19 May 2002 - Sunday

Our two friends, Jake and Leslie from Michigan arrived at 5:00 pm. We ate a quick supper so we could make an evening drive into the park. At a little after 6:00 pm we were on our way south to parkadise. The crew consisted of Carlene, Joseph, Leslie, Jake and yours truly.

We saw elk and bison on the drive from the north entrance to the Gardner River Bridge. Some of the larger glacial ponds east of Mammoth have water, the smaller ponds are bone dry.

I was hoping to show the gang the moose at Floating Island Lake and the beaver at least. As fate would have it, no moose on the lake but we all took it in stride as the biggest part of wildlife viewing is timing and it wasn't in the cards for moose tonight. We continued onward and east ward towards Lamar Valley.

We met Bill from Poky and his mother who had come out from Wisconsin to visit the Stone and Bill too. Bill and Bobby Clark were at the same turnout with Bill and his mom. They had not seen a lot of bear or wolf activity this day so far, but things were bound to change, that was in the cards.

Bill then gave me some sad news. The sow and two cubs near the Soda Butte Cone was now a sow with one cub. When dark had fallen the night before, all three were together. When they saw them this morning near Soda Butte Creek, there was just the two. No one knew or had seen anything. It could have been a fatal river crossing, a bore grizzly or the wolves, anyone's guess. Very sad news as they were so cute and playful the day before. More on this later.

We chatted for a while and then we all headed east down the valley. I told Bill I wanted to show the gang the beaver and he said that it had been seen earlier today. We headed east to the turnout at the confluence of the Lamar River and Soda Butte Creek. We parked and grabbed the camera and walked up the road just a little ways to where I had seen it the evening before. No beaver! The Soda Butte Creek had risen over a foot since last night. The rivers and creeks were very high and muddy. Bummer!

Bill and his mother pulled in and he began scanning for bears and wolves. He found an old kill and a bald eagle was on it as well as some ravens. We looked at the eagle and the hills and dales for anything else. The bison and elk have moved down in the valley and Bill reported that he had seen his first elk calf of the year this morning. So the elk are starting to calve.

We loaded up and headed east to the outfitters turnout and a restroom break. Folks were watching a very large bore and a grizzly sow south of the turnout on Norris Mountain. We also found a black bear further east in a meadow east of Norris. We were having a great time chatting and watching and sharing the scope and bears with folks. We had a couple from Florida stop and enjoy all that we were seeing and all that we were about to see.

Jake and Leslie and Carlene were talking and Joe and I were watching the bears, when Jake said there is an elk running on the north hillside headed east. Then the reason for her flight appeared, six wolves were chasing her. They all ran into some trees and disappeared from view. I got to see one black and one gray wolf make a brief appearance through a small opening. Everyone was excited to see wolves and disappointed to see them vanish from sight so quickly!

Just then, Jake said, "Here they come." All of the sudden we saw the cow elk streaking across the open areas with six wolves on her tail. She was now headed west down the hillside and down towards the valley and Soda Butte Creek. We all lost her and the wolves behind a small hill. All of the sudden before we knew it the elk was down the hillside across the road and crossing the creek. She was moving and had put some nice distance between herself and the wolves. Very impressive!

The six wolves, two gray and four black came running down the hillside. One black was still hard after the elk and was in the lead and crossed one of the creek arms and stopped. Two other wolves made their way down and the three others took their time getting down and crossing the road. One black wolf stopped on the road and just took his time looking around, looking both ways to make sure no traffic was coming and that the way was clear. At least that is what it looked like and he just took his good old time getting across the road.

Right before all the main action, MarkR from Georgia joined the group. He is working in Mammoth this year and has been out in Lamar every night after work. He has been having a blast. Oh, and just in case his parents are reading this, he really misses you and wishes you were here with him enjoying all the bears and wolves and other wildlife and the loons!

We then moved our scopes a ways south so we could watch the wolves as they headed south into Lamar Valley. One of the black wolves had been injured last October in a battle with another pack and he was still limping from a wound. We watched all the wolves move across the valley. In one area they must of come close to a coyote den as there was a lot of coyote chatter for awhile. The wolves just moved on and over a little ridge and out of sight.

There was a young ranger with us at the turnout. I asked him about the grizzly cub and if anyone had reported seeing anything. He reported that no one had seen a thing. He did say that he had seen the sow in the morning running back and forth along the bank of the Soda Butte Creek. It looked like she was looking for something and he thought that maybe the cub had been caught in the current and swept downstream. That may be what happened, no one will ever know.

We decided to head west and take one more look for the beaver and then head home. Jake and Leslie had had a long day, but it was exciting to say the least.

Just as we came around a bend in the road, Jake spotted something but there was no place to pull over so we continue on east to where the beaver was before. Nothing! Jake was sure that what he had seen was the beaver and Joe had seen something also. We drove down to the turnout and turned around.

As we slowly drove back down the road, low and behold, there was the beaver swimming along the swollen creek bank. Now everyone was excited again and Joe was able to take some pictures and Carlene, Joe, Jake and Leslie were able to see their first beaver in the Stone. We watched for a while as he swam up and down the creek and then got out on the bank. What a nice guy to be so kind to allow us to end our trip with this sighting. We watched as long as we could and then made our way up to the turnout and turned around and headed west for home!

Another fantastic trip in Parkadise with great family and friends, old and new! What a delightful evening and a fond choice memory!

Take care my friends until next time!

Lamar Valley Sunset by John W. Uhler ©

Wildlife Seen on This Trip

Antelope, a beaver, bison, elk, two grizzly bears, one black bear, magpies, no moose, mule deer, sandhill cranes, ravens, six wolves of the Druid Peak Pack and loons!

Back to the 2002 Trip Report Page.