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Today in the Park Report
May 04, 2002


Alpha Male of the Druid Peak Pack by John W. Uhler ©

Druid Peak Pack Alpha Male by John W. Uhler





04 May 2002 - Saturday


I did a solo trip into the park this afternoon. I left home at about 4:00 pm and headed south towards the Stone and Lamar Valley. I saw antelope, deer and elk on the drive from home to Mammoth. The elk were on the lawns by the buildings and old parade grounds in Mammoth. There were elk and bison along the hillsides on the way from Mammoth down to the Gardner River bridge.


It was a nice partly sunny day, not too cool nor too warm. There were ducks on some of the glacial ponds, but a lot of the ponds are already dry or just a small puddle in the middle that will be gone soon. Phantom Lake is fairly dry with just a little water visible in the tall grass. Floating Island Lake looks fairly well, the island is on the side and the lake is down but there were ducks on it.


The road to Tower was still closed due to rocks. It was supposed to have opened on Friday. Once it is cleaned up it will be open and we will see if there is any water in Rainy Lake.


On the drive in, I went back to the petrified tree to see if the three bull moose were anywhere around. No luck! I was hoping to get my first sighting of moose this year, they are big and impressive if you have ever seen them.


I stopped across from the Tower Ranger Station and scanned the southern hills and dales. Saw bison and elk but no bears or wolves.

Yellow-headed Blackbird by John W. Uhler ©

Continuing on my trek to Lamar I headed east. Just a little ways past the Yellowstone River and the Yellowstone Picnic Grounds there are several glacial ponds, but they are pretty dry. The picture here of the yellow-headed black bird I took at the pond just before the first large paved turnout for the Specimen Ridge Trail. This pond is dry.


There were tons of elk visible in the area from the above trailhead to the Lamar River Bridge. In one area there were elk, bison and antelope.


I stopped and hiked back the Slough Creek Campground Road to a lookout point and did some looking for any wildlife activity. I saw bison and elk on the hillsides and mountainsides north of Slough Creek. All were contently grazing on this nice spring day. No one else was out there spotting for wildlife. After a while I loaded up and headed east.


There were a few cars parked at the turnouts as I entered Lamar Valley but no one was out with binocs or spotting scopes looking for anything. I made my way to the ranger station and saw RayT and Bill there and pulled in to join in the search party.


Ray and Bill had had a great morning watching wolves and other wildlife. One elk and wolf chase went right across the road and down into Lamar Valley.


At roughly 6:15 pm, Bill spotted a black bear south of us just at the tree line below Specimen Ridge. We watched it slowly moving west down the valley.


Mule Deer Fawn by John W. Uhler ©

A short while later we spotted a black wolf north of the road. Bill again picked this wolf out and it was just a glimpse sighting as it headed into some trees.


Next a gray wolf appeared and was followed by two black wolves through a small clearing into some trees and out of sight. In the mean time, we would take turns checking on the black bear and his slow trek west. We had several couples stop and view the bear and chat about wildlife activity and what had been seen during the day. Ray had watched a sow griz and two cubs east of the Soda Butte Cone earlier in the day. When Bill and Ray had gotten to Lamar earlier this morning, it was covered in white and the road was slushy. The snow was totally gone this evening. The wind started to pickup and gust and that cooled things down a little.


Another group in the turnout picked up a black wolf headed west on the north side of the road. The wolf was headed towards about five or six elk. The black wolf came almost nose to nose with a cow elk. When they were just about to touch noses, another cow elk joined the encounter and the lone black wolf thought better of the meeting and backed off. We watched the wolf walk through the open hillside and up into some trees and out of view for the night.


It was a nice sighting. A couple from Switzerland had joined our small group of Ray and his wife Jo and Bill and myself. We let them look at their first black bear in Yellowstone. They were also thrilled to see the black wolf and it made their first day in the park very exciting.


Just then, Bill picked up something way east of us moving across the valley from left to right. He asked me to come over and look through his scope. He has a nice scope with zoom capability. There they were, two grizzly bears out in the wide open valley just walking and grubbing and playing as they headed south towards Specimen Ridge. Now the couple from Switzerland were very excited! I said that they were very fortunate to see a black bear, a wolf and grizzly bears on their first day in the park. That doesn't happen very often and they were just tremendously excited!


Hayden Ringlet by John W. Uhler ©

This is one of the main things that makes these trips so rewarding. Being with folks who love the outdoors and wildlife and may never have the chance again to see and enjoy what were shared. Way Cool!


On one of our trips we were camping a Pebble Creek and a car came in late and setup camp beside us. They came over and chatted. These two guys had driven out from Pennsylvania in hopes of seeing a wolf. If fact the one guy pulled up his tee shirt sleeve and showed me his tatoo. It was a wolf and his nickname was wolf and he wanted to see a wolf so bad. We told him the best place to be and the best time to be there the next morning. We said we would be there and if we saw a wolf we would share it with them.


Well, the next morning we were at the Lamar Trailhead Foot Bridge Turnout looking for bears and wolves and so were they. Low and behold out came the alpha female and several other wolves of the Druid Peak Pack. Wolf was sitting on the car bumper just looking and waiting. I put the scope on the alpha and motioned for wolf and his friend to come on over.


I told him to take a look through the scope. He looked through the scope and followed the wolf. He just started to shake and cry at seeing his first wolf in the wilds of Yellowstone. We were humbled and thrilled to have a little part in sharing in his experience.


That is what wildlife watching in Yellowstone is all about and why you would be hard pressed to find a wildlife watcher who wouldn't love to share his or her scope and whatever they are watching. There is joy in watching and even more joy in sharing.


Well the sun started to head towards the land of the rising sun so we said are farewells and headed to our places of abode with fond memories or sharing an evening with friends, family and wildlife in the Parkadise!




Wildlife Seen on This Trip


Antelope, bison, elk, black bear, two grizzly bears, magpies, mule deer, sandhill cranes, ravens, four of the Druid Peak pack and loons!


Druid Peak Pack news. The pack is divided into four groups, it is not known if this is permanent or just temporary. There are about 14 wolves with the alphas (21 and 41). There is a group with 103, another with 105 and the last group is with 106. I will give you numbers with each of the other groups when they are known.


Take care my friends until next time!


Lamar Valley Sunset by John W. Uhler ©

Lamar Valley Sunset by John W. Uhler ©


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