Yellowstone National Park 2017 Trip Reports
Trip Report ~ Bear & Wildlife Sightings ~ by Bill Hamblin
02 through 05 July 2017 - Yellowstone National Park
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~ July 2017 ~
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I camped outside of Silver Gate the first night of this trip, then at Pebble Creek Campground the last two nights of this trip.
Sunday - July 2nd
It was a warm 61 degrees this morning in Idaho Falls but a cool 35 degrees in Lamar Valley warming up to a nice 78 degrees. I left Idaho Falls just after 2:00 a.m. making great time I arrived in Lamar Valley before 6:00 a.m. Near Tower Store I found a mule deer with twin fawns just off the road. A little later I found a cow moose at Soda Butte Creek. When I went back to Silver Gate at 9:15 p.m. I had three otters crossing the road from south to north just west of Trout Lake Parking Lot. At 5:45 a.m. Doug M (wolf watcher) showed me a nice sized grizzly with a Yellowstone Stripe digging on the top of A-Z Meadow. At 6:00 a.m. I spotted a small colorful grizzly digging in the Bowl viewed from the Institute. I had been hearing about a grizzly sow with two coys on Norris, and at 6:10 a.m. stopping at the Confluence I found them above the rock formation on Norris. During the afternoon we had clouds move in and a few small storms moved thru the area. So at 2:30 p.m. and again at 8:00 p.m. I got to watch the grizzly sow with two cubs of the year (coys) again from the Confluence Lot. They were back a little bit south which prevented watching them from either Hitching Post or Footbridge Pullouts. At 6:25 a.m. I found a large dark grizzly digging in the second meadow east of Penny Lane viewed from Footbridge Pullout. At 7:15 a.m. from the Footbridge Pullout I found a light grizzly with one cub of the year right of the large snow cornice sky line south and west of Footbridge. They disappeared after twenty minutes or so, but I watched them again at 9:00 a.m. and at 8:30 p.m. again from Footbridge Pullout. At 8:50 p.m. we had a small colorful grizzly in a clearing south and east of K2 viewed from Footbridge Pullout. At 9:00 p.m. a black bear with two small black cubs of the year were in a clearing below the # 1 finger on Norris viewed from Footbridge Pullout.
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Monday - July 3rd
42 degrees this morning warming up to a hot 85 degrees. At 5:40 a.m. I starte the day with a small grizzly on the west end of Penny Lane viewed from the Confluence. This grizzly was in some deep grass and it looked like the grizzly sow from yesterday morning. By 7:30 a.m. that grizzly was on the east end of Penny Lane and was the sow with two cubs of the year. At 5:25 p.m. they were on the high south end of Penny Lane viewed from the Confluence. And at 7:30 p.m. the sow and two cubs of the year were back on Norris moving south. I'm afraid that was the last time I got to watch that grizzly family. At 8:35 a.m. thru 9:30 a.m. a small colorful grizzly was digging in K2 Meadow viewed from Footbridge Pullout. At 5:00 p.m. this grizzly was in sight again still in K-2 Meadow. At 9:40 a.m. we had a large black bear in the bottom of Penny Lane viewed from Footbridge Pullout. At 9:50 a.m. we watched a black bear in a clearing south of # 1 finger of Norris viewed from Footbridge Pullout. At 4:30 p.m. we had a cinnamon boar and black sow were moving around in a small clearing below A-Z Meadow above Jasper Bench. Others had seen a third smaller black bear believed to be the sow's yearling cub. At 6:15 p.m. my last bear sighting for the day was a small colorful grizzly digging in the deadfall clearing behind and south of Ski Slope. This grizzly was in view for over one hour.
Tuesday - July 4th
44 degrees this morning warming up to a hot 87 degrees. The osprey nest in Lamar Canyon has two chicks this year. The red tailed hawk nest across from Lamar Canyon East Pullout still has the one chick. At 5:45 a.m. I started my day with a nice sized grizzly digging in the K Meadow viewed from Footbridge Pullout and later from Confluence East Pullout. At 6:00 a.m. all four of the Lamar Canyon wolves were above the new growth forest west of Dead Puppy Hill viewed from the Confluence East Pullout. At 6:50 a.m. we had a size grizzly digging in the Bowl viewed from the Institute. This grizzly moved west over the hill and we watched it from Coyote Overlook for a long time digging in A-Z Meadow. The grass is really getting tall now; several times we lost the nice size grizzly in the meadow, with the grass being higher than the grizzly. At 6:55 a.m. a black bear crossed the lower part of A-Z Meadow. At 7:30 a.m. we had another black bear low on A-Z Meadow. At 4:55 p.m. we watched three black bears low in the Salad Bowl. On this sighting all three were black in color. The large two got together for a twenty minute mating while the smaller of the three grazed 100 yards away.
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Wednesday - July 5th
It was 46 degrees this morning and I made it a real short morning before heading home. At 5:50 a.m. a couple from Oregon, friends of Doug M (wolf watcher), pointed out a grizzly sow with one cub of the year in the last large clearing south of Ski Slope viewed from Coyote Overlook. At 6:00 a.m. all seven of the Junction Butte wolf pack appeared just west of Jasper Bench and over the next hour slowly moved east passing Amethyst Bench as I headed for home. At 6:30 a.m. my last bear sighting for this trip as a black bear on the east end of A-Z Meadow.
People Seen
Wolf Watchers: From Montana: Rick M, Doug M, Laurie L, and Ilona P. From New York: Wendy B. From California: Dorothy D. And from Ohio: Linda G. Others seen this trip: From Montana: Emil M, Carl S, Cliff B, Rick E, MacNeil L, Bonnie, Dan and Cindy H, and Evan S. From Vermont: John K. From California: Bill W. From Pennsylvania: Ray and Darlene R. And from the Netherlands: Yort V.
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Yellowstone National Park
Lamar Valley Map - Yellowstone National Park
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| Yellowstone Geyser and Thermal Videos | |
|---|---|
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| Beehive Geyser Eruption Two | Pocket Basin |
| Fan and Mortar | Roaring Mountain |
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| Yellowstone Waterfall Videos | ||
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| Gardiner, Montana | West Yellowstone, Montana |
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