16 July 1998 - Thursday

I was on the road back home by 9:47 am. The rest of the family had conflicts arise of work, or classes or things along those lines, so John Denver and I made the long jaunt to the park. Traffic was light and summer road construction was, well, summer road construction. We had a nice drive and made good time. Just north of Blackfoot, Idaho, the Grand Tetons appeared and escorted me all the way past Ashton, Idaho right to the last bridge over the Snake River as you start to head up to the high plateau and into the mountains. It was by far the clearest day I have ever seen in that area. Normally there is a foggy haze over the area and you are lucky to dimly see the Tetons or they are cloaked in clouds. Beautiful day for a trip to the park! John sang and I croaked along with him, we had a good time and it made the trip go fast, as we were lost and alone on some forgotten highway traveled by many remember by few...

I arrived at West Yellowstone at about 4:30 pm and took a short break before heading to Lamar Valley. The west entrance wasn't crowed as I entered the park at 5:00 pm. The trumpeter swans were still on and near their nest on the Madison. I did not see any signs of the cygnets. The regular herds of elk and buffalo weren't visible. More than likely they were back in the shade trying to stay cool from the warm spell that has been gripping the country.

The Madison to Norris pothole dodge ride was as fun as ever and would rival any Disney theme park ride... At Norris I turned right or east and headed to Canyon. Not a lot of wildlife was in view at this time. I headed north at Canyon, up and over Mount Washburn or Washbump. The road is bad and some of the potholes look and feel like craters on the moon, you have to have a lunar vehicle to get around or through or over them. Be careful!

There was not a lot of traffic so that made the swing and sway pothole dance a little easier. There was nary a buffalo or elk to be seen in the low meadows and vales on Washburn. There was some ducks with ducklings on Rainy Lake just past Tower. The wildflowers on Dunraven and Washburn and all along the drive added the needed color to the green to enrich the trip.

Hayden Ringlet by John W. Uhler - July 1998 ©

I headed east at Roosevelt to Lamar Valley. Earlier this week, some friends reported seeing a cougar near the Yellowstone River bridge. That was a real thrill for them and I watched for it along the way, but no cat was to be seen. I had three construction delays between the Specimen Ridge turnout and the Lamar River bridge. They are putting in drainage pipes and digging 100 foot long holes about four feet deep and then we get to drive down and through these underworld trenches... Just after the Lamar River bridge, two white objects appeared on the north side of the road, I pulled over and grabbed the camera, it was the whoopers. They were just out walking around on the hillside away from the river. I took several pictures and then headed east. I stopped and did a little glassing of the hills, but there was very little to be seen, elk and buffalo must of been back in the forest.

I wanted to get to the Lamar River trailhead to see what the latest news was on the Druid Peak Pack and any bear sightings. This morning one black pup and a gray wolf east of the den site were spotted. I sat up my scope and started scanning the area. I spotted a griz high up in a meadow on Mount Norris. It was just grubbing, turning rocks and logs looking for bugs or other food as it meandered west. Good way to start the trip! A gray wolf appeared in the same meadow above the griz in the rocks. The wolf steered clear of the griz and headed down the mountain towards the valley. It quickly moved into the trees and we were not fortunate enough to see it again.

We stayed until past dark looking and talking and hoping! Met some old friends and new ones from all over the US and the world. We enjoyed the time together and had some great laughs as we shared the experience.

Today I saw: one antelope, one buffalo, Canada geese, one gray wolf, one griz, two trumpeter swans and two whooping cranes.

At about 10:30 pm I headed east up the valley towards Pebble Creek campgrounds hoping to find a place to rest my weary bones. I found one vacant site and staked claim to it. I setup camp, ate and set the alarm for 5:00 am and hit the sack. There was no moon at this time and the sky was a blanket of fire, Pebble Creek was singing its lullaby and a gentle breeze gave me a hug good night.

Yellow Salsify by John W. Uhler - July 1998 ©

17 July 1998 - Friday

The alarm went off and I smashed that little clock! Not really, but I always wanted to say that. It was just starting to get light, so I forced myself to get up and get ready for the day. Pebble Creek is a fantastic location for bear and wolf watchers, just five minutes away from the Lamar River Trailhead turnout and the construction is on the other side of the valley right now.

I arrived at the trailhead at 5:30 am and setup my spotting scopes. No one had seen any action so far this morning. We scanned the north hillside and meadows for any signs of bears or wolves or any other wildlife. There were a few elk and about ten antelope contently grazing in the meadows to the south of us. The ravens greeted us and squawked their way along the trees.

At 7:26 am, a lone black wolf appeared in the large meadow south of the turnout and worked its way quickly across the valley to some dead trees on the south side of the valley. It met a gray wolf in the trees and they nuzzled each other in greeting. They made their way east through the trees and across two small meadows into a stand of pines. They did not appear again this morning. This all took place in about a ten minute time frame. We found out that they were both yearling pups from the Druid Peak Pack, the black was 105F and the gray was 107M.

We stayed and spotted until about 10:30 am and then called it a morning. I headed back to Pebble and had breakfast and then pointed the van west to Roosevelt and Tower. I went to the Slough Creek turnout to see if I could get some better pictures of the whooping cranes. The turnout was full of vehicles and there was not a place to park. The flyfishers were out and all along the first part of Slough Creek. So I now understood why the whoopers were out along the road yesterday evening. I could not find the whoopers anywhere, so I continued on to Tower.

I parked just above Rainy Lake and took some pictures of the wildflowers and insects and ducks and ducklings. It was another clear non hazy day and I enjoyed the rest of the morning and afternoon. I headed back to Pebble to meet Richard and Joanell Feit, some friends who were coming in from Minnesota.

Wild Rose by John W. Uhler - July 1998 ©

Dick and Joanell arrived at 4:00 pm. They setup camp and we had supper and then headed to the trailhead turnout at 5:45 pm. We watched and visited together with all the folks awaiting the appearance of the wolves. Folks came and went, some had the patience of wildlife watchers and some wanted to see them now... We saw a young golden eagle that was out across the valley in the trees just roosting. It was being pestered by some smaller birds that looked like Kestrels and every so often it would move to another dead tree. Beautiful bird and fun to watch. Dick had brought his very large Celestron telescope and the eagle filled the optics. We could watch it panting from the heat and peck at the smaller pests.

At 8:15 pm, the black and gray wolves (105F and 107M) appeared again and worked their way down the hillside towards us and the valley floor. They took their time and slowly meandered down. Everyone there was thrilled to see them and took turns at the spotting scopes watching with awe and respect for these great creatures. We watched as the dark settled in around us and the wolves. We could see the black female mousing for voles. This was the first time I had ever seen them mouse, but they were yearlings and there was very little other wildlife in the valley. Once in a while we would see a buffalo or elk at the far south end of the valley, but that was quite a ways from where these wolves were this evening.

We watched until it was too dark to see them and then we just talked and basked in our great good fortune to share in the experience of a lifetime for most and a dream come true to see the wolves in the wilds of Yellowstone!

We all made involuntary blood donations to the deer and horse fly blood bank. We now know what a pin cushion feels like!

We headed for Pebble and camp and rest! Another moonless evening and a starry starry night, what a beautiful evening.

Today we saw: Antelope, buffalo, ducks, elk, a golden eagle, Kestrels, ravens and wolves.

Damselfly by John W. Uhler - July 1998 ©

18 July 1998 - Saturday

Would you believe my alarm clock broke? I bought it Thursday morning and it worked almost one day or at least one morning and then gave up the ghost! They sure don't make things like they use to!!! I wont tell you the brand name, but for those who are old enough to remember the brand that use to take a licking and keep on ticking. Heck I didn't even get a lick in before it was gone! But none the less I awoke at about 5:00 am excited to get out and about for another day in paradise.

We were at the turnout at 5:30 am and setup the array of sighting devices that would make any dedicated wildlife watcher drool. At 6:30 am a friend reported seeing a black wolf (probably 105F) south of the turnout and that it was headed south towards the mountains. We watched for it, but did not see it. At 7:00 am another watcher reported seeing the gray wolf (probably 107M) behind us on a ridge top for just a few seconds as it was moving east. We did not see either of these sightings.

At 10:00 am we spotted two grizzlies far up on the south mountain top in a patch of snow. It looked like a bore and a sow or a mated pair. They were in the snow for the longest time and then slowly made their way back to some brush on the top of the mountain and over the top. We watched the bears until they disappeared (about 10:30 am) from view and then packed our gear and headed to Cooke City for breakfast.

The deer and horse flies were absolutely horrible! They were a constant nuisance. That is the bad news, the good news is that they only live about two weeks and hopefully then will be out of there on our next August trip! It was like doing the German or Polynesian slap dance while trying to watch through binocs, spotting scopes or visiting. If you were real lucky, and had good friends there, you could slap each other...

I went into Roosevelt for some supplies and to check out the wolf sightings log book. On the way back to the trailhead turnout, the two whoopers were out again by the side of the road. I sure hope they come back, but the chances do not look good. The female normally accompanies the male to where he was raised. Since these are both females, the chances are very slim that they will return so this may be the last year we see them.

Buffalo Calves by John W. Uhler - June 1997 ©

At 6:15 pm a large gray wolf appeared on the hillside just above the meadow. She worked her way down to the valley floor and then headed east away from us and along the Soda Butte Creek. She crossed the road and then headed west towards the den site. The wolf turned out to be the alpha female 40F of the Druid Peak Pack. We did not see her after she crossed the road, she was out in view until 7:05 pm. We did get a glimpse for a few seconds of the gray yearling 107M at the top of a ridge as he was chasing some elk at about 8:30 pm. The Druid Peak Pack has been out and about and the whole pack has not been seen in a little while. While we were there, the reading on 40F was the only telemetry reading they had the whole time. 40F stopped and howled several times as she was making her way east down the valley, but the noise from vehicles going by made it impossible to hear (a real bummer).

We met two friends from Pennsylvania the night before at Pebble Creek campgrounds (Bud and his cousin Vinney) and Bud wanted to see a wolf or the wolves big time. I told them where to meet us and what times. When the alpha female made her appearance, I quickly looked down the row of cars and saw Bud and motioned for him to come on down! He was so thrilled he was shaking and could hardly contain his excitement and Vinney was right there with him. It was great to share the experience as we followed her and took turns watching her their excitement grew. We were thrilled and excited for them and ourselves! What a great experience for all.

We stayed well past dark and talked and listened for any hints of howling with no success. We headed back to Pebble for the night.

When we made it back to the campsite, Bud and Vinney had been celebrating their good fortune and came over to visit and tell us thanks. Bud had two wolf tatoos on his right arm that he had gotten years ago because of his love for the wolves. He had to say thanks again and show us his tatoos and tell us about his dream coming true. He was one happy camper that was feeling no pain! He and Vinney were from Harrisburg, PA on the bank of the Susquehanna River, where I had spent some of my youth canoeing, fishing and swimming. It was fun to visit and make new friends and to see the thrill and excitement in their eyes and voice. We then parted company and hit the sack for another early morning approaching.

Today we saw: Antelope, buffalo, ducks, elk - a large bull on top of Mount Norris, a golden eagle, ravens, two grizzlies, two whooping cranes, and three wolves from the Druid Peak Pack, (40F, 105F and 107M).

Rose Pussy Toes by John W. Uhler - July 1998 ©

19 July 1998 - Sunday

We were setup at the turnout at 5:30 am and were joined by a few new and old timer wildlife watchers. It was neat to make new friends that had common bonds, wolves, bears, wildlife, the outdoors and Yellowstone. As we spotted we shared stories about watching wildlife, the outdoors and fun experiences. It was a blast. We had wolf watchers spread out down the valley plus telemetry setup so if anything would happen to appear, we should be able to see or hear it. No wolves showed, there was no telemetry readings, so apparently the alpha female (40F) had left the area. Wolves 105F and 107M are not collared.

About 6:00 am a lone grizzly appeared southwest of the turnout in a far meadow. It was walking west along the tree line and we were able to watch it for about 15 minutes. It walked into some high grass and brush and into the trees and out of view.

We had a great opportunity to meet Bob Landis who had filmed the "Otters of Yellowstone." He is filming the Druid Peak Pack for National Geographic and that is going to be a great film. He has some fantastic footage that will knock your socks off. It will be out next year. He filmed wolf 21M from the Rose Creek Pack meeting the female wolves of the Druid Peak Pack after the alpha male and his son were shot east of Yellowstone. He filmed the females chasing him off and up until they accepted him into the park and he became the alpha male. This all took about five hours and it will be fantastic to watch when it comes out next year and it will be one film I will have to buy. I have seen some of Bob's other films on PBS and he is an artist with his camera.

I then had to say my goodbys and saddled up old blue and gently nudged her west. There was a large herd of buffalo just south of the Lamar Ranger station. There must of been around 70 or 80 and that was the most I had seen on this trip. It was nice to see them and to say goodby until next time and I headed towards my home.

The ride over Washburn and Dunraven was bumpy but the mountain wildflowers added brilliant splashes of purples, blues, yellows and pinks, happy colors among the gray rocks and tan soil. I looked longingly at each car, truck, camper and van that passed me headed in the opposite direction. Thinking of the fun times and things ahead of them and memories waiting to be built and dreams that would come true. It was a great trip and I really hated to see it end. I met a lot of folks who are regular visitors to the page, more than I ever had, and it was an exciting experience. I even met a flyfisher guy who had a sense of humor! I found some new places that we will be visiting next month and reporting on and I treasure the experience. Each trip is new in its own way and the folks you meet and friends you make, make the trip, time and experience last forever... Until next time my friends, be careful and see you in the park!

Today I saw: Antelope, buffalo, Canada geese, ducks, elk, a grizzly bear, and two sand hill cranes.

Mountain Dandelion by John W. Uhler - July 1998 ©

Wildlife Seen on This Trip

Antelope, buffalo, Canada geese, ducks, elk, four grizzlies, a golden eagle, ground squirrels, mule deer, the fun loving ever present ravens, red tail hawks, sandhill cranes, trumpeter swans, two whooping cranes, wolves - four members of the Druid Peak Pack.