Yellowstone National Park 2023 Trip Reports

Trip Report ~ Bear & Wolf Sightings ~ by Bill Hamblin

29 March through 01 April 2023
Yellowstone National Park

~ March 2023 ~

Wednesday - March 29th

20 degrees in Gardiner this morning warming up to 32 degrees. I visited the great horned owl nest at Mammoth and saw the female on the nest today, but I didn't see the male who usually hangs around close. I missed the big show between Gardiner and Mammoth this morning as the Rescue Creek Wolf Pack chased the Lupine Creek Pack. From what I heard the Lupine Creek Pack with their four gray and three black wolves took down an elk earlier. The Rescue Creek pack with five black and three grays (missing two blacks) came upon them and chased the Lupine's off, getting really close to a gray collared pup. At 1:30 p.m. I got to Gardiner and was shown one black and three gray Lupine's bedded low on Mount Everts. Later the alpha black male joined the four bedded wolves. I later learned that the two missing pups were okay.

Thursday - March 30th

28 degrees this morning in Gardiner with one inch of snow and snowing warming up to 36 degrees this afternoon and a really nice day. Around 9:00 a.m. Bob L found the Junction Butte Wolf Pack returning from up Slough Creek. When I arrived they were moving west high and left of the Slough Creek Den. This morning they traveled high and disappeared behind Mom's Ridge but others saw them from the Petrified Tree Pullout. They went out of sight moving towards Hellroaring. I spotted them again lower from Elk Creek. A brief sighting and we moved to Upper Hellroaring. Steve M found the pack low on the big clearing on the slopes of Hellroaring just west of Little Buffalo Creek. Finally they all arrived and we got a count of twenty-four wolves, twelve black and twelve gray. They bedded and we watched them to around 2:00 p.m. when all but three disappeared into a gully. 907F the alpha female and two pups we think, one gray and one black with a bad limp remained in sight. The two pups soon followed the others out of sight leaving 907F sleeping in the clearing by herself. At 3:00 p.m. I stopped the look at the black bear in the den viewed from the Petrified Tree Pullout. The sow was quite visible with two paws showing most of the time I watched. The photographers there have confirmed two cubs of the year with her. We had a mouse run into the den two times causing the sow to stir a little making the mouse exit the den quickly.

Friday - March 31st

28 degrees in Gardiner but only 21 at Blacktail Ponds this morning warming up to 37 degrees in the park, but 46 down in Gardiner. Most of the snow is gone in and around Gardiner. Some of the south facing slopes are getting a little bare ground, but lots of snow higher in the park. The bison hunt is still going on just outside the park. Several Indian tribes had treaty rights to hunt the bison.

~ April 2023 ~

Saturday - April 1st

28 degrees and snowing this morning warming up to 36 degrees. It snowed most of the day but the road remained clear. The trouble with snow is that it brings the clouds low and just trying to see through the snow is difficult, sometimes being able to see only a few hundred yards. The black bear sow with cubs was putting on a show at the Petrified Tree Pullout. No one to my knowledge found any wolves today in the park. I have not seen or heard of anyone seeing a grizzly on the ground yet.

People Seen

Wolf Watchers: From Montana: Rick M, Doug M, Melba C. and Joe K. From Wisconsin: Beth P. From North Dakota: Sandy H. From Canada: Jeff A. From Wyoming: Christy G. From Colorado: Steve and Robin M. And From California: Bill W. Bear Watchers seen this report: From Louisiana: Bruce P. From Wyoming: Kevin M. From Montana: Doug M and Howard A. And From Oregon: Larry and Char. Other people seen this report: From Montana: Bob L, Cliff B, Sandy K and Duffy P, MacNeil L, Evan S, Quinn H, and Email M. From Idaho: Ray L and Kathy. From Minnesota: Heidi P. And from the Netherlands: Jort V.

Yellowstone National Park

Lamar Valley Map - Yellowstone National Park