Yellowstone National Park 2017 Trip Reports
Trip Report ~ Bear & Wolf Sightings ~ by Bill Hamblin
28 through 31 May 2017
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~ May 2017 ~
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Sunday - May 28th
I camped this entire trip near Silver Gate, Montana. 29 degrees this morning warming up to 64 degrees. I viewed the Great Horned Owl nest at Calcite this morning. Two trumpeter swans and two pelicans in Hayden Valley this morning. I found a badger at the confluence today and one moose in down town Silver Gate. Late this afternoon a cow moose and last year’s calf were near Soda Butte East. At 5:35 a.m. five black and two gray wolves of the Junction Butte pack were seen south of Picnic traveling to the east. At 5:50 a.m. I spotted a large grizzly on the sky line north of Picnic area, a brief sighting as it walked over the ridge and out of sight. At 6:30 a.m. we had a courting pair of grizzlies in the Bowl viewed from the Institute. At 6:40 a.m. John G found a light grizzly digging north of the Institute. At 6:45 a.m. Randi M found a black bear in a clearing north of the Institute. At 9:10 a.m. I went to Hayden Valley and found a courting pair of grizzlies in Alum Creek back from the telephone lines. At 4:10 p.m. we had a large grizzly walking west near the Chalcedony Fan. I moved to Picnic Pullout and it continued past close to the tree line still heading to the west. At 5:15 p.m. we watched a grizzly sow and yearling on Junction Butte. At 5:35 p.m. Richard and Rita R found a small light colored grizzly digging north of the Diagonal Forest in Slough Creek viewed from Boulder Pullout. At 8:00 p.m. three black and one gray wolf of the Junction Butte wolf pack were spotted going south thru the K Meadow viewed from Trash Can Pullout. At 8:05 p.m. my last signting for the day was a courting pair of grizzlies on Calfee Hill viewed from Trash Can Pullout.
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Monday - May 29th - Memorial Day
31 degrees in the morning warming up to a nice 73 degrees. The resident Trumpeter Swan flew thru the valley this morning. At 5:35 a.m. John G found a small dark grizzly in the Salad Bowl viewed from Coyote Overlook. It appeared to walk onto something small and laid down out of sight raising its head to look around every once in a while. At 5:50 a.m. John G found a small light grizzly north of Coyote Overlook hunting for elk calves. At 6:30 a.m. I found a nice sized grizzly on the # 2 finger of Norris. Randi M arrived and then found a small silver/blond grizzly being chased by the nice sized grizzly I had found. The small silver/blond grizzly ran away and we found it running on # 1 finger of Norris. At 6:40 a.m. wolf 926F returned from the south and crossed the bridge at Footbridge and then the road heading back to the den area. At 7:30 a.m. an un-collared black wolf also from the Lamar Canyon Pack made a crossing of the creek and road east of Footbridge Pullout. At 8:10 a.m. Richard and Rita R found five black and two gray wolves of the Junction Butte pack on Salad Bowl viewed from both Dorothy's and Coyote Overlooks. At 9:40 a.m. Richard and Rita R spotted a grizzly high north of Slough Creek viewed from Boulder Pullout. At 10:40 a.m. the grizzly sow and yearling were 125 yards off the road between the trail head to Specimen and the Yellowstone Picnic Area. They were in a pool of water cooling off. At 6:55 p.m. I found two bedded gray wolves near the eastern trees in the Slough Den Area. Around 8:00 p.m. Rick and Maureen B found the Junction Butte wolves on Jasper Bench viewed from Dorothy's Knoll. They came down almost to the Lamar River then tried to find an elk calf in the trees this side of Jasper Bench. A cow elk was distracting them and chased them away and was chased by the wolves in turn. We headed for the campsite with the wolves still not finding to calf or killing the cow. I had a three wolf pack day today: Lamar Canyon, Prospect Peak and Junction Butte packs.
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Tuesday - May 30th
32 degrees this morning warming up to the low 70's. At 5:40 a.m. I spotted a courting pair of grizzlies in the Bowl viewed from Coyote Overlook. At 6:10 a.m. Randi M found a cinnamon black bear under Penny Lane viewed from Footbridge Pullout. At 6:30 a.m. Richard and Rita found the grizzly sow and one yearling on Druid Peak from Trash Can Pullout. At 6:35 a.m. Bonnie from the Wild Side found five black and two gray wolves of the Junction Butte pack in the sagebrush south and east from Trash Can Pullout. At 7:15 a.m. we were glassing from Slough Creek Restroom when I found the courting pair from earlier that had been in the Bowl on the sky line. At the same time Richard and Rita R found a second set of courting grizzles on the sky line just west of my courting pair. Good viewing as they moved around and one set mated for about fifteen minutes. At 7:40 a.m. two separate wolves came to the Slough Creek den area from the north. At 7:50 a.m. two other gray wolves were seen bedded in the eastern trees. At 8:10 a.m. John G found the grizzly sow and yearling on Specimen Ridge viewed from the Slough Creek Restroom. This family had crossed the road yesterday from Junction Butte and are now on the south side of the road. At 9:50 a.m. 964M of the Prospect Peak wolf pack returned to the den area at Slough Creek bringing back a large piece of meat. At 4:00 p.m. a gentleman named Tom showed me a grizzly sow with two cubs of the year (coys) on finger # 4 of Norris from Soda Butte East Pullout. My first coys between Tower Junction and Pebble Creek. At 4:20 p.m. we had a black bear sow with two black yearlings on finger # 2 of Norris. At 5:30 p.m. at least five black wolver and one gray wolf were seen south and east of Trashcan Pullout. At 6:30 p.m. the courting pair from this morning were out again in the large meadow behind the east end of Jasper Bench. At 7:45 p.m. we had the sow and yearling out again on Specimen Ridge. At 8:30 p.m. the sow and two coys were in view again, this time they were on finger # 3 on Norris.
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Wednesday - May 31st
35 degrees this morning warming to a nice 72 degrees. I hiked Trout and Buck Lakes today with John G, Randi M, and Rick and Maureen B. At 5:30 a.m. Randi M found a nice sized dark grizzly on Ski Slope. It wandered around and finally disappeared over the top of Ski Slope. At 5:35 a.m. John G found a light colored grizzly in the big meadow behind the east end of Jasper Bench. At 5:40 p.m. John G found a dark grizzly tracing the path of the light grizzly. It turned out to be a courting pair of grizzlies. At 7:45 a.m. the grizzly sow with one yearling were on Specimen Ridge viewed from the Slough Creek Restroom. At 8:00 a.m. the silver/blond two year old grizzly was seen near the den at Slough Creek. The adult wolves were gone this morning, and a grizzly just walked thru the den area. At 8:10 a.m. three gray wolf puppies moved thru the den area. At 9:30 a.m. we had a courting pair of grizzlies on Calfee viewed from Trashcan. At 9:40 a.m. we watched a third grizzly on Calfee just digging and grazing a couple hundred yards from the courting pair. At 9:50 a.m. I spotted the grizzly sow with yearling high on the skyline north of Picnic Pullout. At 10:15 a.m. we noticed that the grizzly sow with two coys had moved to the # 2 finger on Norris. I viewed them again at 1:00 p.m., 2:00 p.m., 4:00 p.m. and 8:15 p.m. -- they never moved more than 100 yards all day. At 10:30 a.m. the black bear sow with two black yearlings had moved to the # 3 finger on Norris. At 1:15 p.m. we saw a cinnamon black bear near Buck Lake on our hike today. At 6:30 p.m. two gray adult wolves were bedded near the Slough Creek den area. At 8:40 p.m. my last sighting for this report was a cinnamon sow black bear with a dark blond yearling cub that was above the Soda Butte Picnic Area.
People Seen
Wolf Watchers: From Montana: Rick M, Doug M, Laurie L, Amy T, and Lizzie C. From California: Bob and Nell H. From Iowa: Jim and Joellyn B. From Missouri: Don and Carol L. From New York: Rick and Maureen B. From Idaho: Rick E. From Utah: Jerry and Julia C. From Colorado: Terri S, Steve M, and Rick and Lynn. Bear Watchers: From Washington: John G, and Randi M, From Wyoming: Richard and Rita R. From Louisiana: Bruce P. From South Carolina: Jean S and Margaret P. From Missouri: Fred and Linda. From Utah: Kevin and Pam, and Ed, Sara, and Anna S. From Idaho: Carma and Jennings S, and Jon and Karen E. From Wisconsin: Tyler B. From Colorado: Don and Shirley. Others seen this report: From Montana: Emil, Nathan V, Linda T, MacNeil L, Evan S, Cara M, and Bob L. From Colorado: Jim and Bobbie.
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