Yellowstone National Park 2022 Trip Reports

Trip Report ~ Bear & Wolf Sightings ~ by Bill Hamblin

26th through 29th April 2022
Yellowstone National Park

~ April 2022 ~

Tuesday - April 26th

38 degrees in Gardiner this morning warming up to 58 degrees. I had a golden eagle today and two vultures. At 6:30 a.m. I found five wolves in Lamar Valley trying to take down a bison cow (1048M, two blacks and two grays). They were not successful as the cow made it back to the bison herd. At 7:45 a.m. I found a large brown grizzly north and between the pullouts of Dorothy's and Coyote. Digging the whole time, we watched him for over forty minutes. At 8:30 a.m. MacNeil L called with a grizzly north of Coyote Overlook. Neither him nor I could see each other's grizzly. I went to Coyote, and he had a medium sized dark grizzly milling around and in view for over thirty minutes. The grizzly must be shedding and getting his summer fur on because the back half appeared to have given a crew cut, while the front half was noticeably thicker. At 10:20 a.m. I found a black bear grazing east of the Horizontal Forest in Slough Creek. At 11:00 a.m. an uncollared gray wolf was sitting and howling just east of Jasper Bench viewed from Coyote Overlook. At 11:30 a.m. Grant J called with a grizzly north and east of Footbridge Pullout. This grizzly was right below a stand of trees and spent forty minutes or so in sight digging with his back turned towards us. At 12:20 p.m. two sub adult grizzlies were south of Mid-Point Pullout digging near and then in the trees (these were 3.5 year-old sub adults). We had watched them with their sow last spring in the same place and later viewed the two together having been thrown out by the sow. Good viewing for about forty minutes and they had been out for up to an hour before we noticed them. The sub adults moved into the trees and out of sight. Then a large grizzly came into the area. Unconcerned about the smaller grizzlies he very slowly moved across Amethyst Bench moving east. In no hurry he sat down for a few minutes three or four times on his easterly move. At 5:30 p.m. I saw a gray uncollared Rescue Creek member near an unseen carcass at Elk Creek. It was a bison carcass and they moved out of sight as they fed on it. Others had seen up to seven other wolves in the area including the black wolf that has a very back broken leg, hopping around on three legs.

Wednesday - April 27th

38 degrees in Gardiner this morning but 28 degrees at Slough creek warming up to 56 degrees with afternoon rain on and off that bought some low visibility. I had three vultures today. I had a THREE DOG DAY today. We had an Air Force C-130 (I think) fly low through Slough Creek this morning. Low enough to get a couple of wolves to look up at the plane passing by. I passed by the Slough Creek den several times today and my big count was four blacks and one gray. At one time I watched two black wolves enter the sage den and stay about five minutes until they came out. The wolf watchers had a couple more than my count. At 6:15 a.m. Rick M found a nice sized grizzly low across the Lamar River in Crystal Drainage viewed from Crystal Pullout. When I arrived, the grizzly was in sight from Slough Creek moving to the east. At 6:40 a.m. Kevin M found a grizzly northeast of Footbridge Pullout in about the same place as it was yesterday. Only fifteen minutes of viewing this morning before it went out of sight into the trees. At 9:15 a.m. I returned to Slough Creek finding out from Frank H that a grizzly had been digging for over an hour in the Lion Meadow below the Slough Creek den. Of course, the grizzly was out of sight when I arrived but reappeared above the Horizontal Forest and further to the east for good viewing. At 9:30 a.m. a black bear came out of the top of the Diagonal Forest and moved above the Slough Creek den and out of sight. A bold move for black bear with wolves and a grizzly around. At 1:10 p.m. I found a grizzly slowly moving through the Inverted Triangle clearing below Druid Peak viewed from Picnic Pullout. In view for only fifteen minutes or so.

Thursday - April 28th

40 degrees in Gardiner this morning but only 32 degrees in Lamar Valley warming up to 47 degrees. I had a two badger day today. The first one was on the lower slope of Norris viewed from the Confluence. It ran around and around for fifteen minutes or so. The second crossed the road at the Tower Gas Station. At 6:05 a.m. I found a large grizzly this side of the Lamar River from Dorothy's Pullout. It took his time wading the Lamar River and then settled in on Amethyst Bench to dig until after 10:00 a.m. At 6:35 a.m. I found a large grizzly heading for Norris from the Confluence beyond the river corridor. About a five-minute sighting. At 9:30 a.m. we had two black Junction Butte wolves south of Slough Creek in the Crystal Drainage just beyond the river. At 9:45 a.m. Evan S found a black Junction Butte wolf traveling on the north side of the road and within a hundred yards of the road heading east. At 11:30 a.m. Kevin M was hiking north of Lamar Canyon East when he found a grizzly way high digging to the north. He tried to explain where the grizzly was, but finally came back to the road and he found a high spot just off the road to view. A colorful grizzly digging never moving over fifteen yards while we watched. Then Kevin M spotted a second larger and darker grizzly come over the hill. The large grizzly never approached within fifty yards and the colorful grizzly who finally noticed him but was fine with it. My guess, although early, is the beginning of the courting season. At 1:30 p.m. the grizzly northeast of Footbridge Pullout was out digging in about the same place for the third day in a row.

Friday - April 29th

37 degrees this morning in Gardiner warming up to 42 degrees out in the park with a chilly wind. I had a golden eagle flying around Picnic Pullout today. At 6:15 a.m. I found a grizzly south of Fisherman's Pullout. It was pretty close but often was out of sight because of the sagebrush hills. It was off and on in view until 8:00 a.m. At 8:25 a.m. I found a grizzly north of Boulder Pullout. He was moving away following a herd of bison (I think he just wanted to go the same way as the bison, and they were in his way). It was harassed by a coyote and sat down several times to protect his rear end. In view for forty minutes or so. At 8:40 a.m. Kara M. found a collared gray Junction Butte wolf east of Buffalo Ford. At 10:15 a.m. I heard that both 1228F and her black male were in Round Prairie. I went to Round Prairie and no wolves. I assumed they were traveling to the west so went to Soda Butte east pullout. Then Kara M called saying she had them back in Round Prairie. 1228F was out of sight but I did get to watch the black male scent following her. This probably means the 1228F has had pups since it’s the first time she had been seen in about a week. At 2:10 p.m. Mark and Liz H told me they had a grizzly northeast of Picnic Pullout going uphill. I was only five minutes away and found the small colorful grizzly napping on a rock maybe seven hundred yards up the hill. Good viewing with little action, it stayed bedded the entire fifty minutes I watched it. It was still laying on the rock later I was told. At 4:00 p.m. I stopped to watch the Junction Butte den at Slough Creek. Fortunately, a couple of bison decided to graze right through the spot the wolves were bedded. I counted four blacks (wolf watchers told me the alpha male, alpha female and 1048M, plus a yearling) and two gray wolves (wolf watchers said 1341F and a yearling). On the way back to Gardiner a little early I saw a big crowd at the Petrified Tree Pullout. A small herd of bison surrounded a bison cow giving birth and a black wolf had been around recently. I headed to Elk Creek to watch the backside of the hill and then Paul H stopped to help watch. The black Rescue Creek wolf had gotten past us but stopped in an opening to howl. Nice howling, unanswered we think, and a brief sighting. I did have a THREE DOG DAY as a fox crossed the road while traffic stopped for a bison jam.

People Seen

Wolf Watchers: From Montana: Rick M, Dan and Laurie L, Reve and Susan C, John and Carolyn G, Doug M, Jeremy S, Taylor B, and Mike. From Missouri: Frank H. From Utah: Paul H and Chris and Brenda C. From Oklahoma: Robert and Pam. From Washington: David and Stephanie O, and Steve L. From South Dakota: Sam and Ginny G. From California: Bill and Karen M, and Bill W. From Idaho: Warren and Natalie B. From Switzerland: Peter D. From Canada: Jeff A. And from Wisconsin: John and Marie E. Bear Watchers seen this report: From Louisiana: Bruce P. From Montana: Doug M and Shari S. From Idaho: Terry and Marsha J. From Utah: Mark and Liz H. Others seen this report: From Montana: Audra C and mom Lish, MacNeil L, Bob L, Grant J, Cliff B, Shauna B, and Emil M. From Vermont: John K. From California: Carol, Jim, and Amber. From Wyoming: Kevin M. And from Indiana: Jeff and Terry B.

Yellowstone National Park

Lamar Valley Map - Yellowstone National Park