Yellowstone National Park 2023 Trip Reports

Trip Report ~ Bear & Wolf Sightings ~ by Bill Hamblin

25 through 28 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 ~

Sunday - June 25th

37 degrees this morning in Lamar Valley warming up to 72 degrees. I had two vultures flying over Slough Creek this morning. I had a THREE DOG DAY (coyote, fox, wolf) today. At 5:10 a.m. Gary G found one of the two Specimen Ridge sub adults in the Bowl. They were both there this morning but out of sight for me but at 5:00 p.m. they were back together and in sight from the old Buffalo Ranch. At 6:00 a.m. I found a dark grizzly in a low clearing southeast of Footbridge Pullout. The grizzly soon disappeared but then reappeared on the # 1 finger on Norris. At 6:05 a.m. I found the grizzly sow with two cubs of the year on the # 2 finger on Norris. The dark grizzly proceeded over the hill to the south and never bothered the grizzly family. At 6:35 a.m. I found a medium sized colorful grizzly (the Specimen Ridge sow) high on the A-Z Meadow. In the afternoon, the two sub adults and the sow were all back in the Bowl and did not interact with each other, only because the sow did not see them. Earlier in the morning Evan S told me that he had seen the two Middle Ridge sub adult grizzlies in Little America. At 7:20 a.m. I found them about three hundred yards off the road to the north from just east of Long Pullout. They were digging and not concerned about the visitors watching them. They soon moved off behind some hills. At 9:00 a.m. Gary and I traveled over to the Blacktail to look at the Rescue Creek wolf pack den area. Viewing from the Nature Trail the site is about three miles to the west. Doug M (wolf watcher) told us where he had viewed adults and puppies yesterday. Early morning was fogged in but as the fog lifted Doug showed us one gray wolf, probably the alpha male. At 10:30 a.m. a black bear seen west of Hellroaring Creek viewed from Upper Hellroaring Pullout. At 10:35 a.m. a brown, black bear viewed in the same area. At 11:20 a.m. we viewed a black bear sow with two cinnamon cubs of the year northwest of Coyote Overlook. At 2:30 p.m. two separate black bears observed just west of Pebble Creek Campground. At 6:30 p.m. a man said he had two grizzlies low on Druid Peak viewed from Picnic Pullout. It turned out he did, two separate grizzlies grazing and digging low on Druid Peak.

Monday - June 26th

46 degrees in Silver Gate this morning warming up to 76 degrees but cooler with afternoon showers. I watched vultures flying over Slough Creek and Hellroaring this morning. The road construction in the Lamar Valley now has signs for a 30-minute delay, up from the previous 20-minute delay. At 5:10 a.m. Gary G found one of the two Specimen Ridge sub adults in the Bowl. At 5:30 a.m. Gary G found a large dark grizzly entering the Amethyst Creek drainage. At 5:45 a.m. Gary G found a large grizzly on the top of A-Z Meadow. At 6:05 a.m. I found a colorful medium sized grizzly on the # 2 finger on Norris. It looked like the sow with the two cubs of the year but was not and the grizzly went over the hill, but Michael S found it later on # 3 finger on Norris. At 6:25 a.m. Gary found a collared black wolf with a white box (GPS collar requires a larger battery then the VHF collar) in the old Druid Rendezvous area heading to the south. At 6:40 a.m. Gary G showed me the second Specimen Ridge sub adult grizzly who had found the other one and were digging side by side in the Bowl. At 7:00 a.m. I went to the Soda Butte East Pullout and found the grizzly with the two cubs of the year low on # 2 finger on Norris. Apparently, the other grizzly on the # 2 clearing did not upset the grizzly family. At 10:30 a.m. looking from Elk Creek I had two grizzlies moving on the western branch of Specimen Ridge. The lighting was not good, but we guessed they were the two Middle Ridge sub adult grizzlies, being about equal size and together. Tuesday June 27th. 40 degrees in Lamar Valley this morning warming up to 69 degrees but cooled off in the afternoon with clouds and showers. More vultures seen today at the Yellowstone Picnic Area and near Footbridge Pullout. I had two foxes on the road today, one going out in the morning and one coming back to Silver Gate this afternoon. At 6:00 a.m. I found a large dark grizzly in the tree line southwest of Footbridge Pullout. A brief sighting as the grizzly disappeared into the trees. At 6:05 a.m. I found a medium sized grizzly with a little color on Penny Lane. This grizzly was in sight for over thirty minutes. At 6:30 a.m. I found the grizzly with two cubs of the year high on the # 1 finger on Norris. The grizzly family was in and out of view most of the morning. At 10:00 a.m. Kate J, Silver Gate Guides, had the two Middle Ridge sub adult grizzlies north near Long Pullout in Little America. When I arrived the two had crossed the road to the south and were working their way through a couple of herds of bison. They finally got through and did a little digging before going over the hill and out of sight. We watched them for almost one hour. At 2:00 p.m. we had a black bear roadside northwest of Pebble Creek.

Wednewday - June 28th

38 degrees this morning in Silver Gate warming up to 65 degrees but with afternoon showers. I watched a yearling cow moose at Elk Creek this morning. I had a fox on the way back to Silver Gate this morning. The Upper Hellroaring Pullout has been roped off and has a couple loads of dirt and rock in it. Not sure what the plan is or how long the pullout will be closed. At 5:15 a.m. Gary G found a dark grizzly in the river corridor south of the old Buffalo Ranch. At 5:40 a.m. I found a grizzly with a little color on Penny Lane, it remained in view for over 30 minutes digging. At 5:45 a.m. I found a small dark grizzly digging on K Meadow, it remained in sight for about thirty minutes. At 6:00 a.m. I found the grizzly sow with two cubs of the year on # 1 finger on Norris. At 7:00 a.m. I watched an uncollared gray wolf moving west along the tree line south of Trash Can Pullout. At 8:00 a.m. Janice and Cindy H showed me two gray wolves just over the east end of Jasper Bench. One was bedded and soon the second one bedded as I headed to the west. Gary G had found a new family for us bear watchers. At 8:45 a.m. from Boulder Pullout Gary showed me a grizzly sow with two cubs of the year way to the southwest of Boulder. We watched them for over one hour. At 1:00 p.m. I was going back by and stopped to see the family in the same clearing and they had moved maybe two hundred yards from this morning. They were at least five to six miles away. At 10:00 a.m. Gary G found what I believe to be the Slough Creek grizzly family. The grizzly sow and two big two-year-old cubs were northeast of Coyote Overlook but looking from Boulder Pullout. That had to be six to seven miles away. We moved a mile or so closer to Long Pullout and watched them again. It is very late for this family to still be together. Maybe the sow will keep them an extra year, rare but other grizzly sows had kept other cubs the third year. At 2:30 p.m. I was glassing from Coyote Overlook and found the same family to the north of Coyote Overlook. They had moved south about a mile and one half from this morning's sighting. At 3:15 p.m. I showed a couple of tourists this morning's grizzly with a little color in the clearing on the skyline east of Penny Lane. We watched it move out of sight back to the west. The woman with binoculars then said a second grizzly was in the clearing. Yep, a small colorful grizzly was feeding in the same clearing but aways down the clearing. Apparently neither grizzly noticed nor cared about the other.

People Seen

Wolf Watchers: From Montana: Rick M, Doug M, Janice and Cindy H, John and Carolyn G, Jeremy S, Taylor R, and Dan and Laurie L. From Utah: Paul H. From Oregon: Bruce and Kelly H. From Washington: Larry and Linda R. From Colorado: Charles E, and Krisztina F. From California: Glenda M. And From Idaho: Warren and Natalie B. Bear watchers seen this report: From Mississippi: Gary G. From Wyoming: Tom H. And From Georgia: Sandi R. Others seen this report: From Montana: Evan S, Chris H, Audra C, Bob L, Cliff B, Quinn H, Kate J, Dan and Cindy H, and Carl S. From Idaho: Scott B. From Florida: Bill W. 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