Yellowstone National Park 2017 Trip Reports
Trip Report ~ Bear & Wolf Sightings ~ by Bill Hamblin
26 through 29 April 2017
~ April 2017 ~
Wednesday - April 26th
39 degrees in Gardiner and 33 degrees in Lamar Valley this morning warming up to 44 degrees. I saw a nice cow moose at Elk Creek coming out of the park tonight. At 5:45 a.m. Ralph and I found a black wolf east of Long Pullout where the Junction Butte pack had a carcass from yesterday. At 6:45 a.m. I found a nice sized grizzly in the old Druid Rendezvous area. This grizzly was actively trying to get a new bison calf from the cow. It got close a couple of times but the cow would chase it away. A storm moved in and we lost visibility and when the weather cleared the grizzly was out of sight and the bison cow still had the new bison calf. At 8:00 am. we had a sub adult grizzly south of Hubbard Hill viewed from Trashcan Pullout. At 9:00 a.m. the un-collared gray wolf of the Prospect Peak pack was lying on the top of sage den in Slough Creek. We got a look at her when she moves about and we think she must have had puppies. At 1:30 a.m. I spotted a blond grizzly south of the Picnic Area. At 2:15 a.m. I found two large grizzlies south and west of Hitching Post Pullout in the tree line. I guessed a courting pair as one appeared larger and was following the other. But later we could not see a lot of size difference so they remain a mystery. At 2:20 a.m. Kim and Joyce C found a medium sized grizzly near the eroded area on the east side of the old Druid Rendezvous area. At 4:30 a.m. John G found a grizzly with a beautiful blond two year old cub beneath the Horizontal Forest in Slough Creek. They moved around a lot, finally approaching a herd of bison. The cub led the charge which went quite a ways until the bison held their ground. Then the bison advanced and the pair of grizzlies retreated. The cub later found another bison herd to pursue but it did not last long. They finally just moved west out of sight. At 5:20 p.m. I was driving past the black bear jam near the Yellowstone Picnic Area and noticed one brown cub of the year climbing a tree (the black sow and other brown cub of the year were out of sight as I drove by). At 5:55 p.m. near Geode Creek I came up behind Lee H who was driving slow and had his flashers on. He moved a little towards the center line and exposed a large black bear walking the middle of the road. The black bear continued going down the middle of the road until we got to Geode Pond where it finally got off the road.
Thursday - April 27th
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39 degrees and raining in Gardiner but 33 degrees and snowing in Lamar Valley. New snow made all the countryside white, but the road was just wet. It warmed up to 45 degrees or so and had a cool breeze most of the day. Most of the morning it snowed and the visibility was marginal. I viewed another vulture today, this one near the elk carcass east of Footbridge Pullout; and had a golden eagle near Hubbard Hill. At 6:25 a.m. 926F, 949M and small dot had another new elk carcass in the Soda Butte Creek east of Footbridge (really close to their kill of two days ago). They were on or around the kill most of the day, sometimes re-crossing the road to the north. At 7:05 a.m. I had two black wolves from Lamar Canyon West just across the river to the south. Ralph N had seen them earlier and had four blacks and a gray starting near Long Pullout. At 8:45 a.m. Ralph N from Dorothy's Pullout and I from Coyote Overlook spotted a large dark grizzly on some type of carcass south of the Confluence. We rode to the east stopping a Trash Can Hill where Kim C found the carcass. The large dark grizzly had the carcass (we assume something small) but another grizzly a bit smaller was circling the dark grizzly. Twice the large grizzly charged the smaller one. Like most of our morning sightings a storm moved in and we could not see what happened. At 10:00 a.m. Wayne K called to say he found the grizzly with the yearling that we did not find yesterday. They were across the river from Lamar Canyon West. They came into view and for almost an hour they were visible and pretty close. They were digging again today. They reappeared several times in the afternoon for more but farther viewing. At 11:30 a.m. Bob and Nell H called with a grizzly south of Hubbard Hill. It disappeared just before I got there, but it reappeared in the tree line for a brief view. This was a very small grizzly. At 1:30 p.m. I drove to the bear jam east of Yellowstone Picnic area but several tourists had walked out to get a better view which sent the black sow and two brown cubs of the year up trees. I only saw the black sow. At 1:45 a.m. the un-collared gray wolf of the Prospect Peak Pack was again lying on the sage den in Slough Creek. Interestingly the Junction Butte wolves had dug a hole in the ground in Crystal Drainage this morning - maybe 969F will den there. If that becomes true, both dens can be seen from near the Slough Creek Restroom. At 5:25 p.m. my last sighting for the day was a nice sized black bear just off the road west of Undine Falls near the High Bridge.
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Friday - April 28th
36 degrees in Gardiner this morning and 29 degrees in Lamar Valley with a steady breeze all day long, and a high of only 45 degrees. A trumpeter swan was in a roadside pond at Mid Point in Lamar Valley and I saw a vulture near yesterday's elk carcass near Footbridge Pullout. At 5:45 a.m. I found a nice sized grizzly on the elk carcass east of Footbridge Pullout. Soon after I left the area the snow plow came thru and the grizzly ran south into the trees. At 6:10 a.m. I spotted a tall grizzly digging in the tree line of aspens south and west of the Confluence. At 6:25 a.m. Ralph N found a large grizzly in the sagebrush south of the Confluence viewed from Trash Can Hill. It's about the same place as we had the two grizzlies yesterday morning, and it was on some sort of carcass. At 6:45 a.m. Wayne K found a large dark grizzly in front of the mixed aspen/confer forest in Slough Creek viewed from Lamar Canyon West. At 6:50 a.m. I found a large grizzly with a Yellowstone stripe walking below the trees on Specimen Ridge viewed from Lamar Canyon West. At 8:10 a.m. John G heard howling south and west of Coyote Overlook. Soon afterward I found wolves coming over the skyline from Slough Creek where John G had heard the howling. A little confusion this morning as our count was four grays and three blacks. That combination does not fit what has been seen lately. Soon the wolf researchers figured out that we had the Prospect Peak wolf pack including the three collared males who had been with the Junction Butte wolf pack for weeks. The count this morning was three blacks 1047M, 1048M, and 996M the males had left the Junction Butte pack and returned to join the grays 821F the alpha female looking skinny like she has had pups, 966M the alpha male who lost his collar, 964M and the light gray wolf. Five of the seven crossed the road near Fisherman's Pullout going to the north. The light gray and another gray did not cross and were viewed off and on for a while. At 10:30 a.m. the un-collared gray wolf of the Prospect Peak pack was sitting on the Sage Den in Slough Creek. At 12:05 p.m. Randi M found a small grizzly with quite a bit of blond south and east of the Institute. At 3:10 p.m. we had a nice sized grizzly digging south and east of the Soda Butte Cone. At 3:15 p.m. we had a black wolf near the elk carcass east of Footbridge Pullout. At 3:45 p.m. John G found the grizzly with one blond two year old cub in the aspen forest just south of the mixed conifer/aspen forest in Slough Creek. We moved to Aspen East Pullout where the sow and cub were running to the east. Soon John G located the large dark grizzly from this morning coming out of the mixed conifer/aspen forest following the sow and her cub. The sow and cub put quite a bit of distance from the boar before all the grizzlies went out of sight.
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Saturday - April 29th
28 degrees in Gardiner with frost on the car and 26 degrees in Lamar Valley warming up to 50 degrees, finally sunshine and good visibility all day. I hiked to the Slough Creek Campground with John G and Randi M today. I viewed three vultures and a cow moose at Elk Creek. At 6:00 a.m. Ralph N had already hiked up the hill near the confluence. He had three grizzlies in view milling around what remained of a large carcass. Finally a fourth grizzly came in from the west. We watched for a while. Two large grizzlies and a smaller grizzly and the one that came in from the west was a medium grizzly. One of the large grizzlies kept running off the small colorful grizzly. Later John G, Randi M, and Bruce P went back up the hill to observe the four grizzlies. We were not sure, but assume they were the same grizzlies. It appeared that one large one and the small colorful grizzly were a courting pair. Once they made a large circle with the boar following the small colorful one. They would get close to each other, than the small one would run off. The courting pair then returned to the carcass area and mixed with the other two. John G believed the other two were sub adults just thrown out by the sow. I was not so sure, guessing that with the carcass spread out over a large area and pretty much gone, the grizzlies just tolerated each other. At 6:50 a.m. the un-collared gray Prospect Peak wolf was bedded on top of the Sage Den in Slough Creek. At 7:00 a.m. a nice sized grizzly walked past the mixed conifer/aspen forest in Slough Creek. At 7:15 a.m. I had a brief sighting of a grizzly in the large meadow in Crystal Drainage viewed from the Slough Creek Restroom. At 8:00 a.m. a black and gray both collared wolves of the Prospect Peak pack were trying to get to a dead bison calf south of Dorothy's Pullout. The cow protected the carcass from the two wolves and five coyotes for quite a while. Around 3:00 p.m. the wolves got to and finished the calf. At 8:05 a.m. I spotted a grizzly high digging on Amethyst Bench. At 8:40 a.m. Doug M (wolf watcher) called with the grizzly and yearling on the skyline south and west of Fisherman's Pullout viewed from Dorothy's Pullout. As I arrived Doug called saying they had gone out of sight. I stopped at Institute and found them on the skyline. They bedded for a while then stayed for fifteen minutes or so right on the skyline (I assume that being at the Institute allowed me just enough of an angle to watch them for about thirty minutes). At 9:00 a.m. in the clearing behind the east end of Jasper Bench a small blond grizzly came running down thru the clearing with a large grizzly following at a walk. The blond grizzly soon disappeared in the Amethyst Drainage but the large grizzly walked slowly then decided to graze and dig for about fifteen minutes. At 10:30 a.m. I was back above the confluence and found a large dark grizzly moving east on Norris. At 12:10 p.m. I found a grizzly with the Yellowstone Stripe digging just east of the Horizontal Forest in Slough Creek. After digging and a few rubs against a tree or two it moved off to the east. At 12:15 p.m. Randi M found a grizzly moving west above the Diagonal Forest. This was a dark grizzly and was out in view for almost thirty minutes. Around 3:15 p.m. coming back from our hike to the Slough Creek Campground we glassed the Sage Den. Three other gray wolves were around the den plus the un-collared gray. The light was terrible so we could not determine whether two of the wolves were collared. But one light almost white wolf and the female at the den were not collared. We watched all four travel east and out of sight. Later the un-collared female was seen back near the den. We did not see the three other wolves arrive so do not know if they bought any food for the un-collared gray. At 4:10 p.m. we had a grizzly on the second sliver opening near Ski Slope viewed from Coyote Overlook (probably the large grizzly following the blond grizzly from this morning). About 4:15 p.m. the black and gray collared Prospect Peak wolves were traveling west on Jasper Bench. The black had some meat in his mouth as he traveled. At 5:50 p.m. I spotted a black bear near the Yellowstone River Bridge. At 6:10 p.m. I found a black bear near the entrance to the one way Black tail Drive.
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People Seen
Wolf Watchers: From Montana: Josh A, Rick M, Doug M, Lizzie C, Alan and Sue O, Frank Y, and Bob and Elizabeth N. From California: Bob and Nell H. From Oklahoma: Robert and Pam W. From Colorado: Don G and daughter Vicky. From the UK: Alan and Kirsty P. From the Netherlands: Yort V. From Idaho: Kim and Joyce C. From Utah: Jerry and Julia C. and From Minnesota: Scott W. Bear watchers: From Montana: Ralph N and Jack G. From Idaho: Rob and Karen M. From Louisiana: Bruce P. From Washington: John G and Randi M. From Illinois: Wayne K. From Indiana: Jeff and Terri. From Ohio: Jim and Twyla E. From Mass: Ed S. From Vermont: John K. and From Colorado: Ed A. Others seen: From Montana: Lee H, Bob L, Linda T, Nathan V, and Cliff B. From Washington: Ed M. From Florida: Rick K. And finally and last from Utah: Bob B.
Yellowstone National Park
Lamar Valley Map - Yellowstone National Park
