Yellowstone National Park 2023 Trip Reports

Trip Report ~ Bear & Wolf Sightings ~ by Bill Hamblin

13 through 16 June 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

~ June 2023 ~

Tuesday - June 13th

46 degrees in Silver Gate this morning warming up to 70 degrees. A lot of low clouds this morning made glassing the high clearings difficult. I had a fox and lots of wolves today but no coyote. Early this morning Paul H had a black wolf on Amethyst Bench which moved off to the east. At 6:10 a.m. Rick M found the Junction Butte wolf pack moving east and then south from above the road at Confluence. His count was seventeen or eighteen, my count was only twelve as I was watching from Footbridge Pullout. At 6:20 a.m. I found a courting pair of grizzlies on K3 viewed from Footbridge. They remained in sight for a long time with the boar sleeping and the sow digging for roots, etc. This is the first time we had grizzlies on both the K2 and K3 meadows which illustrates how high the grizzlies are at this time of year. At 6:25 a.m. I found the grizzly family with two cubs of the year on the # 2 finger on Norris. This family was in and out of view most of the day and moved to # 2 clearing late this afternoon as reported by Paul H. At 6:55 a.m. I found the two Specimen Ridge sub adult grizzlies in the Bowl viewed from the Institute. About this time Bruce and Kelly H had viewed a courting pair also in the Bowl. It was 7:15 a.m. before the clouds and fog thinned enough for me to get a view of the courting pair of grizzlies. Fortunately for me they were walking the skyline which made viewing a lot easier. At 8:40 a.m. I found a medium sized grizzly on K2 Meadow viewed from Footbridge. The grizzly at first was zig zagging around hunting elk calves, but later spent a lot of time digging for roots, etc. At 8:50 a.m. Randi M found a black bear in the tree line southwest of Footbridge Pullout. Today was laundry day for me and I was glad I was traveling to the west. At 10:35 a.m. we had a large bear jam south of Junction Butte just east of the Yellowstone Picnic Area. The two Middle Ridge sub adults were racing around apparently looking for elk calves. After watching for twenty minutes or so I headed to Gardiner. I was returning around 2:30 p.m. when I met Cara M on the road near Gardiner. She said the two sub adults were still putting on a show, one even went swimming in the nearby pond. At 11:15 a.m. another bear jam near the east end of Phantom Lake. The black bear sow with two cubs of the year were north of the road as I passed through the jam. At 4:45 p.m. the black bear sow with two black cubs of the year were in the tree line south of the old Buffalo Ranch. At 4:45 p.m. I found a small brown grizzly in the Bowl near little tree, big tree digging away for roots, etc.

Wednesday - June 14th

50 degrees with light rain at Silver Gate this morning warming up to 62 degrees with a few rain showers moving through the area today. We had good visibility early for an hour or so then the low clouds moved in making watching any of the high clearings impossible. I saw two moose right in Silver Gate tonight. At 5:25 a.m. I found the grizzly sow and two cubs of the year at first on # 3 finger but soon they moved to the # 2 finger on Norris. Again, today good viewing of the family better from Soda Butte Middle this morning. At 5:45 a.m. Randi had a pair of grizzlies moving across the Lamar River in the sagebrush heading to the east viewed from the old Buffalo Ranch. At first, we thought a courting pair, but it turned out to be a grizzly sow with one large two-year-old cub. First time we have seen this family this year. As the low clouds came down to the valley seeing the grizzlies ended but good viewing until the cloud cover dropped. At 8:15 a.m. a small grizzly was seen in the Bowl digging. Again, viewing was on and off as the grizzly stayed in the same place, but the clouds concealed it a lot of the time. At 12:00 noon from the old Buffalo Ranch the black bear sow with two cubs of the year were viewed in the tree line. At 12:50 p.m. we had a bear jam at Soda Butte Picnic Area as a pretty and large cinnamon black bear tried to cross the road north to south. Too much traffic and stopped cars on the road so the bear moved away up hill and out of sight. At 5:35 p.m. we had another a black bear jam at the Soda Butte Picnic area. The black bear was above the road and cars stopped in the road and abandoned their vehicles for a picture, summer is here now. At 6:30 p.m. a medium sized grizzly in the top of A-Z Meadow. At 6:40 p.m. a black bear sow with a light cinnamon cub in the lower part of A-Z Meadow. At 7:45 a.m. we had a grizzly sow with two cubs of the year at Lower Barronette. They were digging in the willows no more than a hundred and fifty yards from the road. I had seen this sow a few days before, but tonight was the first time I got to see the entire family.

Thursday - June 15th

37 degrees in Silver Gate this morning warming up to 63 degrees. The Slough Creek Campground in the park was supposed to open today, but it did not. Apparently, the park allowed some of the road construction workers to stay there. They left garbage that a bear fed on. The Soda Butte Campground just outside Cooke City opened today for the year and will close in early September. I heard that two of the Cache Creek backcountry campsites have been closed because of an aggressive bear. At 5:00 a.m. I found a grizzly across the river from Picnic Pullout. The grizzly was slowly moving to the west and was good viewing for fifteen minutes. At 5:35 a.m. Randi M found the grizzly sow with two cubs of the year on # 1 finger on Norris. The cubs were really running around mom this morning. The family remained in sight off and on all day ending up on # 2 finger on Norris. At 6:00 a.m. we had a black bear high south of the #1 finger on Norris. At 6:25 a.m. I had a medium sized grizzly digging in the Bowl. At 8:00 a.m. Randi M found a grizzly sow with two dark yearlings in the big ravine east of the Slough Creek den area. Great but long viewing that lasted over two hours when we traveled back east to check out other areas and the grizzly family was still in view. One of the two dark cubs has a silver ring around its neck, which almost looks like it was wearing a white collar. At 3:10 p.m. a black bear observed in the tree line in Round Prairie. At 6:00 p.m. we had a small colorful grizzly on the clearing west of A-Z Meadow. At 6:30 p.m. Paul H showed me a colorful grizzly on the # 3 finger on Norris.

Friday - June 16th

44 degrees in Silver Gate this morning warming up to 60 degrees. I watched a big bull moose at Warm Creek this morning. I had a yearling moose in A-Z Meadow this afternoon. At 5:40 a.m. I found the grizzly sow with two cubs of the year on # 2 finger on Norris. Again, good viewing as the morning light was excellent. At 6:05 a.m. we had a medium sized colorful grizzly across the Lamar River traveling to the south viewed from Footbridge Pullout. At 7:00 a.m. Gary G found a grizzly sow with two large two-year-old cubs on K2 Meadow. They were slowly digging and moving a little to the west. Good viewing for an hour or so. At 7:15 a.m. Bruce and Kelly found a single grizzly on the west end of K2. It was digging too and slowly moved off as the grizzly family fed that way. At 7:20 a.m. Gary had a courting pair of cinnamon black bears on the K3 clearing, I only got to see the larger of the two when I looked on K3. Early this morning Gary G had a small grizzly digging in the Bowl. Finally, at 7:30 a.m. I could see the grizzly from Footbridge Pullout. It was better viewing later from the old Buffalo Ranch. At 8:40 a.m. Gary G found and showed us a small colorful grizzly digging in the Bell viewed from the old Buffalo Ranch. At 1:50 a.m. I saw the Warm Creek grizzly sow with two cubs of the year at Lower Barronette. At 2:05 p.m. I had a large cinnamon black bear near Pebble Creek. At 2:35 p.m. Gary G showed me a medium sized grizzly that was darker than most on finger # 2 on Norris, note the grizzly sow and two cubs of the year were low in the same clearing, but no interaction.

People Seen

Wolf Watchers: From Montana: Rick M, John and Carolyn G, Taylor R, and Melba C. From Utah: Paul H. From Oregon: Bruce and Kelly H. From Mississippi: Chuck and Wynelle M, And from California: Bill W. Bear Watchers seen this report: From Washington: Randi M. From Mississippi: Gary G. From Montana: Doug M. From Wisconsin: John and Marie E. From Colorado: Rick and Tanner H. And From Utah: Brent W. Others seen this report: From Montana: Brandon N, Michael S, MacNeil L, Bob L, Cara M, Evan S, Jim H, and Diane B (meeting for the first time). From California: Carol B. From Wyoming: Brandon N. And From Vermont: John K.

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