Yellowstone National Park 2023 Trip Reports
Trip Report ~ Bear & Wolf Sightings ~ by Bill Hamblin
20 through 23 May 2023
Yellowstone National Park
Beautiful Mountain Lion ~ Lamar Valley ~ April 10th, 2023 ~ Photo by Linda Rudge Carney © All Rights Reserved
Mountain Lion ~ also known as the Cougar, Puma, Panther, or Catamount ~ Puma concolor
~ May 2023 ~
Saturday - May 20th
Saturday May 20th. 33 degrees this morning in Silver Gate warming up to a warm 77 degrees. I had a THREE DOG DAY today. A pair of harlequin ducks viewed at the Confluence this morning. At 5:45 a.m. Randi M spotted a colorful grizzly digging on Amethyst Bench. At 6:20 a.m. Randi M found a grizzly on Penny Lane. At 6:45 a.m. Doug M (bear watcher) found a grizzly digging southeast of Soda Butte East Pullout. At 8:00 a.m. I spotted the "Specimen Ridge" sow with two two-year-old cubs on Middle Ridge (she is collared). At 8:15 a.m. Gary G found the "Middle Ridge" sow with two two-year-old cubs on Specimen Ridge. This family used to be called the Junction Butte sow. She has only got one cub to survive being sent out on its own, until this year. This is the first time we have seen this family this year, although she had been seen by others at Petrified Tree, the Roosevelt Ranger Station, and Calcite Springs earlier this year. We missed her on Sunday when she was briefly back on Junction Butte. At 10:00 a.m. Cara M found the two sub adult grizzlies on Penny Lane. This pair was in and out of view on Penny Lane all day. Doug M (bear watcher) was walking Middle Ridge and bumped into a grizzly with a cub. We could not see that pair but being back at the old Buffalo Ranch to look, Kim and Joyce and I found a courting pair of grizzlies' high south of the old Buffalo Ranch. At 1:05 p.m. Kim and Joyce had a courting pair of grizzlies on the K Meadow. This courting pair was in and out of sight on the K Meadow today. At 1:10 p.m. I watched a grizzly digging south of the Soda Butte Cone. At 3:15 p.m. Dean D had a small colorful grizzly digging on the #3 finger on Norris. At 6:50 p.m. we had a brown grizzly on the # 1 finger on Norris (note the colorful grizzly was in view on the same time on the # 1 finger on Norris). At 7:00 p.m. 1228F the gray alpha female of the Shrimp Lake Pack was moving east south of Soda Butte East Pullout.
Sunday - May 21st
37 degrees this morning in Silver Gate warming up to 70 degrees. Two moose south of Trout Lake in view today. I had a rare sighting today in Slough Creek as a pelican flew through the area. Although common on the Yellowstone in Hayden, they are a rare treat in the northern range. At 5:25 a.m. Margaret L showed us the two sub adult grizzlies on Penny Lane. They were in view again this evening around 6:00 p.m. At 5:30 a.m. Gary G viewed the courting pair of grizzlies below the K Meadow with the boar still following the sow, they were in view on K Meadow at 6:30 p.m. this evening. At 5:40 a.m. Rick and Maureen B had the regular grizzly cross the road north to south into the willows just west of Hitching Post. At 6:50 a.m. we watched two black and one gray wolves on Jasper Bench heading east. At 7:40 a.m. we watched the "K-2" sow with two two-year-old cubs on K-2 Meadow viewed from Footbridge. They were in view again at 6:30 p.m. At 8:25 a.m. the grizzly sow with three cubs of the year (Coys) were in view northeast of Footbridge Pullout. At 9:00 a.m. Jeri D got to watch a black bear on the # 2 finger on Norris. At 8:15 a.m. we had a colorful grizzly on the # 2 finger on Norris and it was out again at 6:30 p.m. tonight. At 9:45 a.m. I found a dark grizzly near The Bell high south of the old Buffalo Ranch. At 10:25 a.m. Kim and Joyce had a black bear in the A-Z Meadow. At 12:30 p.m. we watched a dark grizzly just east of the Crystal Drainage viewed from the Slough Creek restroom. At 4:00 p.m. we had a grizzly in view on the # 2 finger on Norris. At 6:00 p.m. two black and two gray wolves bedded three hundred yards east of the Slough Creek den area.
Monday - May 22nd
37 degrees in Silver Gate warming up to 75 degrees. I watched a vulture flying over the Lamar today. I had a THREE DOG DAY today. At 5:20 a.m. I found a large dark grizzly in the river corridor traveling south from Footbridge. At 5:35 a.m. the regular grizzly crossed the road north to south and into the willows west of Hitching Post. At 5:40 a.m. Gary G found the courting pair of grizzlies in the tree line below the K Meadow viewed from Footbridge. At 6:05 a.m. the Iowa Boys found the grizzly with three Coys again northeast of Footbridge. At 6:05 a.m. I found the two two-year-old sub adult grizzlies on the second clearing east of Penny Lane. They were out again in the evening back on Penny Lane. At 7:45 a.m. I found the "Specimen Ridge: sow grizzly with two two-year-old cubs on Middle Ridge. Around 8:30 a.m. one gray wolf and one black and one gray wolf pup were at the den site at Slough Creek. At 9:20 a.m. a lone black wolf moved east in the clearing behind the east end of Jasper Bench. At 5:30 p.m. I found the "Slough Creek" sow with two two-year-old cubs high and above the Slough Creek den. The two cubs were bedded playing together with feet and legs waving in the air while mom sat and looked around. At 6:45 p.m. Mike and Donna F showed me two separate grizzlies digging on the # 2 finger on Norris. At 7:00 p.m. Mike and Donna F showed me a small dark grizzly on the # 1 finger on Norris. At 7:25 p.m. Gary G found a brown grizzly southeast of Footbridge in the river corridor.
Tuesday - May 23rd
43 degrees this morning in Silver Gate warming up to 73 degrees. At 5:35 a.m. Gary G had a black bear cross the road north to south then swim the Soda Butte Creek and then over the lower ridge of Norris. At 5:45 a.m. the Iowa Boys again found the grizzly sow with three Coys northeast of Footbridge Pullout. This grizzly family was again in view about 3:00 p.m. At 5:50 a.m. Rita R found a brown grizzly south of Footbridge in the tree line. Later it visited the old bison carcass and chewed on the head before moving west into the willows. At 6:10 a.m. Gary G found a colorful grizzly on the # 2 finger on Norris, it was back in view in # 2 finger this afternoon. I found a small dark grizzly on the # 1 finger on Norris at 6:15 a.m. Around 7:00 a.m. I got to watch a courting pair of grizzlies on the skyline south of the old Buffalo Ranch which Randi M had found and viewed earlier in the morning. At 7:45 a.m. Gary G made a good spot on the "Specimen Ridge" sow with two two-year-old cubs in the Bowl viewed from Footbridge. We all moved to Hubbard Hill to get a lower view. Between 8:00 and 9;00 a.m. we watched two black and one gray wolf plus one big black pup and one smaller gray pup at the Slough Creek den. At 4:00 p.m. we had a courting pair of black bears, one black and one cinnamon high on # 3 finger on Norris. At 6:15 a.m. we watched a large grizzly on the east flank of A-Z Meadow. Also, at 6:15 p.m. we had a cinnamon black bear on A-Z Meadow.
People Seen
Wolf Watchers: From Montana: Rick M, Amy T, Wendy B, Dan and Laurie L, Josh A, and Janice and Cindy H. From Colorado: Mark and Carol M, Karel B, and Bob P. From New York: Rick and Maureen B. From California: Bob H, and Bill and Karen M. From Missouri: Sandy H and her son and Frank H. From Wyoming: Larry and Linda H. From Utah: Paul H. From Washington: Virginia W. From Arizona: Karen W. From Texas: Carl L and Carol S. From Vermont: Don P. Bear Watchers seen this report: From Mississippi: Gary G. From Idaho Kim and Joyce C. From Montana: Margaret L, Doug M, and Mike and Kathy W. From Washington: Randi M and Hank L. From Utah: Dean and Jeri D, CD and Brenda C, Hayden, Autumn, Sage and Jade. From Illinois: Wayne K. From Wyoming: Rita R, Terri W, Jim G, Gene B and Kevin M. From South Carolina: Margaret P. From Colorado: Len and Rick H, and Tom and Lisa K. From Louisiana: Bruce P. From Missouri: Don and Carol L. From Tennessee: Mike and Donna. And from Iowa: Terry N, Mark S, Tom H, and Dan S. Others seen this report: From Montana: Mike S, Michael S, Audra C, Steve B, Cara M, Bob L, Evan S, Nathan V, and Cliff B. From Colorado: Jim and Bobbie F. From Washington: Matt P. From Wyoming: Chris B. From Iowa: Steve S and Bob A. From Vermont: John K. From Florida: Bill L.
Beautiful Mountain Lion ~ Lamar Valley ~ April 10th, 2023 ~ Photo by Linda Rudge Carney © All Rights Reserved
Mountain Lion ~ also known as the Cougar, Puma, Panther, or Catamount ~ Puma concolor
Yellowstone National Park
Lamar Valley Map - Yellowstone National Park
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