Yellowstone National Park 2023 Trip Reports

Trip Report ~ Bear & Wolf Sightings ~ by Bill Hamblin

28 through 31 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 ~

Sunday - May 28th

43 degrees this morning in Silver Gate warming up to 63 degrees. At 6:00 a.m. I found the two larger sub adult grizzlies on Calfee viewed from the Confluence. These are larger sub adults and I think they are 3 1/2-year-olds. At 6:15 a.m. Randi M found the small grizzly in the willows at the Confluence. It was there most of the day creating a large traffic jam as few rangers are around this early in the season. At 6:30 a.m. Hayden G found a grizzly near the eastern foothills south of Trashcan. At 6:45 a.m. I watched a black wolf on the top of A-Z Meadow that Gary G had found (he had a total of five wolves, I only got to catch the last one). At 7:10 a.m. I found a dark grizzly zig zagging on Specimen Ridge viewed from Coyote Overlook. Maureen B also watched this grizzly from down the Slough Creek Campground Road this morning. This time of year, the grizzlies sometimes zig zag looking for elk calves hidden in the grass and sagebrush. At 7:20 a.m. Hayden G found the Specimen Ridge two sub adult grizzlies high on the Southern Divide Ridge sometimes called the Salad Bowl. At 7:40 a.m. Hayden G found a large grizzly on the second meadow south of Ski Slope viewed from Coyote Overlook. At 9:05 a.m. Tim found a nice colorful grizzly digging on the # 1 and 2 fingers on Norris. At 9:20 a.m. Tim found a dark grizzly north of Footbridge Pullout low on Druid Peak. It was on Druid Peak, and we were worried that the grizzly sow and three cubs of the year may run into this grizzly. At 9:25 a.m. a black bear in sight on the # 2 finger on Norris. At 9:40 a.m. Hayden G found a grizzly also on # 2 finger on Norris, the black bear had left by then. At 10:40 a.m. Randi M found the Specimen Ridge grizzly sow with the boar west on Specimen Ridge viewed from Boulder Pullout. At 10:45 a.m. Gary G showed me a grizzly high north of Fisherman's Pullout viewed from Boulder (a really long spot (Gary had two grizzlies but when I arrived only one of the two was in view). Earlier Mike and Kathy W had viewed the two sub adult grizzlies (Middle Ridge family) running over Junction Butte from east to west. Based on this information I headed for Elk Creek guessing that I had a chance to see the sub adults on the western side of Junction Butte. I was wrong, but did find the Middle Ridge sow with a large boar from Elk Creek at 11:25 a.m. I never saw those sub adults today. At 11:40 a.m. we had a cinnamon black bear at the Elk Creek Curve. At 2:00 p.m. Randi M found the grizzly sow with three cubs of the year from the old Buffalo Ranch on the west end of Druid Peak, about a mile from where they were yesterday. Later Hayden G found the family moving fast to the east on the middle part of Druid Peak. Around 5:00 p.m. I found them still moving fast going to the east on the eastern end of Druid Peak. We are guessing that the grizzly also on Druid Peak this morning upset the family.

Monday - May 29th

38 degrees this morning in Silver Gate warming up to 64 degrees in the park. At 5:35 a.m. I found the grizzly sow with three cubs of the year in about the same place they were last night. At 5:40 a.m. Gary G found a large grizzly in The Bowl viewed from Footbridge, a long spot. At 5:50 a.m. Randi M found a large grizzly on Penny Lane viewed from the Confluence. At 6:15 a.m. we had a black bear viewed on the # 3 finger on Norris. At 7:10 a.m. I found the two sub adult grizzlies (probably 3 1/2-year-olds) on Calfee. At 7:15 a.m. we watched a colorful grizzly viewed under the Moosehead from Trashcan Pullout. This grizzly was in sight all day moving to the west as the day went by. We had large crowds as the grizzly was often only a couple hundred yards north of the road. At 7:45 a.m. Hayden G found the two Specimen Ridge sub adults high in The Bowl. They moved around a bunch today, seeing that from Slough Creek, then later back in Lamar on No Bear Meadow and Bear Meadow. At 8:10 a.m. Kim H found the Specimen Ridge sow with a large boar (courting pair) in Bear Meadow. At 9:35 a.m. I found the Middle Ridge sow with a large boar in the snow on Specimen Ridge. At 9:45 a.m. Gary found a tall dark grizzly south of the courting pair on Specimen. At 10:10 a.m. we found another courting pair of grizzlies in the same area as the Middle Ridge courting pair. The Middle Ridge courting pair had moved off earlier to the south. We had no idea which courting pair this set was. Last year and this year up to this time only the Middle Ridge Family and the Specimen Ridge Family were observed in this area. At 10:20 a.m. Mike F found a cinnamon black bear high above the Slough Creek Den. After a while we noticed that she was a sow and had two dark cinnamon cubs of the year. From 9:00 to 12:00 we watched at least three black and two gray adult wolves and one black pup around the Slough Creek Den. At 2:00 p.m. the two Middle Ridge sub adults that I missed yesterday were on the south end of Junction Butte on some sort of carcass. What a bear jam being only three hundred yards off the road. After a hailstorm moved through, I watched both of the Junction Butte wolf pups, one black and one gray. I had a fox on the road back to Silver Gate tonight making my THREE DOG DAY.

Tuesday - May 30th

37 degrees in Silver Gate in the morning warming up to 73 degrees with a cool breeze in the afternoon. There is a fox den on the northwest part of Silver Gate when you enter. They have six or seven kits and lots of photographers. The bald eagle nest across the river from Coyote Overlook has two chicks in it this year. I had a THREE DOG DAY today. At 5:25 a.m. Hayden G found the grizzly sow with three cubs of the year again northeast of Footbridge Pullout near the skyline. At 5:50 a.m. Wayne K found a black bear in the #3 finger on Norris. At 6:35 a.m. Hayden found a grizzly in Penny Lane viewed from either the Confluence, Hitching Post or Footbridge Pullouts. At 6:55 a.m. Bruce P found the small colorful grizzly who has been a regular this spring north of the road between Picnic and Midpoint Pullouts. The grizzly was in view all day causing delays in traffic as everyone wanted to see a grizzly up close. Around noon, with the help of John K the grizzly crossed the road to the south and remained at a close distance of a few hundred yards. At 7:10 a.m. I found a black bear on the east flange of Ski Slope which turned out to have two black cubs of the year. At 7:30 a.m. we had a courting pair of grizzlies on Specimen Ridge viewed from both Lamar Valley via Coyote Overlook or better from Slough Creek. At 9:15 a.m. Carl S noticed another boar coming in to visit the courting pair. The two boars had a fifteen second fight and the new boar moved off. At 9:40 a.m. Mike F found a grizzly high on Middle Ridge in the snow moving east viewed from Slough Creek. At 10:10 a.m. a medium sized grizzly walked below the courting pair and out of sight. At 11:30 a.m. Kim H found the two sub adult grizzlies on Middle Ridge. These were the Specimen Ridge sub adults. At 11:35 a.m. we had a black bear high northeast of the Slough Creek Den. At 12:00 noon I watched two black adult wolves and one black puppy at the den area. At 4:15 p.m. we watched a large black bear west of the Amethyst Drainage viewed from the old Buffalo Ranch. At 5:00 p.m. we had a large grizzly walking west on Calfee viewed from Trashcan Pullout. At 5:45 p.m. a small dark grizzly was in view south of the # 1 finger on Norris. At 6:05 p.m. the black yearling of the Shrimp Lake Pack had caught an elk calf and was eating on it north of Soda Butte East Pullout.

Wednesday - May 31st

44 degrees in Silver Gate this morning warming up to a very nice 70 degrees. Gary G showed me a moose on a low clearing south of the Soda Butte East Pullout. At 5:30 a.m. Gary G found a grizzly south of Hitching Post. Same grizzly as yesterday morning, which I did not see, but today it crossed the sagebrush flats going to the south. This grizzly had a very light brown face as we got a good look at it this morning. At 6:00 a.m. I found the grizzly sow with three cubs of the year again northeast of Footbridge Pullout. This is the only grizzly family we have been seeing and also the only grizzly family with cubs of the year that we have seen in the Northern Range (Tower Junction east through Soda Butte Valley). A hard winter with a lot of snow so maybe we will still find a few more grizzly families. Of the five grizzly families with two-year-old cubs, three have broken up and the sub adults are on their own and the sows have been seen with boars. The other two grizzly families with two-year-old cubs have not been seen for the last week and a half and may no longer be a family. The one yearling family we had seen has also not been seen in a while. It is nice that we get to see the grizzly with the three cubs of the year most days. At 6:40 p.m. Bruce P found the regular grizzly again in the same area, north and between the pullouts of Midpoint and Picnic. Again, today never going more than a few hundred yards from the road, it was a thrill to a lot of visitors. At 6:45 p.m. the Junction Butte wolves were moving east up Lamar Valley. Today four blacks and four gray wolves were out hunting. Later they joined four more gray wolves and continued to the east. They disappeared into the trees near Chalcedony Drainage, but Evan S found them chasing elk on the K Meadow, but they were not successful. At 7:35 a.m. I found the courting grizzly family again on the top of Specimen Ridge. They could be seen again from Coyote Overlook in Lamar Valley or a bit closer from Slough Creek. The sow had the boar running around today often disappearing over the hill than back again. A few naps at the top of the hill with the boar choosing to rest in the snow and the sow resting on the bare ground. At 8:35 a.m. Hayden G saw a large grizzly moving through the No Bear Meadow going west. Kim H found it was a courting pair of grizzlies as they were spotted in The Bowl. At 8:50 a.m. Dan L and Maureen B found a dark grizzly on the top of Penny Lane. There for quite a time it finally moved over the skyline and out of sight. At 9:50 a.m. I finally got to see the two sub adult grizzlies on Calfee. Gary G had watched them earlier.

People Seen

People seen this report: Wolf Watchers: From Montana: Joe K, Josh A, Wendy B, Rick M, Doug M, Taylor R, Jeremy S and Dan and Laurie L. From California: Bill and Karen M, Kathie L, and Bill W. From Texas: Carl L and Carol S. From New York: Rick and Maureen B. From Missouri: Frank H and Sandy H and her son. From Vermont: Don P. From Mississippi: Chuck and Wynette M. And From Colorado: Mark and Carol R. Bear Watchers: From Mississippi: Gary G. From Idaho: Blake and Rachel M and family. From Colorado: Rick and Tanner H, Kim H and Rick and Len H. From Wyoming: Terri W, and Rita R and son Jeremy and his girlfriend from Nebraska. From Washington: Randi M. From Utah: Hayden, Doug, Kathy, and Ashley G, Mark and Liz H and Ed and Sara S. From Montana: Linda K, Mike and Kathy W, Doug M, Jack G, David B, and Margaret L. From South Carolina: Margaret P. From Illinois: Wayne K, Frank G, Mike G. And Chicago Bob and Margaret. From Louisiana: Bruce P. From Tennessee: Mike and Donna F. From Georgia: Sandi R. From Missouri: Don and Carol L. Others seen this report: From Montana: Dan, Cindy and Kelly H, Bob L, Chris H, Mike S, Michael S, Jim H, Audra C, Evan S, Quinn H, and Pete B. From Wyoming: Chris B. From Vermont: John K. From the Netherlands: Jort V. From Kansas: Richard and Sandy B. And 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