lose some. I make plans for tomorrow, I'll be out late and the Canyons will be at their carcass...

Sunday - 14 February

I make a late start and get to the dirt pullout and look around, nothing, other people arrived and we looked but still could find no wolves, we found the carcass site because there were lots of ravens on it. One of the watchers went up to the upper terraces and looked from there, I stayed and soon lots of elk appeared, contentedly grazing so I was unlikely that the wolves were around. I got a call that they had found the wolves from the terraces, I drove up there but just missed seeing them, there were some coyotes getting excited but I never saw anything. Back at the dirt pullout there are a lot of grazing elk, I move on to the bridge and then I head east, it is 10:00 and when I get to Lamar I find my luck has not changed. Big Blaze got into a fight with the two Mollies who are with 472, he was injured but I don't know how badly.

To the north of Hubbard Hill the Silver alpha female and 147 are tied, it lasts for 31 minutes, it may come to nothing, she has mange and like the Druids last year any pups may not survive. The poor old alpha male comes in and submits to 147, he looks worse than he did yesterday, it is sad to see him, he can lie down now but he doesn't look good.

Monday - 15 February

No more going out late. I'm on the road at 06:30 after brushing some light snow off the car. There are a lot of elk on the road at Blacktail, they are at the S curve and they are on both sides of the road grazing. It is getting lighter and I stop at the Self Guided Trail but all I see are contented elk.

I drive on to Tower but there is a big bus in there so I continue to Little America, there is nothing there or at Slough and on into Lamar. As I approach Hitchingpost there is a car off the road, the Silvers have been seen nearby. Later I hear the story of the car going off, it was the first wolf the driver had ever seen and next thing he was axle deep in snow, a good way of stopping near the wolves but I don't know how much it cost him to get pulled out.

I get to the pullout, the wolves are out of sight now and we spend an hour looking, there is a lone howl, that might be the old alpha but we can't find him and I go to Footbridge, thinking that the others might have gone east but no luck.

I move to the west, to Dorothy's to look for 755, 754 and '06 (just in case anyone wonders why she is called '06 that's when she was born an Agate and she has no collar) Someone spots four grey wolves near Amethyst, they go down into the creek. I go back to the Institute in the hope of a better view. They have gone south and higher up and are a long way off and bedded, they are the two Mollie males with 472 and 715. Visibility gets bad with snow so it's time for lunch. Eventually the snow clears and at about 16:00 they start to move around, proving once again, one wolf watchers theory that they wake up around 15:30 to 16:30. They move down hill and behind some trees, maybe they have a carcass down there. I leave at around 17:00 the valley is deserted; I pass two cars on the way to Mammoth.

Tuesday - 16 February

The last drive into the park, I'm on the road at 06:25, as usual I stop at Elk Creek, there is nothing and all the way to Slough there is no one around. Driving through Lamar Canyon I see one photographer stopped at the east pullout but I don't stop until I get to Coyote, where Unit 2 is just pulling in, he tells me that 755's group have a carcass in the canyon and it is very close to the road and that they will have to put up no stopping signs and probably have to close the east pullout.

I go on to look for Silvers from Trashcan, there is no sign, I get a call to come to the Institute where they have found the Mollie/Agates, they are near where we saw them disappear last night. There is a carcass nearby, ravens are flying in and out of a gully, these wolves look set for the day.

I drive back to Coyote, Rick has signals from 755 in the Secret Passage area, they seem to have retreated from the carcass in the canyon. I am scanning the ridge top for nearly an hour when I spot a black wolf and then I find '06 and eventually 754. They are bedded for the day waiting for the people to leave the canyon, the pullout has been closed and no stopping signs put out.

We find a black wolf heading west along the river, it is 681, a wolf from outside the park, maybe the word has gone out that the Druids are no longer in charge and other prospectors are looking over the land but it will not be the same if the Druids are gone, they have held the valley since 1996/7 only 690F is known to be around.

It is now 16:00 and time to leave :-{ The problem with a long stay is that it is so much harder to leave, I say goodbye to everyone and head west, it has mostly been a good trip, some days were not so good, with bad visibility but very few. There has been less snow on the ground than I have ever seen in my eight Winter visits, around Gardiner there is a lot of bare ground.