Yellowstone National Park 2022 Trip Reports

Trip Report ~ Bear & Wolf Sightings ~ by Bill Hamblin

2nd through 5th April 2022
Yellowstone National Park

~ April 2022 ~

Saturday - April 2nd

35 degrees in Gardiner this morning with afternoon showers warming up to 54 degrees. I had a golden eagle flying overhead at the Nature Trail today. At 8:30 a.m. we viewed twelve of the Junction Butte wolves around the Slough Creek den. They poked their heads into the Natal Den and the Sage Den before traveling north over the hill and out of sight. One wolf saw a cow elk and chased briefly before giving up and joining its pack members going out of sight. At 2:30 p.m. I found a black bear sleeping near the Fish Den on Garnett Hill viewed from Elk Creek. Lots of bison moving up the valleys in the Northern Range now. The bison population is at a pretty high number compared to previous years.

Sunday - April 3rd

27 degrees in Gardiner this morning warming up to 50 degrees out in the park. I found my first redtail hawk this morning and by the end of the day had five. At 7:30 a.m. I watched the last three of twelve Junction Butte wolves traveling east towards the Slough Creek Campground from the den area. I viewed two blacks and one gray, people who arrived before me had a count of seven blacks and five grays this morning. At 2:40 till 3:20 p.m. I watched a grizzly digging on Amethyst Bench viewed from the Institute. The grizzly then traveled west crossing the Amethyst Drainage then up on Jasper Bench ending up south of Lamar Canyon east by 5:30 p.m.

Monday - April 4th

37 degrees this morning in Gardiner warming up to 42 degrees. Today was a day of storms moving through the park. Clear early in the morning then rain and snow blowing through making visibility a problem most of the day. At 6:15 a.m. a grizzly was on a yearling bison carcass in the close pond at Blacktail Ponds. This is a yearling bison that fell into the pond and drowned two days ago. The grizzly then traveled to an older carcass that had frozen into one of the back ponds last October. Then the grizzly returned to the close carcass no more than sixty-five yards from the road and tourists and photographers. The bear eventually slowly traveled north and up and over the hill and out of sight. I had my first kestrel this morning in Lamar Canyon.

Tuesday - April 5th

30 degrees in Gardiner this morning with cold winds all day warming up to 34 degrees. Several flocks of common redpolls flying around Slough Creek this morning, I had a golden eagle flying over Hellroaring this morning. I have noticed a lot of ravens have colored markings on their legs and taped to their back’s little antennas. A big raven study going on in Yellowstone. At 6:00 a.m. the grizzly was back on the fresh yearling bison carcass at Blacktail Ponds. I heard that the grizzly had come to the carcass late last evening and probably spent the night on the carcass. The grizzly had moved the carcass about thirty yards further away from the road. As I passed by the ponds tonight at 5:45 p.m. the grizzly was starting to return to the carcass from the hill to the north. At 8:05 a.m. Rick M found 907F of the Junction Butte pack in the Lion Meadow at Slough Creek heading up to the den area. She went into the Sage Den and soon came out and appeared to be howling and then back into the den she went. Peter from Oregon saw her come out of the Sage Den around 1:00 p.m. and bedding up under the trees. He said she would lift her head every once in a while, appearing to howl. At 2:20 p.m. a black wolf came to meet up with 907F. The black checked out the Sage Den and then went up hill and checked out the Natal Den.

People Seen

Wolf Watchers: From Montana: Melba C, Ilona P, Rick M, Doug M, and Joe K. From California: Bill W. From Oregon: David and Stephanie O. Bear Watchers seen this report: From Louisiana: Bruce P. From Montana: Jeff B and Kathy M. Others seen this report: From Montana: Michael S, MacNeil L, Cliff B, Carl S, Linda C, Linda K, Grant J, Nathan V, Steve B, Mike K, Evan S and Chris H. From the Netherlands: Jort V. And from Wyoming: Kevin M.

Yellowstone National Park

Lamar Valley Map - Yellowstone National Park