Yellowstone National Park 2021 Trip Reports
Trip Report ~ Bear & Wolf Sightings ~ by Bill Hamblin
29 May through 1 June 2021
Yellowstone National Park
~ May 2021 ~
Saturday - May 29th
29 degrees in Silver Gate this morning warming up to 65 degrees. I had a THREE DOG (fox, coyote, wolf) DAY today. At 6:10 a.m. Gary G found a light medium grizzly north of Boulder Pullout hunting elk calves. At 7:50 a.m. I found the two sub adult grizzlies on Ski Slope. They were in sight for a while then moved over the snow cornice and were in view for quite a while viewed best from Fisherman's and Lamar Canyon East Pullouts. At 8:40 a.m. Rita R found a large colorful grizzly on the skyline south of the Institute. At 1:00 p.m. one gray and one black wolf were seen near the Slough Creek den. At 8:00 p.m. a black bear was spotted low in K Meadow viewed from Footbridge Pullout.
Sunday - May 30th
29 degrees this morning in Silver Gate warming up to 73 degrees. I had a moose at Lower Barronette on the way back to camp tonight. I had a THREE DOG DAY today. At 6:45 a.m. I spotted a black bear in K Meadow viewed from Footbridge Pullout. At 8:00 a.m. I found a black bear grazing on the east flank of Ski Slope viewed from Coyote Overlook. At 8:30 a.m. a GPS collared black wolf and a black yearling wolf were seen south of Fisherman's Pullout. At 9:05 a.m. Richard and Rita found a courting pair of grizzlies in the Bowl viewed from the Institute. Good viewing for a while. At 1:30 p.m. they appeared in the big meadow above the east end of Jasper Bench for about 45 minutes. Tonight at 5:45 p.m. they were on the backside of Specimen Ridge (above the snow cornice) viewed from Lamar Canyon East. At 4:00 p.m. a gray collared and a black un collared wolf plus four gray and two black pups were seen at the Slough Creek den. At 8:00 p.m. I spotted a black bear sow with two brown cubs of the year (coys) on the # 3 finger on Norris.
Monday - May 31st
30 degrees this morning in Silver Gate warming up to 70 degrees. I viewed a blue heron flying over Slough Creek this afternoon. I had a THREE DOG DAY today. At 5:40 a.m. Randi M found a black bear in a clearing this side of Bear Meadow viewed from the Institute. Only a brief sighting as it moved behind a group of trees but came out again for good viewing. At 5:50 a.m. Richard and Rita found a small colorful grizzly digging north of Coyote Overlook. At 7:15 a.m. Randi M found a grizzly bear digging high north of Hubbard Hill. At 7:50 a.m. Richard and Rita R found a small colorful grizzly north of Trashcan Pullout in the Inverted Triangle Clearing. At 8:00 a.m. John G found the grizzly sow with two coys (cub of the year) on K-3 (way south of K-2 Meadow). We had not seen that grizzly family in almost two weeks. Mom did stop to nurse them in a snowbank then back to digging for the sow and more playing in the snow for the cubs. At 8:30 a.m. we had a pretty cinnamon black bear in Penny Lane viewed from Hitching Post (most of the crowd thought it was a grizzly, but it was not). At 9:00 a.m. we watched a small grizzly leaving an elk calf kill north of Coyote Overlook. At 9:15 a.m. I found the two 3 1/2-year-old Slough Creek sub adults north of the pullouts of Dorothy's and Coyote. At 10:30 a.m. the grizzly sow with two coys was spotted on Specimen Ridge viewed from the pullout on the south of the road west of Long Pullout. The family was in and out of view most of the rest of the day with cars off the road all along Straightaway. At 3:00 p.m. we had a black un-collared wolf near the Slough Creek Den. At 5:30 p.m. two gray adult wolves with four gray and two black pups were seen near the Slough Creek Den. The count on the pups is still five gray and three black. At 6:45 p.m. a black bear sow with one black and one brown coy caused a bear jam at Lamar Canyon East.
~ June 2021 ~
Tuesday - June 1st
34 degrees this morning warming up to a warm 73 degrees. At 5:40 a.m. I found a grizzly digging north between Dorothy’s and Coyote Pullouts. At 6:25 a.m. John G found the courting pair in the Bowl viewed from Hubbard Hill. Good viewing as lots of people got to see them. At 6:30 a.m. we heard howling south from Hubbard Hill and John G found three black and two gray Junction Butte wolves south of Hubbard Hill. They were moving slow today and lots and lots of people got to see them. The final court of five blacks and two grays as they disappeared in the Lamar River corridor heading south. At 6:50 a.m. Hayden and Doug G showed me the grizzly sow with two coys on Specimen Ridge viewed from Coyote Overlook. They were in sight from Slough Creek for a long time and were out again this evening. At 8:00 a.m. Richard and Rita made the spot of the day by finding the two 2 ½ year old sub adults high on the Snow Cornice from Footbridge Pullout. Brief sightings mainly visible when playing and crossing the snow patches. At 9:20 a.m. a bear jam with one black bear at Phantom Lake. At 12:45 p.m. the same bear jam with the same black bear except she had brought out two coys. At 3:15 p.m. a cinnamon black bear was seen on # 3 finger on Norris. At 4:00 p.m. the two Slough Creek 3 ½ year-old sub adults were seen briefly north of Coyote Overlook (they were out this morning, but I missed them then).
People Seen
Wolf Watchers: From Montana: Doug M, Dan and Laurie L, Ron and Linda, Rick M, and Taylor B. From New York: Rick and Maureen B. From Mississippi: Gary and Ryan G. From Oregon: Bruce and Kelly H. From Florida: Ray and Lynn M. From California: Kathie L. From Colorado: Mark and Carol R. From Vermont: Joann H. And from Idaho: Ray L and Kathy. Bear Watchers seen this report: From Louisiana: Bruce P. From Washington: John G and Randi M. From Montana: David B and Doug M. From Wyoming: Richard and Rita R. From Missouri: Don and Carol L. From Utah: Ed and Sarah S, Kevin and Rosie N, Mark and Liz H, Doug and Hayden G, and Kevin and Pam A. From Idaho: Blake and Rachel M and Jennings and Carma S. From Colorado: Rick and Tanner H. And from Illinois: Mike G. Others seen this report: From Montana: MacNeil L, Shauna B, Bob L, Pete B, Claire L, Audra C, Chris H, Evan S, Emil M, Josh, Alan and Sue O, Ken S, Steve B, and Tonya M. From Colorado: Jim and Bobbie F. From Iowa: Bob A and Steve S. From Mass: Ed S. From Vermont: John K and Beth. From the Netherlands: Jort V. From Arizona: David and Phyllis. And from Wyoming: Ross G.
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