Yellowstone National Park 2017 Trip Reports
Trip Report ~ Bear & Wildlife Sightings ~ by Bill Hamblin
02 through 09 October 2017 - Yellowstone National Park
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~ October 2017 ~
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Monday - October 2nd
I left around noon and made good time getting to the park. I had a high of 44 degrees today, but was 31 degrees crossing Dunraven Pass. At 3:45 p.m. I found a grizzly digging on the #1 clearing (the far south clearing) on the 10-4 clearings viewed from the new bathroom pullout south of Mae West in Antelope Creek. At 5:30 p.m. six black and two gray wolves the entire Junction Butte pack was south of Picnic Area. At 5:45 p.m. I spotted a grizzly in K Meadow viewed from Picnic Pullout. At 6:35 p.m. I was watching from Footbridge Pullout and was delighted to find a grizzly sow with two cubs of the year moving across K Meadow. I camped tonight just outside of Silver Gate, Montana.
Tuesday - October 3rd
27 degrees this morning with a light covering of snow on the roads warming up to a windy 44 degrees. I had a THREE DOG DAY today. At 7:20 a.m. the Junction Butte wolves were found near Crystal Rock viewing from the Slough Creek Restroom. I only saw four blacks and one gray, but all were seen by others. At 9:15 a.m. I found a grizzly digging in the Bowl viewed from Midpoint Pullout. He was out all day and I watched him several times during the day and I saw it at 6:00 p.m. From 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. the grizzly sow with two cubs of the year were back on K Meadow digging. At 1:20 p.m. I had a brief sighting of a grizzly below Druid Peak viewed from Picnic Pullout. At 6:10 p.m. we had a large dark grizzly moving west from the Chalcedony Fan. I camped outside of the park near Silver Gate tonight.
Wednesday - October 4th
22 degrees this morning with frost on the inside of the car this morning warming up to 55 degrees. The afternoon was stormy with low visibility on the higher clearings. At 6:55 a.m. I spotted a nice sized grizzly south of Midpoint Pullout moving east. At 8:30 a.m. we had a grizzly on K Meadow viewed from Picnic Area, this was spotted and called in by Jim B. At 10:45 a.m. the grizzly sow with two cubs of the year were again digging on K Meadow. At 6:50 p.m. I found a grizzly digging on the # 3 finger of Norris viewed first from Footbridge Pullout then from the Soda Butte East Pullout. I camped near Silver Gate again today.
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Thursday - October 5th
22 degrees this morning warming up to a nice 55 degrees. I spotted two foxes and a moose as I was coming in from the Northeast Entrance this morning. At 9:45 p.m. we had a large dark grizzly on the backside of Specimen Ridge just left of Gunsight viewed from Antelope Creek. AT 12:40 p.m. the grizzly sow with two cubs of the year were digging high and right of K Meadow and just to the right of the snow crevice. I watched them for quite a while disappearing from one small clearing and reappearing in another clearing. The last time I found them was 3:45 p.m. and they moved behind a large ridge and out of sight. I camped outside of the park near Silver Gate again tonight.
Friday - October 6th
26 degrees this morning warming up to a windy 46 degrees. At 7:05 a.m. all eight (6 black and 2 gray) Junction Butte wolves were moving east from south of the Institute. At 7:05 a.m. we had a grizzly also moving east from south of YES Pullout. At 8:50 a.m. I found a grizzly and later one cub of the year with it just right of Gunsight on the backside of Specimen Ridge viewed from Antelope Creek. The light looking on the backside of Specimen Ridge is horrible in the morning and I would not have found them except they were in a clearing and in a sunny spot. At 10:15 a.m. I viewed seven of the fourteen wolves of the Wapiti Lake wolf pack that had been in view west of Alum Creek bedded on a ridgeline. They had a new elk carcass much closer but were all the way beyond the telephone poles by the time I saw them. I heard that Quad Mom with her two cubs of the year had been out this morning and the last two days at Swan Lake Flats so I spent the last four hours of the day at Swan Lake Flats. No bears found. I camped outside the park north of Gardiner at La Duke tonight.
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Saturday - October 7th
52 degrees this morning warming up to a windy but nice 60 degrees. At first light I found four grizzlies digging in the good field north outside of the park. On the way out from the good field I had three more grizzlies including one of the two two year olds that were yearlings last year. I tried Swan Lake Flats again this morning with no sightings. Around 9:30 a.m. I was glassing from Upper Hellroaring Pullout and found five horses grazing there. I called this in to the Park Service and was delighted that Ed S from Massachusetts (bear jam ranger and Mt Washburn fire watcher) come to investigate. I assume they escaped from the outfitter way up Slough Creek, but the Park Service had no reports of missing horses. At 4:00 p.m. we had a large cinnamon black bear across the river from Lamar Canyon West Pullout. At 6:25 a.m. 6 black wolves and 1 gray wolf of the Junction Butte wolf pack came out south of the Institute (it was getting dark and assume all eight where there, just too dark to pick up the second gray). I camped outside the park near Silver Gate again tonight.
Sunday - October 8th
33 degrees this morning with light snow but warming up to 45 degrees I had a cow moose at Round Prairie on the way out of the park tonight. I also had a THREE DOG DAY today. At 7:20 a.m. Doug M (wolf watcher) showed me one of the two black wolves sighted earlier south and east of Footbridge Pullout. These were the Lamar Canyon wolves that still have just three wolves--926F, little t and small dot and they are all black. At 7:50 a.m. all eight of the Junction Butte wolves had just killed an elk just across the river south of Midpoint Pullout. At 11:20 a.m. I spotted a dark grizzly digging in the meadow just behind Bear Meadow. This grizzly was in sight the rest of the day; moving across Bear Meadow, then across No Bear Meadow and finally the last couple of hours was digging in the Bowl viewed from the Institute. At 11:40 a.m. I found a grizzly with one cub of the year moving east to west in a clearing even farther south than Bear Meadow. They were in sight for only ten minutes or so before disappearing near the skyline, I am sure they went over the ridge.
Monday - October 9th
21 degrees this morning warming up to a high of 52 degrees today. AT 8:15 a.m. all eight of the Junction Butte wolves were bedded this side of the Chalcedony fan. They eventually got up and moved east and into the trees. Bob and Nell H found them going up and out of sight high to the south around noon. I decided to head home, and had to go thru Mammoth as Dunraven Pass was still closed. Note: Dunraven Pass did close on Tuesday a.m.
People Seen
From Montana: Rick M, Doug M, Lizzie C, Peter and Mary M, Cara M, Bob and Elizabeth N, Melba C, Ilona P, Ken S, Cliff B, Evan S, Carl S, Leo L, Jeff and Lisa, Emil M, and Alan and Sue O. From Colorado: Steve and Robin M. From Oklahoma: Robert and Pam. From Louisiana: Bruce P. From Utah: Scott and Joann M, From Virginia: Dusty and Kathy. From Massachusetts: Ed S. From Wisconsin: Tyler B. From Indiana: Jeff and Terri. From Ohio: Jim and Twyla E, From Iowa: Jim and JoEllyn B. From California: Bob and Nell H. From the Netherlands: Jort V. From Kansas: Calvin J. From Washington: Bob and Kathy (old Tower Campground Hosts). From Wyoming: Larry and Linda H. From Vermont: John K. From Idaho: Rick E, and Jon and Karen E. From the UK: Alan and Kirsty P. and from Canada: John and Mary.
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