Yellowstone National Park 2024 Trip Reports
Trip Report ~ Bear & Wolf Sightings ~ by Bill Hamblin
22 through 25 April 2024
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
~ April 2024 ~
April 22nd - Monday
35 degrees in Gardiner but only 28 degrees at Boulder Pullout this morning warming up to a beautiful day with 55 degrees this afternoon out in the park. A few vultures were flying around the park today. At 6:20 a.m. I found a dark grizzly in a high clearing northwest of the Slough Den area. It was moving east but was doing a little digging on its way. Frank H had the same three wolves around the Junction Butte wolf den this morning: 907F the alpha female still not in the den, the black with a white face alpha male, and the only surviving pup from last year a black 1479F. I saw the alphas early this morning and got to view them all later in the day. Mainly sleeping all day, most of the time one or more in view. At 6:55 a.m. Doug M (bear watcher) found a grizzly digging on Amethyst Bench. It was in sight for quite a while, but appeared to be a little lazy, often digging and checking out the surroundings while laying down. At 8:15 a.m. I found a small colorful grizzly on the top of Junction Butte viewed from Lamar Canyon West Pullout. It was out for a while and lots of people got to enjoy seeing it. It was digging and turning over rocks. The viewing was a lot better and closer from Boulder Pullout. At 2:15 P.M. I found a grizzly traveling through the Inverted Triangle Clearing north of Picinic Pullout and below Druid Peak. Brief sighting but it reappeared later for another brief sighting.
April 23rd - Tuesday
37 degrees in Gardiner but only 25 degrees at Slough Creek this morning warming up to 65 degrees in the park. At 6:15 a.m. I found a dark grizzly high on Junction Pass north of the mixed conifer aspen forest. It was in view for only ten minutes or so it disappeared traveling west and over the pass. At 6:45 a.m. Frank H found a large grizzly in the Slough Creek bottoms. Frank was on Dave's Hill, so we had to either walk up there or down to Bob's Knob. The knob was closer to get to. It was a large grizzly with a brown face traveling to the east. It eventually disappeared in the Diagonal Forest but came out later for more good viewing. At 11:15 a.m. I found a small colorful grizzly low below Specimen Ridge viewed from Lamar Canyon West. We moved to just east of Aspen Pullout where the grizzly was digging about six hundred yards from the road. We think it is a 3 1/2-year-old sub adult whose mother chased them away late May last year to mate. We are guessing that this was the female cub. Last year we watched them with the sow and later when they were on their own. One was slightly larger, and this one was a little smaller, the other was also darker where this one has a lot of blond color on her. We enjoyed a couple of hours of watching as the small grizzly bedded under an island of trees still is good viewing. There must have been fifty to seventy people watching the grizzly today. At 5:00 p.m. tonight I found this grizzly again up on Specimen Ridge digging away. It was finding something to eat. At 4:00 p.m. I found a dark grizzly digging on the #3 finger on Norris viewed from Footbridge Pullout. It was in view for about twenty minutes, it was my first grizzly on the Fingers of Norris. Slow day for wolves. Paul H had a quick view of two black wolves at a really long distance this morning. The only other sighting was 1477F a two-year-old black wolf who spent the day bedded across Slough Creek. Thanks to Frank H I got to see her. Tonight, I had a black wolf near the den, but it bedded right away. Not sure if that was 1477F or another wolf.
April 24th - Wednesday
36 degrees in Gardiner this morning but only 27 degrees at Slough Creek this morning warming up to a warm 69 degrees out in the park. I found a cow moose south of Fisherman's Pullout this morning. It finally warmed up enough for the Park Service to pump out the two restrooms at Slough Creek and the two restrooms at Hitching Post. The vault restrooms fill up with all the tourists in winter and it has to warm up before they can pump the vault toilets out in the spring. I hiked up and around Trout Lake today with Frank H. Found a pair of barrow's goldeneye ducks that were not bothered as we passed them, only a very small part of the lake is free of ice. At 6:40 a.m. I found a medium sized grizzly on Amethyst Bench. I was at Coyote Overlook and Bruce P headed to the Institute to look for grizzlies. I kind of cheated by glassing the bench which is closer to the Institute thus spotting the grizzly first. It was throwing dirt pretty good digging this morning. Only in view for twenty minutes or so until disappearing slowly into the tree line. At 9:00 a.m. Kevin M found the 3 1/2-year-old sub adult (female we think) south and west in Little America. She was digging away and was not bothered as two coyotes visited to harass her. She ignored them and kept on digging. At 10:00 a.m. Paul H showed me 907F, the eleven-year-old alpha female, bedded near the 890 tree in the Slough den area. She still has not entered the den. I missed it but 1478F, a gray two-year-old wolf was the only other wolf seen around the den today.
April 25th - Thursday
47 degrees in Gardiner but 39 degrees at Slough Creek this morning warming up to 44 degrees out in the park. Some rain this morning but the low clouds came in making looking for grizzlies difficult. The road this morning had more rocks on the road than I have ever seen. It usually happens after a rainy night. You had to pay attention driving into the park today. We watched three vultures staring at us from Lamar Canyon West this morning. At 6:15 a.m. I found a grizzly in the snow on Middle Ridge viewed from Slough Creek Restroom. It was in no hurry this morning actually laying down in the snow. It also sat down a couple times and slowly moved west with its nose to the ground. Later at 9:00 a.m. Larry and Char T found the same grizzly, we think, just west of the Crystal Creek drainage. I found a gray wolf near the Slough den around 6:40 a.m. but later the three wolves present today bedded near the western trees. The alpha male, 907F (still not in the den), and a gray wolf. At 3:15 p.m. I found the 3 1/2-year-old female sub adult grizzly on the northeast side of Junction Butte, digging and turning over rocks. Interesting black bear activity this afternoon. From the Petrified Tree Pullout lots of people looking high back to the south. Four black bears high in a dead tree. Three black yearling cubs high up on the tree and the black sow before them. I wondered what would scare them up the tree. Later a tourist from Oregon showed be the reason. A cinnamon black bear sow with a cinnamon yearling cub had sent the other black bear family up the tree. Later I missed the grizzly sow with two yearlings at Phantom Lake by about two minutes.
People Seen
Wolf Watchers: From Montana: Rick M, Doug M, Joe K, Jeremy S, Taylor R, Kriztina G, Helena E, Carolyn G, Melba C, and Dan and Laurie L. From Utah: Paul H, Chris B, and Charlie M. From Missouri: Frank H. From South Dakota: Sam and Ginny G. From California: Glenda M and her boyfriend Rick. And From Washington: David and Stephanie O. Bear Watchers seen this report: From Louisiana: Bruce P. From Wyoming: Kevin M. From Washington: Randi M. From Montana: Doug M Jack G, Chuck W and Debbie H, and Mike and Kathy W. From Idaho: Jon and Karen E. From Utah: Gayle and Brett, And from Oregon: Larry and Char T. Others seen this report: From Montana: Mike S, Pete B, Bob L, MacNeil L, Nate U, Cliff B, Andrea B, and Dan and Cindy H. From Florida: Mark L. From Vermont: John K. From British Columbia: Eric and Debbie. From Idaho: Willie and Shelley D. And from the Netherlands: Jort V.
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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