Yellowstone National Park 2021 Trip Reports

Trip Report ~ Bear & Wolf Sightings ~ by Bill Hamblin

25 through 28 May 2021
Yellowstone National Park

~ May 2021 ~

Tuesday - May 25th

37 degrees in Silver Gate this morning warming up to 60 degrees. I had a cow moose at Warm Springs on the way back to camp tonight. I had a THREE DOG DAY today. At 5:55 a.m. Bruce P found a cinnamon black bear on the # 2 finger on Norris. At 6:05 a.m. Randi M found a small grizzly in No Bear Meadow viewed from the Institute. At 6:20 a.m. John G found the two Slough Creek sub adult grizzlies north of Dorothy's Pullout viewed from Hubbard Hill. At 7:00 a.m. the grizzly sow with two yearlings were fifty yards off the road between Confluence and Hitching Post. Quite the bear jam but they eventually crossed to the road to the north and went out of sight. At 8:00 a.m. Rita R found the grizzly sow with two cubs of the year (coys) high on the rocks of Specimen Ridge. In view for quite a while this morning and back in view at 3:15 p.m. and 5:15 p.m. tonight. At 9:00 a.m. John G found a courting pair of grizzlies in the Bowl viewed from Hubbard Hill. At 9;20 a.m. I found what we believe is the Middle Ridge grizzly sow with two coys high near the skyline above Bear Meadow viewed from the Institute. At 10:15 a.m. we had a black wolf traveling east northeast of Midpoint Pullout. At 11:00 p.m. Rita R found a grizzly southeast of Footbridge in a small clearing digging. After a while it bedded for over thirty minutes before waking up and going out of sight. At 12:00 a.m. Rita R found a courting pair on the backside (above the snow cornice) of Ski Slope from Lamar Canyon East Pullout. At 2:00 p.m. two gray and one black adult wolves plus two gray and one black puppy were in view at the Slough Creek den area. At 4:00 p.m. Gary G called with fifteen wolves harassing a herd of bison in the Slough Creek bottoms. After a while, the ten black and five gray Junction Butte wolves moved west and out of sight on a hunt. At 5:30 p.m. we had two 2 1/2-year-old sub adults on ski slope. Someone had watched the courting pair run off two sub adults yesterday. So not really sure what is going on. The first and most likely story is that the grizzly sow with two yearlings we have been watching on and off for two weeks were really a grizzly sow with two two-year olds. Or perhaps a new family arrived around Ski Slope with two two-year-olds. The sow that we were sure had two yearling matches the size of yearlings, but maybe the sow is extra-large and the yearlings small or maybe both females. They appear to be half the size of the sow just like the grizzly sow with two yearlings that has been seen in Soda Butte Valley and near Hitching Post. At 6:20 p.m. I spotted a large grizzly traveling south in Calfee viewed from Picnic Pullout.

Wednesday - May 26th

37 degrees this morning in Silver Gate warming up to 52 degrees. I had a moose at Pebble Creek Campground tonight on the way back to camp. I had a THREE DOG DAY today. At 6:30 a.m. John G had a small grizzly digging north of Hubbard Hill. At 6:35 a.m. John G found a courting pair of grizzlies high on Ski Slope viewed from Hubbard Hill. Also, at 6:35 a.m. Randi M found the two 2 1/2-year-old sub adults on a rock formation very interested in watching the courting pair of grizzlies. We all assumed that they were watching their mom and her new boyfriend. At 7:30 a.m. we had a large grizzly on Penny Lane viewed from the Confluence. At 7:40 a.m. we watched a dark grizzly north of Picnic Area digging. At 8:00 a.m. Shauna B found the 3 1/2-year-old Slough Creek sub adults north of Coyote Overlook at about 300 yards. At 9:00 a.m. Quinn H found the grizzly sow with two coys on Specimen Ridge high in the rocks. At 10:30 a.m. I found the grizzly sow (Middle Ridge family) with two coys in No Bear Meadow. Long spot but nice viewing for quite a while and were still in sight at 1:45 p.m. At 11:00 a.m. Bruce P and Wendy B found the grizzly sow with two yearlings northeast of Footbridge Pullout. After a while they crossed the road thru all the cars from north to south. At 3:30 p.m. a black wolf bedded near the Slough Creek den.

Thursday - May 27th

29 degrees in Lamar Valley this morning warming up to a pleasant 65 degrees. We found our first new mountain goat kid today. Two moose northeast of Soda Butte East Pullout this morning. A large bull moose seen tonight near Pebble Creek Campground. I had a THREE DOG DAY today. At 6:10 a.m. I found a courting pair of grizzlies on the skyline in The Bowl viewed from Picnic Pullout. At 6:15 a.m. Mike S found a courting pair of grizzlies on Penny Lane viewed from the Confluence. At 6:20 a.m. Mike S found a large grizzly sitting on Norris viewed from the Confluence. At 7:30 a.m. I found the grizzly sow with two coys (Middle Ridge family) again in Bear Meadow. Good viewing for about two hours. At 8:30 a.m. Richard and Rita found another courting pair of grizzlies’ high straight south of the Institute on the skyline viewed from the Institute. At 8:35 a.m. John G found a large dark grizzly walking up hill in Bear Meadow. He proceeded to the skyline and moved west passing high above the grizzly family in No Bear Meadow. At 9;30 a.m. Rita R found a medium colorful grizzly in The Bowl running around near the skyline. At 10:00 a.m. two gray and one black adult wolves were seen near a bison yearling carcass (we guessed) southwest of the Confluence. At 1;00 p.m. Richard and Rita R found a black bear sow with two black coys on the west end of K Meadow. Tonight, I found them again on K Meadow but low on the east end running across the meadow to the south. At 1:30 p.m. we had a nice black bear in the tree line behind the eastern end of Jasper Bench viewed from the Institute. At 2:45 p.m. Randi M found the 3 1/2-year-old sub adults high north of Coyote Overlook viewed from Long Pullout in Little America (note: Richard and Rita had seen the pair earlier and their directions helped Randi find them this afternoon). At 4:20 p.m. I found a black bear sow with two cinnamon yearling cubs on #3 finger on Norris. At 4:25 p.m. I found a large cinnamon black bear on the #2 finger on Norris. At 5:35 p.m. one black adult and one black puppy were seen near the Slough Creek den. At 5:50 p.m. I found a bunch of cars stopped at the straightaway in Little America. The grizzly sow with two coys was in a high meadow under a large snow patch on the west end of Specimen Ridge digging. Also, at the same time the people were watching a black bear sow with one black and one brown coy in the tree line south in Little America.

Friday - May 28th

33 degrees in Silver Gate this morning warming up to 67 degrees but cooler in late afternoon when a storm moved thru the valley. I had a blue heron flying in Slough Creek this afternoon. At 5:15 a.m. Randi M found a black bear low on the west side of A-Z Meadow. At 5:45 a.m. John G found a grizzly on the west side of Druid Peak from the Institute and John G had it in the same spot this afternoon. At 6:05 a.m. John G found a courting pair of grizzlies on the skyline south of the Institute. The sow was leading the boar around the bare ridges and thru the snow and at 2:20 p.m. they were in view again in the same spot. At 6:10 a.m. I found the grizzly sow with two coys in a meadow to the back and east of Bear Meadow. They were in sight for a while and later seen in the Bell clearing. This afternoon the family had returned to the original meadow again. At 6:30 a.m. Rick and Tanner H found a large dark grizzly just south of Hitching Post viewed from Footbridge Pullout. It took its time crossing the sagebrush field then climbed the hill just east of Dead Puppy Hill and finally showing up on a lower clearing on Norris viewed from the Confluence. At 8:10 a.m. Randi M found a medium sized grizzly high just east of the top of Ski Slope viewed from Footbridge. It was on the skyline then went down the cliffs and finally returned to the skyline and moved west over and out of sight. At 8:25 a.m. Cody K found a small grizzly in the rock formation just east of Sky Slope. It turned out to be one of the 2 1/2-year-old sub adults viewed from Picnic Pullout. At 9:10 a.m. six wolves were seen near the Old Druid Rendezvous area (my count was five blacks and one gray from Coyote Overlook, but others were closer and counted four blacks and two grays). At 9:30 a.m. the grizzly sow with two coys were seen again on the western end of Specimen Ridge near the skyline viewed from Peregrine Pullout just west of Straightaway pullout. At 1:30 p.m. Richard and Rita told me that the two 2 1/2-year-old sub adults were in view. I found them on the backside above the snow cornice on Ski Slope. Since I only saw one of the two this morning, I watched them for a couple of hours just digging. At 6:00 p.m. I glassed from Lamar Canyon East, and both were still in sight from there. At 1:35 a.m. I found the black bear sow with one black and one brown coy south of Fisherman's Pullout. They were in view for over an hour. At 3:50 p.m. I found a cinnamon black bear in a small clearing this side of A-Z Meadow. At 3:55 p.m. we had a large black bear in the large clearing behind Jasper Bench viewed from Coyote Overlook. At 5:30 p.m. two gray and two black adult wolves and two gray and two black puppies were seen in the Slough Creek den area. At 6:20 p.m. I found a grizzly sow with two yearlings on Calfee viewed from Trashcan Pullout.

People Seen

Wolf Watchers: From Montana: Doug M, Dan and Laurie L, Taylor B, Jeremy S, Wendy B and Rick M. From Vermont: Don P. From California: Kathie L. From Missouri: Frank H. From Idaho: Ray L and Kathy. From Mississippi: Gary G and son Ryan. From New York: Rick and Maureen B. From Colorado: Dale and Faye B and Mark and Carol R. From South Dakota: Sam and Ginny G. And from Oregon: Bruce and Kelly H. Bear Watchers seen this report: From Washington: John G, and Randi M. From Louisiana: Bruce P. From Wyoming: Richard and Rita R. From Kansas: Richard and Sandy B. From Missouri: Don and Carol L. From Montana: Margaret L, Doug M and David B. From Iowa: Steve S and Bob A. From Utah: Ed S. Others seen this report: From Montana: Audra C, Steve B, Cara M, Will S, Shauna B, Bob L, Claire L, Chris H, Quinn H, MacNeil L, Linda C, Emil M and Cliff B. From Vermont: John K and Beth.; From Mass: Ed S. From Arizona: David and Phyllis. From Colorado: Jim and Bobbie F. From Missouri: Fred and Linda. From Idaho: Cody K. I also saw Peter M today from years ago on the Wolf Project.

Yellowstone National Park

Lamar Valley Map - Yellowstone National Park