Yellowstone National Park 2022 Trip Reports

Trip Report ~ Bear & Wolf Sightings ~ by Bill Hamblin

1st through 5th June 2022
Yellowstone National Park

~ June 2022 ~

Wednesday - June 1st

I spent most of the day in Idaho Falls waiting to get a tire fixed. The trouble with newer cars is that you cannot replace one tire because of the wear of the three remaining tires. Fortunately, the tire place in Idaho Falls can machine down a new tire to match the other tires. Anyway, I got out of town around 4:30 p.m. At 7:50 p.m. I found a grizzly digging on the backside of Specimen Ridge viewed from the new road at Antelope Creek. At 7:55 p.m. we had a black bear jam south of Tower store with a large black bear right off the road.

Thursday - June 2nd

36 degrees in Silver Gate this morning warming up to 70 degrees. The Beartooth Highway is still closed. At least one golden eagle chick on the nest down the Slough Creek Campground Road. I had a bull moose at Trout Lake Pullout tonight and another in the Pebble Creek Campground. At 5:35 a.m. I found the two sub adult grizzlies today on Ski Slope. They were out quite a bit of the day and still in sight tonight at 7:00 p.m. At 6:00 a.m. a gray wolf milling around the split rock (this is the new place to see the Junction Butte adults and puppies as their new den is just over the hill). The split rock is best viewed from Coyote or Dorothy's Pullouts and the wolf watchers get a better view walking up the hill to the north. The split rock is basically south of Fisherman's Pullout at the top of the first ridge. At 6:25 a.m. I spotted a black bear viewed above the Amethyst Bench. At 7:35 a.m. Doug M (bear watcher) found the Mount Norris grizzly family with two two-year olds on Calfee viewed from either Trashcan or the Confluence Pullouts. At 6:40 a.m. Gary G found a medium sized colorful grizzly east of the Chalcedony Fan viewed from Picnic Pullout. At 6:50 a.m. Hayden G and I found the Mount Norris grizzly family with two cubs of the year (coys) on # 2 finger of Norris. They were in view on and off most of the day and were in view as I passed by at 7:30 p.m. At 7:00 a.m. we had a large colorful grizzly hunting elk calves northeast of Footbridge Pullout. At 7:30 a.m. Hayden G found a small colorful grizzly on # 5 finger on Norris. At 7:40 a.m. John G found a small colorful grizzly on # 1 finger on Norris. At 8:15 a.m. Terry W found the Specimen Ridge grizzly family with three coys on Ski Slope. They were in and out of sight most of the day and I saw them at 7:30 p.m. At 8:45 a.m. I found the Specimen Ridge grizzly family with two yearlings on Specimen Ridge viewed from Coyote Overlook. Later the sow caught an elk calf and spent the rest of the day eating on it. A note about the two families with two yearlings, the Specimen, and the Middle Ridge. We know that the Middle Ridge sow was collared, and ear tagged late last summer or early fall. But the Specimen Ridge sow is now collared also. We had watched both of these families as coys last year with no collars. We had reviewed the dates seen and we have never seen both families the same day. So, we now assume that we are only seeing one grizzly family on Specimen Ridge and Middle Ridge. At 9:15 a.m. we had a cinnamon black bear viewed low on the Divide Ridge viewed from Coyote Overlook. From 1:00 p.m. thru 3:15 p.m. we watched a total of three black and two gray wolves around the Slough Creek den. At 2:20 p.m. a black wolf was seen on Specimen Ridge. At 6:00 p.m. we had the medium colorful grizzly viewed on Ski Slope (note both the grizzly sow and three coys and the two grizzly sub adults were in view at same time). At 6:15 p.m. two black and one gray wolf seen near the split rock from Coyote Overlook.

Friday - June 3rd

35 degrees in Silver Gate this morning warming up to 68 degrees. I had a bull moose at Pebble Creek Campground and cow moose at Warm Springs tonight. I had a fox and wolves today but no coyote. At 5:50 a.m. Richard and Rita R had a courting pair of grizzlies on Norris viewed from either Trashcan Pullout or the Confluence. At 6:10 a.m. John G found a large grizzly hunting elk calves north of Picnic Pullout. At 6:15 a.m. Randi M found the Mount Norris grizzly sow with two two-year-old cubs again on Calfee, best watched from the Confluence. At 6:15 a.m. we had a black collared wolf south of Trashcan Pullout. At 6:35 a.m. I found a small colorful grizzly on the # 4 finger on Norris. At 7:00 a.m. Richard and Rita R found the grizzly sow with two yearlings on Specimen Ridge. At 8:45 a.m. Terri W found the two 3 1/2-year-old grizzly sub adults on Square Meadow. At 11:20 a.m. a black and a gray wolf were seen near the split rock south of Fisherman’s. At 1:35 p.m. I found the Junction Butte sow with either one-year olds or two-year-old cubs on Junction Butte (others had them closer from the road earlier in the day). Later Hayden G videoed the sow attacking first the first cub then the other, at one time she bites the cub and just shook it. Later they were back together (my best guess is that they are two-year-olds and courting time is making her think about throwing the cubs out). At 1:25 p.m. I found a small colorful grizzly digging on # 2 finger on Norris. At 6:40 p.m. Gary G and I watched the Mount Norris grizzly sow with two coys moving slowly downhill on # 1 finger of Norris with one cub right under her. The sow often stood up looking back. A storm came through and later Shaun W and I watched the family return but with only one coy. I am hoping that the missing cub climbed a tree or just got separated from the sow. At 7:40 p.m. we had a large cinnamon black bear in Round Prairie.

Saturday - June 4th

37 degrees this morning in Silver Gate warming up to 69 degrees with p.m. showers. I had a moose at Warm Springs today. At 4:55 a.m. John G found a dark grizzly hunting elk calves right behind us at Coyote Overlook. Only a hundred fifty yards from us the grizzly was zig zagging back and forth with his nose to the ground. The grizzly did not find a calf. At 5:20 a.m. Gary G found the two 3 1/2-year-old grizzly sub adults low on Ski Slope above Square Meadow. Again, they in sight a lot of the day. At 5:35 a.m. John G found a black wolf high on A-Z Meadow. At 5:40 a.m. a black wolf was seen near the split rock south of Fisherman's Pullout. At 6:10 a.m. we had a black bear in the tree line south of Midpoint Pullout. At 6:20 a.m. Terri W found the Mount Norris grizzly family with two two-year-old cubs again on Calfee best viewed from Trashcan or the Confluence. At 6:25 a.m. John G found a grizzly northeast of Picnic Pullout. At 6:35 a.m. Gary G found a courting pair of grizzlies on Norris viewed from Trashcan, but better from the Confluence. At 7:40 a.m. I had a brief sighting of the dark grizzly south and behind the Bear Meadow viewed from the Buffalo Ranch. At 8:00 a.m. I found a big dark grizzly moving north in the Bowl viewed from the Buffalo Ranch. At 1:00 p.m. I had a small colorful grizzly on finger #3 and it was out again at 5:00 p.m. At 5:30 p.m. a large dark grizzly walked across the second sliver of Ski Slope going west to east. At 6:30 p.m. the large dark grizzly approached another grizzly who was digging on Ski Slope. The new grizzly charged the big dark grizzly but then allowed him to dig near the new one. My guess a start to a courting arrangement.

Sunday - June 5th

44 degrees in Silver Gate this morning warming up to 57 degrees with afternoon rain. I had a badger run across the road in front of me down the Slough Creek Campground Road tonight. At 5:05 a.m. Gary G found a courting pair of grizzlies moving across Amethyst Bench. They moved west and ended up in the Bowl viewed from the Buffalo Ranch. At 5:25 a.m. Gary G found the two 3 1/2-year-old sub adult grizzlies low on Ski Slope viewed from Coyote Pullout. At 5:35 a.m. a gray and a black wolf were spotted near the split rock viewed from Coyote Overlook. At 6:05 a.m. Gary G found a large dark grizzly on the top of Calfee viewed from Trashcan Pullout. At 6:25 a.m. John G found a small colorful grizzly on the #3 finger on Norris (it remained out most of the day and stayed on # 3 finger). At 6:35 a.m. I found the Mount Norris grizzly sow with two two-year-old cubs again on Calfee viewed from the Confluence. At 7:00 a.m. I found a courting pair of grizzlies on the skyline of Norris viewed from Trashcan Pullout. At 8:30 a.m. I found a large dark grizzly high above Coyote Overlook viewed from Straight-away Pullout in Little America. It was only in view for a few minutes but reappeared again twenty minutes later for ten minutes. At 9:10 a.m. we had a small black bear low on Junction Butte viewed from Straight-away Pullout. At 11:00 a.m. we watched a small colorful grizzly on the #2 finger on Norris (note the other grizzly was still on #3 finger). At 11:40 a.m. we had a black bear sow with one cinnamon yearling cub northeast of Footbridge Pullout. From 1:30 p.m. thru 2:30 p.m. the Junction Butte grizzly sow with two either large yearlings or two small two-year-old cubs were seen south of Long Pullout. Apparently, they crossed the road north to south then dug and entertained for about an hour before going into the trees. At 4:30 p.m. we had a large cinnamon black bear on the # 3 finger on Norris.

People Seen

Wolf Watchers: From Montana: Doug M, Rick M, Dan and Laurie L, Wendy B, John and Carolyn G, Reve and Susan C, Jeremy S, and Joe K. From Kansas: Calvin and Lynette J. From Colorado: Dale and Fay B, Steve and Robin M, and Terri S. From Vermont: Joann H. From New York: Rick and Maureen B. From California: Kathie L. From Mississippi: Chuck and Wynelle M. From Illinois: Ray and Lynn R, and Sandra H. From Texas: Carl L and Carol S. Bear Watchers seen this report: From Colorado: Rick and Tanner H, Rick and Len H and Kim H. From Utah: Hayden G. From Washington: John G and Randi M. From Mississippi: Gary G. From Montana: Doug M, and Mike and Kathy W. From Tennessee: Mike and Donna F. From Wyoming: Richard and Rita R and Terri W. From Louisiana: Bruce P. From Illinois: Mike G. And from Oklahoma: Shaun and Regina W. Others seen this report: From Montana: Quinn H, Mike S, Bob L, MacNeil L, Grant J, Audra C, Michael S, Alan O, and Evan S. and From Vermont: John K.

Yellowstone National Park

Lamar Valley Map - Yellowstone National Park